Greece 2010, The Colossus of Rhodes

 The city of Rhodes was formed in 408 BC and flourished for three centuries during its Golden Age, when sea trade, skilled shipbuilders, and progressive politicians kept it prosperous right up until Roman times. The bronze statue of the Colossus of Rhodes was built to commemorate the successful defence of the city for over a year against a Macedonian assault and was one of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and although no one can be exactly sure it supposedly took twelve years to build before it was completed in 282 BC.

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Greece 2010, Thumbs-down for Ixian Grand Hotel but Thumbs-up for Booking.com

On the day we arrived at the Sofia Pension there was a message from Booking.com to get in touch. I did so immediately and was told that there was a problem with our next hotel, the Ixian Grand in Ixia, which we had chosen for our last two nights, because due to a mix up they were double booked and they couldn’t therefore fulfill our booking.  We were disappointed about that because we had been looking forward to stopping in a four star luxury spa hotel but now it was cancelled and there was nothing we could do about it.

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Greece 2010, a short walk from Ixia to Rhodes Town

Now, I know that I am getting older and this might start affecting my memory but this little walk turned out to be much further that I ever remembered.  For a start it took quite a while to get to the hotel where I stayed previously at the Rodos Palace and then the little bar that we used to use, the Surf Bar, which I remembered being right next door but was in fact about five hundred metres further on.  I really did genuinely believe that it was just a five minute stroll and the odd thing is that I don’t remember my teenage children complaining once but after half an hour Kim was in full whinging mode.

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Greece 2010, Rhodes, Ixia, Mythos and Karaoke

After four consecutive years island hopping in the Cyclades this year it was time for a change.  Not because we are tired of this picturesque ring of islands and not because we were robbed in Athens last year on the way home but mainly because the flight schedules had changed and there was no Luton to Athens option this year.  Instead we found cheap flights from Liverpool to Rhodes for just £82 each return which were too good to miss so we agreed that this year we would visit the Dodecanese islands instead.

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