Europe – Day 9

If it is Wednesday, we must have landed at Rhodes, Greece.  This is a large island at 540 square miles with a population of 115,490 and 450 taxies and all of the taxies must be parked right outside our ship. 

We are docked outside the old city of Rhodes and the sight is amazing.  Rhodes is actually closer to Asia than to Greece and has been conquered by just about everyone over the course of its existence.  The old city is surrounded by an intact high wall and you enter through one of its several gates and it is like walking into a movie set.

The island is rich in history and legend.  Its major beginning was during the 7^th century BC when it flourished as a major trading center.  This was virtually the center of the world at that time.

We have been here before and have toured the island so today we are just going into the walled old city, shop and have fun for awhile and then go to the beach.

Rhodes averages over 300+ days of sunshine a year so it is a major tourist destination for Europeans during the summer.  It isn’t as busy today as it is in the summer, but there are still 3 cruise ships at the port.

This is the first port that Barb has not bought a scarf!!  We did purchase some nice Greek placemats and napkins for the kitchen table.

After visiting the town we walked for a little bit and then took a cab to the beach.  The sun was out nicely and we stayed there for a couple of hours before taking a cab back to the beach.

We went up to the top deck for some snacks and sat on our deck eating and watching people come back to the ship.

Then it was time for a nap, before getting ready for dinner.

We played in the casino before dinner and Ed played for 1/2 hour and was up and Barb was also up.    

Tonight we are back in the main dinning room and that is just fine because the food has always been wonderful.  We had another couple join us who were also on the cruise because of the casino and they were from Pittsburg and he is an attorney.

After dinner, we skipped the show and went to the casino to close out the night and Ed played 2 hours and was event and Barb was down a little is all – so a fine night.

Tomorrow the island of Santorini which we have never visited – so it should be fun.

Night 

In the Old City

An alley

An entrance way

Looking at placemats

More placemats