Rhodes, Greece

We began our day in Rhodes as all other days in a port began with grabbing some breakfast in the Windjammer, a large cafeteria where there are many buffet stations with varieties of food. Pastries and breads; scrambled eggs; pancakes, waffles and French toast; a station for eggs to order such as fried eggs or eggs Benedict; a station for fruit; another for juices and drinks. On a cruise there is no excuse for ever being hungry.

We gathered in the auditorium as we did each morning and waited for the staff to call our excursion number. As we heard our number called, we filed out like a herd of cattle as we made our way from deck five down to deck two where our pass cards were punched, showing we were leaving the ship. From there we located the bus for our tour and found seats. Our guide in Rhodes was named Olga. It happens that it was only in Egypt that we had a security officer on each bus. They were always very nice, and as I understood it, always armed. One passenger told us that they got a glimpse of the guard’s gun. When they asked about it, he showed them that it was a very small machine gun in a holster under his suit.

We passed the medieval city of Rhodes as we made our way to the village of Kamiros. Dating back to about 200 BC, it was amazing how much of the structures were still intact; homes that were all interconnected; baths; meeting areas; cisterns for water; even the temple to worship Apollo including platforms for their offerings. As I recall, this was one of the places that the Apostle Paul visited during his journeys.

Leaving Kamiros we drove through the countryside, noting many fruit and olive trees. Our next stop was at the medieval city of Rhodes. Having withstood the attack of the Romans for three years before they gave up and went home, the structure was amazing. Three series of substantial walls, three separate moats in front of each entrance, and that was before actually getting to the city in the center of the structure. Within one picture below can be seen cannons protruding from an outer wall. These cannons were actually placed there for the production of the movie, The Guns of Navarone, and not part of the original structure.

After following our guide through a significant portion of the city while she explained more about the city than I could remember, we had some free time to look around and shop at any of the substantial number of shops that lined the streets. While we were given the option of walking back to the ship after our free time, about a 20 minute walk, we chose to meet and take the bus. We had gotten enough exercise today.