Days 8 Rhodes



The lighthouse at Rhodes

We arrived at the harbor in the morning greeted by an old lighthouse and the sights of one of the oldest medieval citys in Europe. Pete and I headed for the Old City, passing through a large stone arch and past tall stone walls several metres thick. The city is like a maze, or labyrinth I guess being in Greece; narrow winding streets going every which way and all looking alike.



Shopkeepers wait for customers in one of the narrow alleys



An old woman rests on a bench

There were shops and restaurants along both sides selling souvenirs, fine artworks and everything in between. We stopped at a small restaurant for a beer, the server brought out some stewed vegetables for us to snack on while we sat and perused the menu with an eye on finding a place for dinner. As we were getting ready to leave they brought out trays of the evenings offerings, saying “mama cooking, mama cooking”, from the looks of the dishes and the smells emanating from inside I believed it.



The Grand Masters Palace of the Knights of St. John



One of the many decorative statues throughout the Old City


I’ve been to a few castles before, but this is an entire active small city with photo ops at every bend. I bought a tee shirt and shot glasses, the limit of my shopping, but many items on display were very tempting.
There were some artists painting on the sidewalk just outside the walls so we sat down and listened to some blues music one of the vendors had playing at his stand while I rested my back.



Outside the Old City

The plan was for everyone to meet up at the harbor entrance and decide on a place for dinner. Once we were all together we went back to the restaurant Pete and I had our beer at; great choice as the meals were very reasonable and the servings plentiful. Everyone was more than happy with their selections, we all split orders and with a couple Greek salads and some dishes compliments of the house we all left full; the total bill was 80 Euros for the eight of us including a wine or beer apiece.



Arv and I enjoying some ouzo

On the way back to the boat Arv and I decided to stop at Legends Rock Bar for an ouzo; small world that it is, the two young people sitting next to us were archeologists who went to school at the University of Buffalo. It was strange sitting in a small grotto, several hundred years old being served by a guy with a mohawk while a Guns and Roses video played on the TV. Arv left after one, but I was having fun and enjoying the music so I stayed longer. The bartender kept pouring each round taller than the last, with my 3rd filling ¾’s of a Tom Collins glass. He warned me that ouzo makes you feel good at night, but not so much in the morning, so I switched over to beer; although considering I drink the strong rum in Grenada I wasn’t overly concerned, but yielded to “local knowledge”.
After a few I wandered the city a little more stopping for a beer here and there, losing my bearings now and then, but I would just ask “which way to the Legends Bar” and I made it OK. I headed back to Skyelark a little after 1:00, quietly going to my cabin trying not to disturb any of the others.

Rhodes is fantastic. Loved imagining The Colossus at the entry of the harbor.
Love Greece.
Cheers
irina