Main Character Energy in Rhodes, Greece

not giving up on my dream to eat grilled halloumi

As a kid, I loved the book “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”. The book was full of all my favorite things: romance, travel, and focus on friendship. I remember making my own traveling pants with two friends who went to different high schools. I looked forward to every weekend where we would meet up and discuss the ups and downs of life dramatic teenage life. The book was later adapted into a movie and the gorgeous Alexis Bledel of Gilmore Girls fame played Lena Kaligaris, one of the protagonists who travels to Greece for the summer and falls in love with a dark-haired man named Kostos. Ever since reading the book, I have always wanted to go to Greece to live out my Lena Kaligaris dreams. When we found 20 euro direct flights to Rhodes, Greece in early April, I said heck yes! Most importantly, I asked Mr. Brenna if I could call him Kostos for the duration of this trip - and he obliged.

Rhodes is an island in southern Greece close to Turkey. It is famous for the Colossus of Rhodes, a statue of the Greek sun God Helios, which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. At 32 meters tall, it was destroyed by an earthquake in 226 BC. Nowadays, Rhodes is known for tourism (cruise ships stop in Rhodes and the town of Lindos has a clifftop acropolis) and agriculture (I learned just how much Greeks love a food festival).

Coffee and a Pastry

I had no idea how passionate Greeks were about their coffee. I loved the coffee in Greece - strong, flavorful, and full of ice. One night, Mr. Brenna took me to a vibey cocktail spot on the beach with hundreds of hanging pendants. Most people were having evening coffees instead of cocktails. I did a bit of research on the religious population in Rhodes: while Greek Orthodox is the primary religion for the 100,000 inhabitants, there are 3,500 Muslims, a religious minority. In the mornings, I had a hard time choosing pastry with my coffee, as I love both dairy and pastry. I loved the grilled feta with honey and rich yogurt bowls I found on the menu. But I still left plenty of room for spinach pie, the grease from the fried phyllo dough leaving trail marks on the paper bags we bought them in.

Adventure

My favorite thing that we did on this trip was a hiking excursion to Akramitis Mountain with Trekking Hellas Rhodes. An hour and a half from Rhodes old town, we also got a sense of the part of the island that is less trafficked. I felt myself again in the California desert climate. The dry warm air, the red poppies poking out of the ground, and the smell of pine trees made the hike full of nostalgia. We stopped at an old church and our guides handed out flaky spinach pies and warm tea, the perfect sustenance for my hungry belly. The top was breathtaking, the ocean was a cerulean blue with a stunning view of the Dodecanese islands.

Culture

One day, we took a ferry boat to the small island of Symi. The crowds of Rhodes disappeared, and it seemed like we had an entire Greek island to ourselves. We rented a scooter for the low price of 20 euros and were instructed by the owners to leave the keys in a dropbox on the way home. Unlike the other days when we traipsed about in the sun, the sky was overcast. We ripped around the winding roads of Symi, passing friendly herds of goats clamoring along the rocky cliffs, locals keeping their bees around the edges of the coast, smiling and waving as we passed by to check out the beaches. We visited the Holy Monastery of the Taxiarch Michael Panormitis, the striking church standing out from the hills above. The bright tile popped out against the blue of the sea. Behind the monetary was a little Symian bakery serving pies, biscuits, and breads. That held us over until we were eventually starved for lunch, and we found a little cafe called Taverna Zoe and settled into a table on the porch overlooking the ocean. A local family was next to us having lunch, and a beautiful woman started singing and playing a tambourine. The entire restaurant was transfixed by her strong voice, and even though I had no idea what she was saying, I was taken by her rich song echoing against the quiet peace of the island. Symi was spiritual and heavenly.

Something I’m learning about myself is that I am a dreamer. I always saw myself as a “boss lady” - meanwhile I’m on the back of my lover’s moped cruising around a Greek island, pretending to be a fictional character in a young adult book. Something I am proud of myself for is that I never give up on my dreams. I will keep going, alter the path, take a break, or reassess later. But I am not one to shut the door.

I have never looked so great - but I was cramping, starving, exhausted, and clutching a bag of pastry in this photo. Main character energy is hard.

So after twenty years, my dream of visiting Greece finally came true. It definitely lived up to my expectations, although one weekend in Greece isn’t enough. There are so many islands to explore and so many dolmas to eat.

Have you been to Greece? What did you think? Here are some books I enjoyed or were recommended to me centered on Greek storytelling.

• The Song of Achilles ⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Elektra ⭐⭐⭐

• Circe ⭐⭐⭐

• Olympus Texas - recommended to me

• The Silence of the Girls - recommended to me

• The Wolf Den - recommended to me

Other ways to support and work with me:

• Upgrade your subscription to paid and join the community of people living and traveling intentionally

• Buy my guide to Napoli

• Join my monthly full moon journaling class (free) on Sunday, October 13