Day 7: Rhodes and Lindos

The Town of Lindos

Today we were docked in the island capital of Rhodes Town on the island of Rhodes, Greece.  The previous day we had booked a shore excursion to visit the sea side town of Lindos, so after a very fast breakfast we hit the Colony Club and joined our tour group at around 8:30am.  The trip took us via coach about an hour south of Rhodes Town following the eastern coastline.

Ascending the Acropolis of Lindos

Rhodes is, geographically, very interesting containing many hills and valleys.  There are a lot of trees spaced apart – some even living on the side of sheer cliffs!  Rhodes, of course, is in the middle of their ‘off season’, the island more or less shuts down completely except when a cruise liner calls into port.  As a consequence, many of the towns and hotels we passed along the way to Lindos were empty and/or closed.

View from the Acropolis | Another View from the top

We passed a supposed replica (not to scale) of the famous bronze Colossus of Rhodes – which once stood 32m – although according to our tour guide no one knows exactly where the Colossus was erected, even though it lay untouched for about 900 years!  Our trip to Lindos was, as you would expect, incident free and we passed few cars.

Rob at the Acropolis of Lindos

All the tour busses arrived more or less at the same time, and we caught a shuttle bus down to Lindos’ town square.  From here we began walking though the town towards the Acropolis which stands guarding the town.  The town consists of many small passages and tiny streets paved with small pebbles which the townsfolk had collected – by hand – from the beach nearby, thus clearing the beach of all pebbles and also creating a decorative pattern for their town’s streets.

Local Pottery maker demonstrates his craft

The Acropolis was a medium-intensity climb up over 200 stairs of differing quality, condition and height.  The walls are still in reasonable condition, and cover the peak quite adequately.  There are remains of numerous temples on the very top and work is being done to restore some of the Acropolis as evidenced by a crane and various marble parts lying around.

The view was quite spectacular in all directions.  The bays and coves surrounding the coastline we pocketed with little caves and outcrops.  On the hillside above Lindos are a number of tombs, the largest reputed to belong to an ancient king of Lindos who is rumoured to have uttered one of the immortal adages of time “all things in moderation”.

After we returned to the town, we visited the church there and also bought two ceramic plates and some Greek chess pieces made from bronze.  Our return trip saw us stop at a local pottery maker’s workshop where he demonstrated his craft for us (pictures).

Handiwork in action

On our return to Rhodes Town, we dumped things on the ship before returning to explore Rhodes Old Town.  The town is the largest and best preserved medieval town in Europe, and is a UNESCO world heritage site.  The city walls which enclose the town are a whopping uninterrupted 4kms long and can be walked the entire way.

Rhodes Old Town (City Walls) | Along the dockside in Rhodes Town

We entered in the historic section which was, honestly, a bit of a let down.  The Street of the Knights was an empty street containing embassies for France and Italy (to name a few) and nothing was open.  The streets looked original, and the walls and fortifications certainly were also.  The museums all inexplicably closed at (or before!!) 2:30pm so no attractions were open despite our ship departing at 5:30pm.  The main battlements were covered in scaffolding, and many of the shops were closed.  Some restaurants were open, but we felt it a tad pricey.

Climbing Medieval Battlements in Rhodes Old Town

The city seemed to maintain the medieval feel of it’s surroundings, whilst accommodating modern amenities.  The harbour area in particular, as well as the northern fortifications were a real highlight.  Some of the people were a bit standoffish, although generally we didn’t have a bad time.  Greece is an interesting country whether it is on the mainland or the islands, it seems!

We bought a couple of things in one of the stores there, but otherwise felt that inside the old city was a bit of a let down.  Perhaps a little unfair of us given the off season nature, but you’d thing a little effort was warranted given the two and a half thousand tourists ashore!  In any case we only spent roughly an hour in the Old Town before we headed back to the ship for lunch and to (eventually) watch the departure at 5:30pm.

Street of the Knights | Rob in Rhodes Old Town

The next port is one which will not fail in our expectations: we will be overnight in Alexandria, Egypt!  Not sure when the next post will be, as we will be staying overnight in Cairo.  Stay tuned, the best is yet to come!