Rhodes

This morning was a quiet one, as we docked in Rhodes and spent the morning relaxing on the ship. After lunch, it was off on our tour of this island city, capital of an island by the same name. Paul preached or at least passed through here (though it’s hard to imagine him not preaching anywhere he went) in Acts 21.

Rhodes is famous for boasting one of the “seven wonders of the ancient world,” the Colossus, which was a huge statue of Apollo or Helios, the sun god, and which was felled by an earthquake. The pieces were later taken away by pirates, so nothing remains of the impressive statue. There are ruins of an ancient temple to Apollo as well as a fairly well-preserved Roman stadium. It is hard to preserve things in Rhodes, as the salt from the sea is so hard on even the stones.

But there is a medieval city that is still occupied, the best preserved such city in the world. Some 5,000 inhabitants today still live within its walls. The city was built by the Knights of St. John, who had come here from Jerusalem. The palace that was built here was destroyed by fire and rebuilt, twice its size, as a summer home for Mussolini. However, when it was finished, the war was on and he never made it here.

We walked through the Old City, down an ancient cobblestone street, and then were set free to shop and explore. We looked for some souvenirs, and then I was sat on by a parrot. Yes, there’s a story there!

Tonight, we have a Mediterranean buffet on the pool deck along with a Greek folklore show. Then we set sail for Israel!