Rhodes
Rhodes? How could the Curmudgeon pick on anything in the Greek Isles? Well all the Curmudgeon can say is...They Started It!
Located just a few miles off the coast of Turkey, Rhodes should not be confused with the scenic beauty that one would associate with Santorini or other beautiful islands of the Aegean Sea. Rhodes is both the name of an island and the name of the largest city on that island.
So what bugs the Curmudgeon about Rhodes? Well, something about everything bothers a Curmudgeon otherwise one does not get to be one.
On the north shore of the island is that city of the same name. Its center of attraction is the walled fortress of the old town, sitting magnificently along the coastline ready for centuries to repel invading armies coming to represent the true word of their respective gods. Rhodes got to play host to the Crusades and others of such ilk.
Fast forward now to 21st Century Rhodes and the walls of the city still stand gloriously along the coast. But what does that mean to the tourists who would spend some of their vacation time here? One can enter the old city and walk street after street of very old buildings that nearly without exception are selling t-shirts, jewelry, beer, and all the other things that help relieve the tourists of their dollars, Euros, and yen.
All tourist destinations are like that, no? Well, yes and no. Selling souvenirs is commonplace worldwide and even the Curmudgeon accepts that. But the Curmudgeon, in global travels of business and pleasure, has never seen a destination that has allowed such merchandising to so completely strangle the dying breath out of its own beauty. It is difficult to find...and in fact may not even exist...a store or home in the old city of Rhodes that is a living example of the city's culture. You can visit the entire old city and potentially not see a single person who lives on that island except for the workers hustling shoes, tablecloths, and...as noted...beer.
One could walk down Main Street in Disneyland and arguably have had more contact with native culture than in Rhodes.
It is somewhat analogous to a place on Long Island where once, we presume, there was a meadow. People built houses on the edge of this pretty meadow and called their town East Meadow. The area became popular enough that houses were built on the west side of the meadow too. Pretty soon all that remained was a continuous stream of houses and no longer a meadow of any size or locale. So they have a town today called East Meadow but one must use their imagination to figure out how it was so named.
Rhodes, too, requires imagination. You can look upward to the 2nd story of the buildings...those that are not rooftop restaurants...and understand what medieval Rhodes must have looked like. Imagination alone may not be enough to bring you the feel however. For that perhaps one needs to close their eyes and work harder. But if you have to close your eyes to enjoy an experience...tourism related, that is...why bother going there at all?
The Curmudgeon recommends crossing Rhodes off the list of places to visit. As a replacement, consider the beautiful walled fortress city of Dubrovnik, on the Adriatic Coast of Croatia. Everything that Rhodes does wrong seems to be done the right way in Dubrovnik. Yes, they sell souvenirs and beer too, but it is done tastefully and in reasonable scale to the old city overall. People still live within the old city and you find them walking among you. We can leave the main streets and, venturing onto the side streets, walk among the stores used by the locals. It is a charming interaction of residence and tourism, historic past and absolute present.
Croatia has done a remarkable job rebuilding the sections of Dubrovnik's old city that were destroyed by Serb shelling during the war that ended just a few years ago. It is a jewel awaiting your discovery, and far more deserving of your time than McRhodes.