On walking into the pretty Greek town next morning I saw many local business people setting up various stalls for their day’s business. I could smell the scent of stray cats (a regular occurrence in Greek towns) and there were many scuttling around the edges of buildings. The air felt heavy and even at ten o clock in the morning, it was starting to feel quite hot. There were many little stalls selling items of cheap, mass produced tourist merchandise including pots, sculptures, sarongs and hats bearing words like ‘I love Greece’ of which I noted that only the obese American tourists were wearing.
The local beaches in Lindos were beautiful. The soft sand was a golden white and the warm seas were as pure a turquoise as any I had ever seen. The long beach was littered with red and blue umbrellas that one had to hire for a day. There were many tourist of different nationalities sprawled along the beach and it was quite interesting just people-watching.
One thing that always caught my eye was the local Greek pedalo salesman who rented his pedalos to tourists on the beach. His name was Costa Lot and he could never understand why the English tourists always laughed at him.
In the evenings my family and I would have dinner in one of the restaurants in the town somewhere. This was great because I really got a sense of the Greek culture when coming into contact with the local people. Restaurant owners would stand outside their establishments and try to persuade you to choose their restaurant to dine in over all others. It was clear that the locals really depended on tourism to survive out here; the shops, the restaurants, even Costa Lot, they all depended on tourist money.
The local food in Greece is really quite an experience in itself. Admittedly, there is a selection of European dishes on the menu; however there is a range of local fish dishes and mezes to satisfy any fish lover. My brother, sister and I (all being around the age of six at the time) squealed with amusement and delight at the sight of the snapping red lobsters in the glass fish tank, waiting for a tourist to choose it. In particular, every meal seems to be served with a Greek salad comprising of mixed vegetables and a huge slab of feta cheese with olive oil and herbs.
One thing to be noticed about Greek towns is that the winding cobbled streets are simply lined with gold shops, some tacky and cheap and others genuine and expensive. A few times my family and I ventured into one although not with the intention of buying anything and would always edge hastily out as a Greek sales person would try to tempt my mum or me with ‘the pretty necklace for the pretty lady’.
Another cultural speciality of the Greeks is their home-made sweet filled crepes consisting of a pancake style outside and containing any filling (but chocolate, banana and nuts I discovered was the best) then folded up and eaten altogether, hot.
Any tourist visiting Lindos should be aware of some of the tourist sites available to them. In particular is the beautiful Acropolis, an ancient old castle sitting on a hill overlooking the beach. When I entered the Acropolis I was quite taken aback at how huge it was as it looked very small from the outside. It is fairly run down and most of the attraction is walking around the outside; there are many temples and structures inside it which too, were very interesting to see. However I would warn any tourist planning on going there that after just half an hour of walking around, it becomes very hot so taking a bottle of water is advisable.
Throughout my whole two week stay in Lindos there was not one day when the weather was not beautiful and sunny. It is the ultimate place to relax and have fun although if you are looking for an action packed sports holiday then this isn’t the place for you, try the Centre Parcs brochure. It is definitely a place I would come back to though; the surroundings are stunning, the people friendly and the food is great. As for the price, well it’s worth every penny.
