Fri 18.Jun.2021
Rhodes, Greece
For three weeks now, a steady west wind has blown across Rhodes,
keeping the mosquitos
thankfully at bay, and the temperatures moderate for mid-June.
There is plenty of detail to tell about the pleasure of being back on the road;
the necessary nuisance of mask strings pulling on the ears for a long flight; the
forms and covid test required to enter Greece.
Even the once-routine connection at Madrid is more complicated for now. On arrival,
I found a stack of long forms. Before I could pick one up to fill it out, an attendant
asked where I am travelling to. "Athens." OK, I could skip that form. But I did need to show
my covid test results, and my Greek online form, to get on the plane to Greece,
Greece is just opening back up. Europe is way behind the US on vaccinations. Most
shopkeepers wear masks. The stores with un-vaccinated kids as clerks insist on masks inside.
Most people go unmasked outdoors.
My buddy the bar cat is just thankful that people are back! He is a people-cat - cat
company doesn't cut it for him.
So shops and people are beginning to open up, like the first shoots sprouting after a
storm, with only a trickle of visitors yet,
mostly German and some slavs! I met a young Slovenian couple in the moat the other day, and
advised them which poorly-lighted opening in the wall is the tunnel back into the city.
Few or no UK visitors yet. Their govt demands 2 weeks of quarantine on return from Greece,
(Boo!) I have UK friends ready and waiting for that to change. If you overhear visitors
talking to each other, their most likely language is German.
So ... here we are.
It is still a beautiful island,
out here in the far corner
of Europe.
I'll stay here through July, at least.
I do hope more countries get their health act together by August. I'd like to fly home
from France, without the bureaucratic forms, and the (expensive!) PCR test.
And I'd love to visit Vienna, Bratislava, and Prague on the way there.
We shall see!
Doesn't this view just exude Greek-ness!
