Rhodes, Greece...and unscheduled, unplanned stop due to terrorist activity in Turkey. It's one of the largest of the Greek Islands, and what a gem...what a terrific city...and what wonderful people!
We were docked by 8am & off the ship by 8:15. No booked tour - there were only four available and none were appealing to us, so we packed our usual gear consisting of our ID's, two cameras, one thermos of ice water, and hand sanitizer...that latter a 'must carry' in large crowds of coughing, sneezing tourists!
The one tour that grabbed our interest was seeing the Temple of Apollo, the Old Town of Rhodes, and the Palace of the Grand Masters. Ship price was $75, or $150 p/couple. The Hop-on/Hop-off bus was offering basically the same thing, PLUS the ability to visit the beaches and the downtown area for...$24 p/couple. Another example of the steep mark-ups & profit margins commanded on these ship-sponsored tours, but some folks are just more comfortable in a large group setting with a guide, and that's fine - to each their own. We'll do such tours in large, unfamilar cities, or areas where there's an obvious element of danger - but not Rhodes...it's a relatively small city, and from the info I was able to gather from the ship library, a very low crime rate.
At any rate, we had a wonderful day, and were able to take in the entire city by 1:30, including about 90 minutes just walking through the massive Palace of the Grand Masters, a mere 10-minute walk from the ship. We had a late lunch back onboard, showered, took naps, and went to dinner at our usual 5:30 seating. Our tablemates, who've been with us since day #1, are not only from California, but the city of Escondido, and even more of a coincidence, live less than 5 miles from my dear sister. And both such dear people - he (Roger) a retired school superintendant, and she (Norma) a retired guidance counselor. Our other dining couple from Oregon disembarked in Rome, so it's just the four of us each evening by choice. We asked the dining room manager not to assign another couple to our table for the balance of the trip. Great times with these wonderful folks!
We're now sailing toward Athens. This will be our second visit, with a third scheduled after we leave Venice. Forecast tomorrow is calling for rain. The only thing I want to accomplish is finding land-based internet and upload all our photos from Crete, Santorini, and Rhodes. Our satellite transmission from the ship has been painfully slow the past few days, and I've burned through nearly 300 minutes trying to post updates to our blog. Of course, the ship charges $$ for each minute you're logged-in...whether it works for you or not...so really, no recourse. I could complain and maybe get a little reimbursement, but Holland America has been extremely good to us over the years including this voyage, so I really don't want to get petty with them. Using the internet from the ship is always a gamble, particulary uploading a ton of photos. If anyone's at fault, it's me for continually trying :)
All for now...
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