Category Archives: Travel
I went on a small hike through Arroyo Verde Park in Ventura today. There are a variety of trails there and we spend about an hour hiking and taking in the scenery.
Arroyo Verde Park
My flash talk from this year’s Automattic Grand Meetup made it online. I posted about my trip before, specifically Hoover Dam and Horseshoe Bend, this will tie them together and give you a better idea of the trip.
14 of 18
On my way back from Greece I flipped through Aegean’s inflight magazine where I stumbled upon a brief Rhodes guide titled “18 Reasons to Revisit Rhodes – Discover the magic of the island of the Knights with this checklist of don’t-miss outings” (View the pdf). Don’t-miss! I wish I had discovered that on my way to the island!
The article started out with The Fort of Saint Nicholas that guards the Mandraki harbor, coincidentally the first sight I visited after I finally got my scooter. They continued with pictures of Afantou Beach and Lindos, places I went to in the second week of stay, looking for sandy beaches on the east side of the island. It went on with the waterfall of Seven Springs and the statues at The Entrance to the Port of Mandraki, which I got see at my island and sailing tours respectively, but also two places I did not visit, Kalithea and Rodini Park. The last two days of my stay were rather busy with trips to Lindos and to Rhodes’ Old Town, but they were also very rewarding, and let me check a few more of those sights off their list: Mavrikos restaurant where I had dinner in Lindos, The Palace of the Grand Master, The Medieval City, and Aleksis restaurant in Rhodes. I visited Anthony Quinn Beach during the sailing tour and The Ancient Kameiros during the island tour, leaving me only with Fourni and Prasonisi Beach that I didn’t visit.
Besides Mavrikos and Aleksis they rightfully mentioned Marco Polo, one of the best restaurants I tried, as well as Dinoris, Avantis, Perigiali, Bakis Brothers, Pigi Fasouli, and Mediterraneo, all of which I had not been to.
Going into my vacation I hadn’t really planned to do a lot of sightseeing. I was just looking forward to relaxing at the beach and going to CrossFit every day. But I could not be happier with the way it turned out, doing as much exploring of the island as I did. I covered most of the mentioned outings even without reading the guide beforehand, making it a very gratifying read on my way back to the real world.
Pictures from my first real1 vacation:
Room 1035. I should have cleaned up before taking the picture.
The room came with a big balcony and ocean view.
View from one of the tables at The Lounge Bar.
Loved this: Gettig in touch with hotel staff through iMessage or WhatsApp!
They invited me to an Aperol Spritz event.
Sunset over one of the pools.
The first sight I visited, the Fort of Saint Nicholas.
Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights.
Cavalier, one of the gates to Old Town.
Courtyard of Marco Polo Mansion. One of the best restaurants in town.
I went on a sailing tour, a highlight of my trip.
One of the stops on that sailing tour was…
…Anthony Quinn Beach. Great water and colorful fish.
Colossus Rhodes on our way back to the harbor.
The Sheraton’s private beach.
View from one of the lounge chairs on the 6th floor pool level.
Loved the color of the water in contrast to the chairs. From The Lounge Bar.
My view at breakfast, where they had a separate are for SPG Gold & Platinum members.
Afantou Beach, a quieter beach than the ones by the hotels.
The beautiful theme of white structures and the blue ocean.
The east coast’s all inclusive hotels.
Rhodes from a dirt lot in the hills.
Seven Springs with Konstantin. We waded through ankle-high water…
…in a pitch black tunnel, to reemerge…
…at a small pond on the other side of the hill.
Seven Springs waterfall…
…with two Konstantins.
The path we followed became a little more adventurous than anticipated.
An architecturally valuable church.
Spring water.
I tried to capture one of those Greek boat scenes but failed.
After lunch on the island tour.
Greece!
Last stop was the ancient Kameiros.
View from the Akropolis.
A typical home.
The big square.
Second Aperol Spritz reception.
Lindos, view of the Akropolis and town.
It’s at a beautiful sandy beach.
Very popular with tourists of course. View of the Akropolis from the beach.
The bay from the Akropolis.
Beautiful view of Agios Pavlos.
Lindos town as seen from the Akropolis.
Here you can see the bus station on top of the hill and the town’s square to the right.
Again tiny streets filled with people.
Dinner at Mavrikos. I was not impressed.
View of the hotel property from…
…the entrance area of the hotel. The hills on the horizon is Turkey.
Tiny little alleys!
The Street of the Knights.
Entrance to the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights.
I loved the small alleys in Old Town. Notice the tiny stones they used to cobble the streets!
1 A vacation where I did not visit anyone.
Konstantin Obenland 