Marders in Greece: Day 5 Rhodes & Lindos

Phil & Patty in Lindos (Rhodes)

Day 5: Rhodes & Lindos

We arrived a little later than planed in Rhodes due to high seas delaying our departure from Turkey. We left the ship by dock at 8:30 AM and proceeded to our tour bus to meet our guide for the morning, Daphne. Daphne was an excellent guide whose command of English and knowledge of the area was outstanding. We learned that Rhodes was an island in the Aegean Sea, 48 miles long by 19 miles wide. It's been inhabited continuously since the 5th century, BC Rhodes is probably best known as the home of the "Colossus of Rhodes" once one of the Seven Wonders of the World. This statue was over 100 ft. tall and stood on a 35 foot base. Built around 300 BC, it collapsed less than 100 years later. Still, nearly everyone has heard of this. The main city in Rhodes also shares the same name. There is a modern city of Rhodes and a well preserved old city dating back to the Medieval times. We drove through Rhodes city to travel to our first stop, a pottery factory and shop where we observed the craftsmen and Patty purchased a small handmade vase. We left the shop and traveled the rest of the way to a small town called Lindos. This 35 mile drive was well worth it as we visited a beautiful site of an ancient acropolis. We learned from Daphne that the word acropolis was derived from the Greek word "acrop" meaning extreme and "polis" meaning town or city. So the word acropolis means the most extreme or highest point in the city. The scenery around Lindos was breathtakingly beautiful. It is an extremely rocky area with high rocky cliffs running down to the sea. At the highest point lies the acropolis thought to be built originally around 600 BC. We climbed by foot to the peak on a slippery stone walk and stairs. It wasn't an easy climb but nowhere near as difficult as our 2006 climb up the front slope of Masada in Israel. At the top lies the ruins of the ancient temple of Athena where we had a spectacular view of the sea and enclosed St. Paul's Bay. We climbed back down the path/stairs in a light rain shower making our footing particularly difficult. We re-boarded our tour bus and drove back to the old walled city of Rhodes where our guide escorted us on a walking tour of this quaint and beautiful still living town. Then, it was back to the ship for lunch and a rest. After our rest we went back out for a stroll through the old city of Rhodes. We saw a Jewish synagogue and stopped for a liquid refreshment before heading back to our ship.

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