After a stormy night (we slept restlessly because of it) we
woke up to an overcast sky and a rough sea. 14 degrees, rain, strong winds –
45-70 km/hr, code orange.
So, we began the day lazily with our own prepared breakfast,
reading, writing, waiting and watching how the weather developed. Despite the
strong winds, it wasn’t very cold outside.
When the sun peeked around the clouds, we decided to grab our
chance and make a trip to the Faliraki beach and harbor.
Faliraki itself continued to look like a ghost town, but we
didn’t mind the lack of tourists (actually welcomed it!). We could park
wherever we wanted and stroll towards the beach. The wind took our breath away
and we felt the sting of the fine sand on our faces. Very high waves, empty
beaches, and only one brave soul, parachute surfing the high waves!
After several attempts we found the old harbor, where 30
years ago the fisher’s huts made up the old town of Faliraki. Today, it’s
Rhodos’ biggest holiday resort.
Pleasure and fishing boats were bobbing at the quay, their
nets and baskets waiting for the weather to calm down so they can go out again.
Big signs advertising boat trips for tourists – difficult to imagine the big
change in temperatures in only 2 months. We’re glad to be here now!
During the tourist season, the fishing harbour of St
Apostolos is a hub of activity especially in the morning, whilst the fishing
boats unload their catch, the day cruisers (direct to Lindos, Rhodes Town &
beaches) depart and locals congregate for their coffee (according to
Wikipedia).
Finally, we could see the beautiful little white-blue chapel
standing on the breakwater from nearby, instead of only from the distance.
One problem we encountered because of pre-tourist season:
none of the ATM machines were operating! Thankfully, on the main road through
the town, the second bank did have a machine that worked! With a filled wallet
we could do some more shopping at another supermarket where we practiced our
few Greek words (read from a piece of paper because by then I already had
forgotten how to say it….) The very friendly young guy at the counter spoke
very good English and told us about his trip to Amsterdam.
We also stopped by our first supermarket for the missing
items, and by the time we reached home, the weather took a change for the worse
and the driving rain began! Wow. How wonderful to be able to snuggle up, enjoy
a cup of soup with some fresh Greek bread, take a nap (Wim) and for me to catch
up writing the blog.
As evening begins to fall, it looks like the worst part of
the storm is over – thankfully! The colour of the sea was beautiful – azure
near the coast and darker further on. We don’t see any white ‘heads’ on the
waves, so that’s a good sign as well.
Getting ready for ‘dinner’ and looking
forward to a quiet evening of reading. CHOFESH – holiday! J
