Rhodes

We did the steps!  All 365 of them up to the top of the Acropolis of Lindos and then down again.  Leaving around 8.45am we pretty much drove straight there from the dock, through some towns which apparently are heaving in the summertime with many of the bars being open until 6.30am – glad that we did the early season!  It was a long and winding 45minute drive with our guide Joanna describing what had happened to the island in its long history over many centuries BC.  It was so enthralling that several people on the coach dozed off including the lady opposite me who managed to rest her head on the adjacent person’s shoulder until sternly reminded to “Get off.”

The climb up however was well worth it and the view of the bay of Lindos from the top is spectacular with the blue sky and sea and the whitewashed houses.  But we were there to see the Acropolis which was a temple to the goddess Athena and dates from 400 BC.  Many little tourist shops line the stone pebbled pathway that preceded the steep steps up to the summit and we ignored them all.  Probably not having enough breath to speak was a good part of it, but so was the fact that we were pretty much out of euros and trying to conserve some of them.  On the way up we passed an enterprising Greek lady displaying table cloths hand-made from lace and stitch work, managed to get a price from her and carried on walking.  On the way down though we offered her €60 euros and settled on €65, Hilary considers that was a good deal in view of the fact that it was hand made by the lady’s family and included 12 napkins.  The good part of this is that we had no more money with us with which to buy trinkets (other than a fridge magnet of course).

Back on the coach we did the 45 minute trip into Rhodes for our excursion around the old part and this was really interesting.  In the 15^th century the Knights of the Templar rode into town and built a fortress and settled in the area between the Acropolis and the sea and this is still in great condition today.  Walls and moats protected the inhabitants and despite many invasions from the Turks they were never enslaved for very long.  Lots of the original frescos still exist and the pathways are made from mosaics of small pebbles, a bit hard on the feet (definitely not good for high heels) but all our coach party made it through the old town and back to the coach.  Tradition has it that the apostle Saint Paul landed at the beach of Lindos to preach Christianity to the people of Rhodes.  And here I must correct yesterday’s blog when I wrote about the Virgin Mary being taken to her final resting place by Saint Paul, she was of course accompanied by John the Baptist – but then you knew that already didn’t you?  That was just my test to see if you would correct it in your comments.

One other apology as the picture of Ted reading the Sudoku didn’t upload either so I shall try again today along with some of today’s pictures.  And with that I am going to make a nice cup of tea before I go up to the Crow’s Nest and upload this load of old rubbish.  We have two days at sea to come before our last port of call which is Palma and we are really looking forward to lying in and not worry about getting up early to pick up stickers and head for coaches.  The weather over the past few days has been fantastic, not too sunny or hot but temperatures in the high 60’s and low 70’s (Fahrenheit of course), long may it continue and if it does so I will be back in the pool as often as I can.  I need the exercise and I also need to cut down on my calorie intake – a late New Year Resolution is to lose at least 14 pound in weight and I won’t do that if I keep snacking on biscuits between large meals.  On our RTW cruise I know I blogged about men with big guts sunning themselves in tight vests – well I am one and that must stop.  Enjoy yourselves, we are back in exactly one week.