European Cruise Day 4: Rhodes, Greece
Disclaimer: These are all unedited and uncensored. They are raw emotion, intellect and information. I hope you enjoy my experiences.
*Miranda and Alyssa are my sisters and Thomas is my soon to be brother in law.*
We’re all back together today, and I’m happy about that. We’re all following the bus tour for ease of mind.
We’re on our bus and the tour guide just old us that the harbor is where you swaaaay your hips and find a husband. She also says drink ouzo and flirt. “Flirt! That’s the name of the game!”
A beautiful butterfly just kissed the window where I’m sitting. A sign of transition? I think so.
Rhodes is called Rodos in the city. It’s a wind surfing destination. The water is crystal clear and there is a plethora of water sports. Our guide just told us that acropolis means edge of the town. That’s different than our guide said yesterday…
Gymnasium - gymnos means naked! As they prepared for the Olympics games, they always exercised naked.
We’re in Kameiros now. There are three levels. We are surrounded by Cyprus trees. The female trees are voluptuous and the males are tall and slender. People were never sacrificed in Greece. Oxen were sacrificed to the gods. This is where the myth of [peracleas] took place. He was chained to the top of the hill where an eagle would eat his liver, it would grow back every night and the next day it would happen again. The lesson in this is that every day we must endure the hardships with courage and grace. Rodos used to have a ton of snakes until they brought deer over who stepped on them and killed the vast majority.
As we’re traveling to the street of the knights, I’m noticing that there is far less graffiti. I really enjoy the natural state of a lot of this island. It’s beautiful. It actually reminds me of Colorado a bit. It’s surprising how dry the air is seeing as the ocean is right next door. It doesn’t rain very much. There’s sunlight at least 300 days a year. I wonder how hot it gets in the summer. Gas is 1.72 a liter here. That’s about $11 a gallon! There are very few large cars in Greece. The public pays for public college here. Our guide told us that american schools are easy to enter and hard to finish, while Greek schools are very hard to get into and easy to finish. People have wreaths of flowers on their cars and doors that they make for labor day. Half way through June they all go to a field and burn them to signify the end of spring.
Last night I stated Rhodes as being magical. Now that I’m here, it’s even more than that. Walking down the street of knights takes you back a few millennia. Now that we’re here in an archeological museum I feel the energy of 2000 years. There are flowers growing and the most magnificent scenes I’ve ever seen. The smells are ancient and the buildings show the age but have been so well preserved. I feel like I’m experiencing something that I can’t only experience once. I’ve got to come back and I’ve got to bring britt. I don’t even care if I go back to Athens, but Rodos is a must. This place is stunning. I’m approaching a garden with more artifacts and there is a small pond with several coi fish. The trees give shade to the hot day and fill the air with oxygen. I breathe deep to take it all in. It take several deep breaths. It’s a wondrous scenario. Pictures!!!
We found a cute restaurant here in a square near the museum. It’s got wonderful ambience and I’m in love. The weather is gorgeous. We’re sitting in the shade. Life is incredible. I only wish I could share this time with Britt. Mom choice to wander off, returning only to brag about the crepe she got. I’m so happy about being here, right now, in this place, with or without my mom. We are so lucky. We’ve got about an hour and a half to wander the shops and see the people and things of Rodos. I’m so happy right now!
After local gyros (served without the pita but with French fries), we headed down to Socratous Street where there were shops that reminded me both of Aladdin and the renaissance festival. At any point I imagine Aladdin being chased by turban headed men jumping arose the sun shaded overhead. All for an apple. The city is so spirited, so magical, so historical. The library is a large building that dates back to the 5th century AD. Wild!
There are many little kids playing toy accordions for spare euros. We were warned that they are very cunning. In fact, as soon as we left the city we saw a little girl holding a puppy. Both were very cute but now we know better. What I loved about Rhodes is that I didn’t worried about being pick pocketed or harassed. We walked through squares with many beautiful fountains, and through many alleys with a little graffiti that said things like “freedom in Iraq” and “freedom in Pakistan.” I stay unopinionated. I still felt very safe.
As we walked back to the ship, we took a chilly wade in the Mediterranean Sea. Then as thomas and Alyssa heeded on, dad and explored an ancient watch tower at the dock. We found a wooden ladder and climbed it to check it out. There was a spiral staircase, a tile area and some ancient mosaic design in some of the ground similar to the ones we saw at the museum but not well preserved. It was a great find. Back on the boat we kicked back and relaxed as the music played and we sailed away from Rhodes. I really want to return there sometime soon.
