Wednesday, October 20 – Rhodes . This is the only tour I signed up (outside of what wa s included in our original package) and so I was up early for breakfast and a 7AM departure from the ship. And as we left it was raining. Annamarie was our guide, a number from our group but several from other groups as well. We headed first for Lindos, an ancient temple around which was built a castle. Advertised as 300 steps climb. One of our group who is blind was determined she was going to climb those steps. I volunteered to go with her. As we worked our way to the beginning of the climb (we were moving more slowly and the group disappeared ahead of us.) we ran into people who were coming down who had abandoned the climb because it was slippery. But we pushed on ahead anyway, and when we reached the halfway spot, we caught up with the group.
On the way up, we had steps and we had slanting ramps and we had fairly open areas that were more rocks than steps. There were a couple of people selling table cloths and place mats and other woven areas. The halfway point is where donkeys come up and go down, for those who would rather ride than walk. We then took a long staircase up to the next level and through a rocky path and on to more stairs and rocky areas. Finally, we reached the top. View of the harbor of St. Paul
Here is the original temple on top of the mountain, around which they built a fortress
The person I was with and I made it back down to the halfway spot, and we both decided to take a mule down. Yes, there are pictures. Now I only have pictures of the person I was with and the mule – other people have pictures of me and my mule, and at some point I am hoping that I will be reunited with those pictures and I will share appropriately.
We got the bus back to the loading area and the bus on to the next stage – except that when we gathered by the appointed time, three of our members were not present. They did turn up about 15 minutes later – we did not leave without them – and off we went to visit the old city Medieval town) of Rhodes .)
As we approached the old city, the rain started. And I don’t mean a sprinkle, a gentle pitter pat, this was a flood. A veritable flood. A can’t see the other side of the street flood. The group pretty well decided that they did not want to get out of the bus into the flood. We moved to another gate, and three of us actually did get out with Annamarie and we went into the old city to see the hospital – and as we got there the rain stopped.
The hospital of the Knights of St. John
The other two were a honeymoon couple and they did not go back to the bus, but wandered off by themselves. I went back to the bus, had lunch (Taco while anchored to a Greek isle) (and the rain got magnificently heavy) and then as the weather cleared into a beautiful day, back into the city. Wandered about – visited some of the areas, and then settled into a small café for a beer and some of the internet. Well, I asked for a Mythos, a Greek beer – the guy asked if I wanted a large or a regular – I said a regular – and I got a beer in a large glass boot that held about 2 litres of beer. Yikes. That held me for the whole time I was working on the internet. The square in front of me had a couple of poles on which lived eight or nine gorgeous and very noisy parrots. On the way back to the ship I did a little shopping, and got ready for the evening Mass.
We had Mass in a new location, a larger space, in case others wanted to join us. Of course, as these things work out, we did not have any new people and a number of our group didn’t come – a couple were feeling sick and some had other ailments. Or maybe better offers. We have only been together as a group with everyone presents only a very few times. I keep saying people are free to do what they want, and they believe me. Ultimately this is a good thing, but everyone in this group is really interesting, and while I may be the only one who thinks it, I miss the dimensions the missing folk could give. The Mass was very nice – and we finished in time a drink before dinner, and ou regular evening gathering in our private dining room. It’s the last time we will gather here, because tomorrow there is open seating. We go to Crete in the morning and Santorini in the afternoon (really evening) and to give people enough time on shore (especially since accessing the shore in Santorini is by tenders – ie, boats shuttling back and forth) everything is moved back and made more flexible. The ship’s photographer came by to take pictures of everyone at the table, and dessert was Baked Alaska, presented with lights off so the flaming desserts could be more clearly seen and waiters flailing towels, music playing over the sound system (A Latin American something, which provided a lively beat but puzzled some who wondered what it had to do with Alaska) and a sense of high drama. Fun.
I left right after dessert while others were still chatting, because I wanted to see the ship’s magician, who was doing an up close evening, cards and coin tricks, that sort of thing. Good showman, lots of humor – he’s dealing with a multi-lingual audience, so the usual line of chatter has to be kept to a minimum. He’s good, although I did know how he did all of his tricks. He even did a little pick pocketing and watch switching. Low keyed and fun. I got a seat in the front row – me and four young boys – and it was a nice gentle evening with no amplification.
This was the first night I slept until the alarm woke me – perhaps climbing up the 300 steps had something to do with it?
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