Just Another Day in Paradise

It’s like paradise, but I’m not sure how much of it we can take. If you look around Lindos or follow the stream of pictures we’ve been posting on Facebook, the visuals are amazing. Our Airbnb is situated right below the Acropolis; I could go outside right now and take an amazing picture of the 2,000-year-old columns still standing on the site, which contains ruins more than 3,000 years old, or of the castle walls built by the Knights of St. John during the Crusades in the 1300s. When lit up at night it’s even more impressive. Behind the village, not more than a five-minute walk away, are views of St. Paul’s Bay, a distinctive, crystal-clear cove almost completely surrounded by rocky outcroppings, and the small chapel on the other side of it, which seems to always be hosting a wedding. On the other side of town, maybe a 15-minute walk away, is the main beach, which is equally impressive. The color of the sky and the water is almost always an ineffable shade of blue (take that, Homer). When the white clouds are juxtaposed against that sky, or a boat in the distance is carving a wake into that wine-faced sea, you just have to stop, take it in, and probably snap some pictures, even though we have hundreds by this time. This is all without mentioning the picturesque, whitewashed town, the maze of alleys, the omnipresent mosaic artwork that adorns things as nondescript as bathroom floors, and the cats, constantly posing amongst all of this.

But it’s probably not the place for us, not the place for a month, that is. Going to the beach every day is a dream Jennie and I have had for a while, but in reality, I’m not sure we could do it all day, everyday. Going for a few hours and moving on to other things the rest of your day is more realistic, but here there is nothing to move on to. After our first few days learning the labyrinth’s layout, we can walk it from end-to-end in 10 minutes (no more 10,000 steps every day). There are thousands of shops but not much in the way of variety; multiple restaurants, some unique, many similar, and quite a few bars, although not much of a music scene.

Spoiled by the mass transit systems of London and Stockholm, we are now forced to rely on cabdrivers when we do venture out, and they have a stranglehold on the pricing structure. No more $53 monthly passes à la Stockholm.

There is no space in Lindos for a gym or a movie theater. Perhaps at the height of the summer, a cover band could find a place of suitable size to play in Lindos, but more than likely they would stop in one of the resorts up or down the coast.

We’ve found a resort that has very affordable, all-inclusive day passes. The beach is still “bearable” 3 or 4 days a week, and we have some excursions planned to discover more of the island via rental car, so spare the sympathy cards for now. Paradise, it seems, may be best enjoyed in moderation as in the two or three day respites we try to include in many of the trips we’ve taken previous to this, however we’ll make our best efforts to grin and bear it because once this is gone we’re still going to miss it.