Rhodes

Friday, May 8, 2009
The Island of Rhodes




Our itinerary for the day is to go to the city of Lindos first and climb to the top of the Acropolis, have a sumptuous lunch in an elegant hotel, and then to travel to the walled city of Rhodes.

We traveled over a 2100 year old bridge made of stone, which holds tour busses just fine.

We learned about many English words that come from Greek, beginning with Necropolis and cemetery. The first meaning "place of the dead" and the second (with the coming of Christianity) "sleeping place". Then there was thesis, followed by synthesis. And antithesis.

An interesting fact about people who own land in Rhodes-- before anything can be built here, archaeologists must evaluate and excavate the land to be sure nothing of importance will be damaged. Our guide had to adjust his house plans because on one corner of his land, some tombs were found and they could not be “built over”. It is irritating, but “heritage is a precious thing”, he said.

Until last year, it was illegal to scuba dive in Greek waters because of the many treasures to be found in the area. Those who do find treasures and turn them in to the dept of antiquities are rewarded with half the value of the item. However smuggling of Greek antiquities is a flourishing business.

Our local guide, Tony, mentioned that they experience 300 days of sun a year. Many houses have solar panels and they also have “wind farms”.
There are myths to explain everything in Greece and we were told why, according to the stories this island in Greece has so much sun. This is where the sun God Helios chose to live. He pulled the Greek Isles out from under the ocean.

The land we traveled through reminds me of the area where I grew up around Alpine and Marfa, TX.--all the way to Van Horn.

It is a dry looking rocky/mountainous terrain covered with olive trees. Small plants grow out of the rocks themselves. I was wondering if olives would grow in West Texas—probably not enough moisture. Remember, Rhodes is surrounded with water.

The city of Rhodes is 2417 years old and in ancient times was the seat of education, with philosophers traveling from Egypt, Rome, Athens, and most of the civilized world to study here.

The Colossus of Rhodes was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World—These 7 wonders were the largest and most impressive man made objects in existence at the time. The Colossus was a statue about the size of the Statue of Liberty and this statue of a man straddled the harbor of Rhodes. It only lasted 65 years because of an earthquake.

In Lindos we headed up to the Acropolis, which just means the highest point. This trek was supposedly 300 steps (some said 500—doesn’t matter-- it was high) up to the top of this temple. We climbed and stepped, and climbed and finally got to the very top.





From there we could see the harbor where St. Paul supposedly sailed into when he visited Rhodes.



Let me stop here to mention how wonderful the weather has been for this entire trip. We have had sunny days, breezes to cool us, and only a hint of rain, with a few claps of thunder. We couldn’t have asked for better weather.

If you’ve seen the movie THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, it was filmed at this Acropolis. The sights that are seen looking down from this height, were in the movie. I guess we’ll have to rent it to see how they used the area in that movie.

After leaving Lindos, we traveled to Archangelos, which is a town of potters. As we stopped at a family pottery business, we saw zillions of locusts (teeny grasshoppers) swarming all around. They seemed to be on a mission/ headed somewhere.

We watched a potter effortlessly create a lovely shaped vessel in just minutes.


Then we were invited into the shop to watch the ladies decorate various kinds of pottery.


There was a really clever drinking cup which when filled to the appropriate line is quite functional, but when “over filled” simply drains out the bottom. I would have loved to bring one of these cups home, but I was not sure I could get it home without breaking it. I could have had it shipped, but that doubled the price because of shipping, insurance, etc. So I didn’t buy anything here, but several of our fellow travelers did.

Lunch was an elegant buffet with really good food, although I’m not sure what we ate. There were no labels, so not sure but I think I had the spinach pie and I know I had baklava. A welcome, quiet respite from the hurrying and climbing of the morning.

The afternoon was spent in the Medieval Walled City of Rhodes. We looked through rooms with mosaic floors



and artifacts from the Roman era in the area. Just a bit more climbing of stairs, but at a leisurely pace.



We heard about the Knights of St. John, who were hospitaliers. They had nothing to do w/ healing the sick, the word was a form of hospitality—they provided for pilgrims traveling to the Holy Lands and they also had to be soldiers to protect the area. Eventually they weren’t able to protect it, and they were ousted by the Turks and went Malta. We were given time for shopping and N and I found an ice cream shop. (Today, I did not follow my cruise rule —to have only one dessert per day—yes, I’ve had more than one, but all the stairs made it necessary to keep up my strength)

This was a really LONG but informative and interesting day. We’re back on board the ship and will be headed to Croatia. Tomorrow is a DAY AT SEA. I will catch up on the miscellaneous items I want to blog about then.