The Greek island of Rhodes, or Rodos as the locals call it, was wonderful. I was on the Scenic Rhodes tour that took us for a drive in the countryside, along the beautiful coast and beaches to ancient Kamiros. The ruins are fairly raw, without a lot of rebuilding by archeologist. They date back to the 3rd/2nd century B.C.
The guide was very knowledgeable, passionate about the history and VERY CUTE.
The beach areas, with all the shades of blue of the ocean were gorgeous and the Towns, though full of tourist accomodations were clean and picturesque. Some 70 percent of the economy is based on tourism.
We stopped at a ceramic shop to watch the artisans throw a vase on the foot spun wheel and another doing the detailed etching and painting of the traditional Greek pottery.
Rhodes is divided into Old Town, within the medieval walls, and New Town. Our tour concluded with a walk through Old Town, over the three moats to the palace of the Grand Masters, past the hospital and streets of the Knights of St. John. Originally a religious order, in medieval hospitals, they expanded to a fighting order until overthrown by the Ottomans (I think). The Knights went to Malta and returned to their religious roots and still operate hospitals in Europe. Many of the houses of the Knights are now used as embassies (such as for France and Spain).
The cobblestones in the old town were very pointy and rough walking (no wonder the child in the stroller was screaming as every bone got rattled and shook) on the street. We had free time to wander the museum, marketplace and have a coffee before returning to the ship. If I wasn't travelling light I would have been tempted to fill a suitcase or two with the beautiful cotton sweaters, ceramics and silver jewellery. Too soon it was time to leave and sail on to Turkey.
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