Rhodes

Welcome to Rhodes! The first night on the ship took some adjustment with the constant movement. I think they intentionally plan it slow so people can adjust. In the morning, we got through breakfast at the Windjammer and dropped off Allen and Gideon at the kids room a little later than we had planned. Lincoln, the lucky guy, got to come to shore with us.

The coastal views are amazing with the walls of the city jetting up from the water line.

We walked through the gate to Old Town Rhodes and was greeting by this architectural beauty, which is apart of the residence of the Orthodox Archbishop of Rhodes. It made for a great photo opportunity!

Since this was the first day trekking, we had high spirits and high hopes. Lincoln, on the other hand, resented the fact that he needed to be confined to the backpack. We walked the streets of Rhodes orienting ourselves to the city and explored what sight there were to see.

This beautiful fountain is in what is called the Square of the Hebrew Martyrs in honor of the Jews who were sent from Rhodes to Auschwitz. Only a few ever returned to Rhodes.

At the top of the hill on Socrates Street is the Mosque of Suleiman

Lincoln loved climbing along the walls and playing on canons!

One of my favorite places we visited was the Palace of the Crusaders, the Knights of the order of St. John. It is now a museum that houses wonderful artifacts that are amazing. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed. Many things caught our eyes and the atmosphere of walking around in a medieval castle made the experience surreal. Of the things we saw, the floor mosaics that were brought from the Island of Kos by the Italians were my favorite. Can you imagine placing each little piece? What patience!

While I enjoyed taking pictures and looking at the statues in the courtyard, Bruce took the job of Lincoln entertainer, while sitting down to rest.

Fortunately for him, he had a little anonymous help. Someone had a laser pointer and kept Lincoln chasing the laser around. We still have no idea who it was that decided to have a little fun!

We took a late lunch at a great cafe on the corner on the way down from the palace. The food was delicious and the entertainment was free! There were stray cats everywhere, and the cafe was no exception. Lincoln enjoyed stalking a little family of cats. The mommy cat was very skittish and protective of her little babies. The owner of the cafe tried to talk us into taking some cats home with us because Rhodes has too many.

One of the last things that I wanted to see was the Temple of Aphrodite, only no one mentioned that it was just a pile of ruins. On the map it showed an actual building. So we meandered around old town and ended up walking out of the gates and into the modern part of the city looking for it. We met up with a couple from the ship who were looking for the same thing. We both eventually found it. We weren't too impressed with the ruins after it had taken us so long just to locate them, but we made it!

We tried to accommodate Lincoln as much as we could. After enduring the shopping portion of our adventure, we indulged on a little ice cream. You can never have too much European ice cream. YUM!

After traipsing around the city for the day, our tired backs and legs wanted to call it quits. We are so out of shape! We enjoyed finding treasures on the beach and throwing rocks in the water to wind down a bit.

Goodbye Rhodes! It was a pleasure!