Tropikal Hotel Marmaris

... going back and no-one telling me til the next morning over breakfast!)... When the boat departed from Koycegiz I was the only person on it - aside from the driver/captain and his mother (who was also the cook; the waitress and a better skilled sailor/navigator than her son who on the way back, slept at the back of the boat while she steered!!). I was on my own for an hour as we sailed out ...

Another beautiful day. Sunny 78 degrees on the island of Rhodes. We travel to Lindos half way down the island. To see the Acropolis were Paul spoke to the Greeks. A long climb to the top with a view to forever. Just outstanding. Back to the boat early to catch some sun by the pool.<br><br>I am going to upload a couple of pics from yesterday on Myconos to give you an idea of the beauty here.<br><br>Davo and Janet

... But they were our first ruins, so we enjoyed them anyway. The best part about the area was that we were all the way on top of the island, and could see for miles down the coast in either direction. <br>We zig-zagged our way down the hill and back into town, rewarded ourselves with a glass of wine at a local cafe. We were excited to try our first greek restaurant, and even ...

... built in the 1300's we wanna stay. Foula's looking for a place for us! :) It's like something you would think Disney made but it's REAL!! We spent 2 days in Athens with Georgia in her apt. went on a day trip to Cape Sunyo. Spent yesterday on the beach. Back to the beach today not sure what we'll be doing the rest of the week. We decide when we wake up. Gotta go miss you all . More soon... :) will send pictures soon.<br>

What a difference a day makes. This place is absolutely beautiful. There are still lots of walls and castles that have been here for thousands of years, but it is nice and clean and friendly. We walked into the walled city and saw heaps more shops with locally made things and also lots of touristy rubbish, but no-one was hassling us to buy and we could just wander around looking and not fighting people off ...

After a quick breakfast, we headed off to the port to catch our 9am ferry to Rhodes, but it looked like everyone else in Fethiye had the same idea. The boat was full of those annoying package holiday makers on a day trip to Rhodes. <br><br>After a rough ride, we bought our tickets to Athens (Rhodes to Athens &#8364;53 each, one way) and had the whole day to spend in Rhodes before our next ferry departed. <br><br>Rhodes was famous worldwide in the ancient world for the Colossus of Rhodes ...

I hate coming to places that have been ruined by tourism. Marmaris in Turkey is one such place. I have absolutely loved Turkey - fantastic people, interesting cities and some of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The sole exception was Marmaris, which whilst not a bad experience can be used to explain the negative things that happen when an area goes too far into the tourist market place.<br><br>So is a touristy area a bad thing? Not ...

When we got to Marmaris, we met Pauline &amp; Paul, the family friends of Laura. We stayed with them on their sail boat for a few nights. It's an interesting life, being able to just say "I feel like moving today" then taking your home with you to the next port. They've been living like this for four years now. Sailing the 7 warmer months and relaxing in a port for the 5 colder and stormier months. Laura said that ...

Next we were onto Rhodes, one of the most historically significant Greek Isles. We saw the medieval old town, the Acropolis (yes, Rhodes has one too), and the site where the Colossus of Rhodes presumably stood in ancient times. We also got in a little beach time and visited a neat pottery factory.<br>

... the phrases and words we had learned. It was a nice change.<br><br>A potted history of the city is as follows. Early settlers were the Minoans from Crete who were later taken over by the Spartans. The town of Rhodes developed over the years and was first under Roman occupation and later became part of the Byzantine empire. Many conflicts followed but later on the Knights of the Crusades, recently kicked out of Jerusalem, arrived and fortified the city. In the sixteenth century, after a ...