Well after all the fun, it had to end.  Greece has been a very nice trip, despite the first few weeks of never ending chaos.  The people are very kind and the island lovely.

We’ve hit all our favorites the last few days and here’s a round up of the best of our family trip:

1.  Villages:

Lardhos Bakery - Stella got a free bread stick every time

Lardos:  Nicest people we met and a real local feel.  Don’t miss the bakery and butcher near the vegetable stand.  Stella got a free breadstick every time we saw the bakery lady and “Mr. Vancouver” aka Justin, got 2 free sausages from the butcher every time.  We shopped there often.  And of course Roula’s the restaurant which I blogged about before.

Mr. Vancouver and the Butcher of Lardhos

Gennadi:  Great restaurant called Mamma’s Kitchen and also a nice bakery and vegetable stand.  Very local and you get a great feel for the island life here.

2.  The Acropolis and village of Lindos.  Gorgeous and incredible that it’s still here after so many years (their are ruins in the acropolis dating back to 400 BC).

Acropolis of Lindos

3.  Old Town Rhodes.  Beautiful walled city and again, incredible that it has survived this long and after so many different occupiers of the island of Rhodes (Italians, Turks, to name a few).

4. The mountain drive from the airport to Embona (wine area).  Beautiful scenery and different from the rest of the island (plenty of trees).

5.  Restaurants:

Dionysius in Lindos:  great seafood (they tell you what is fresh) and nice atmosphere.

Roulas:  mentioned above.  Good Greek food.

Mamma’s Kitchen:  as mentioned in an earlier blog.  Fantastic homemade Greek food in a garden setting in the village of Gennadi.

Tsambika’s Taverna:  at the top of the hill at Tsambika’s beach and on the way to Rhodes Town from Lindos.  Great views and good seafood and grilled meat selections.  Definitely worth the stop.

Lee Beach Cafe at Lee’s Beach/Pefkos.  OK, we liked it for more than the name.  Fantastic gyros and again really nice people.  Great views.  We went there more times than we can count.

Jasmine in Pefkos.  Nothing to rave about their food but they have:  bar, big screen TVs with football/soccer, and a playground for Stella.  Great combo.  We also went there often for high speed wireless internet.

6.  Catamaran to Marmaris:  don’t go for shopping as advertised but for the boat ride over (beautiful) and a walk along the port and thru the village.  Both are very nice and you actually get a feel for Turkish life.

7.  Beaches:  St. Paul’s Bay (great view of the acropolis, quaint and nice beach shack for drinks) and Pefkos (sandy);

8. Hikes:  Hike up Navarone Bay cliffs (Where “The Guns of Navarone” was filmed) and the hike of the mountains and cliffs behind our villa in Navarone Bay/Saltos.

All in all it was a fantastic trip to Greece.  Would we do anything differently?  One suggestion would be not to rent a villa when it is brand new.  Wait until it has gone thru one season so that all the kinks and problems are worked out and all those things you wish you had brought but have to go buy are already there.

As for some baby tips.

I mentioned this before but call ahead to see if your villa or hotel has baby gear so you don’t have to bring it.  Our villa provided us with a pack and play and a high chair and our car rental company, M&S (great company by the way) provided us with a free car seat to use.

And drum roll please…Ms. Stella finally walked.  Check it out.  We had been betting on when she finally would.  She’s been crusing for months and taking 2-3 steps here and there for the past few weeks but yesterday she took off.