The Island of Rhodes
We got up early to make our tour to Lindos on the island of Rhodes. We loved Rhodes right from the beginning. Our tour guide was truly knowledgeable and a very nice woman named Katarina – Nina for short. She had studied Art and Design in New York and had a lovely voice. Nina told excellent stories and was a wealth of information about the island as she had been born there. The bus ride was about 45 minutes to Lindos. We passed many old olive groves and several villages.
Lindos itself was a zoo. There were way too many people being funneled up the stairs. From the bus, we walked downhill to the square in Lindos which was packed with cars and folks clambering to get down. We began the trek to the top – few women opted to take donkeys up which might have been the better way. They were small animals and seemed well behaved. The climbers – us – had to stop almost every three stairs – it was impossible to get winded at that pace, but the real trick was not to get panicked by the sheer amount of people. Ed didn’t care for the body odors but it was really nothing compared to the souk in Tripoli or even a cab in Kuala Lumpur. It took about 45 minutes to get to the top. There are three levels – the first was the most recent, with a temple to Athena (the oldest) at the top. From there we had a beautiful view of the Aegean and the Bay of the Apostle Paul, who was said to have landed there to take refuge in a storm when making his way back to the Holy Land.
Coming back down was much faster – maybe 15 minutes. We met at the bus and then headed back to the town of Rhodes. We stopped at a family run pottery business – pottery being the second largest export business on the island. Bought a plate and a beautiful vase with the god Poseidon on the side.
We had lunch on the ship (Terrace Cafe) and then headed in to Old Rhodes Town for a walk. There were shuttles, but we walked the 20 minutes to the entrance. It was pleasant to walk the streets on our own. We bought some souvenirs and a bottle of Rhodian wine. One of the great things about Oceania is that they allow you to buy wine and liquor ashore and consume it in your room.
In the evening, we met friends Geri and Marie for the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Cocktail party where complimentary drinks and hors d’oeuvres were served. They were quite good. Made it through the reception line – Captain Julio Rezza introduced himself and then each of his direct reports introduced themselves. At 6:30 the four of us had dinner together in the Grand Dining Room – caviar, salad and then a very good whole Maine lobster with drawn butter. After dinner, we dragged Ed to Martinis to play Team Trivia – came in second. It was actually a lot of fun.
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