These may be out of order, but here's the next one.
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Well, here we are, sitting in the commercial harbor of Rhodes just about sunset, waiting to embark for Egypt. A lot to report over the past two days but here are the high points.
Athens was very interesting, but not the kind of place that calls either of us to come back for another visit. It’s a strange mix of modern and ancient, all right next to each other. We docked in Piraeus, the old port, and took a bus tour past the docks and then on into Athens. Something like 5 to 7 miles from one to the other, but it’s really all one big city now, just like LA or Chicago: the tour guide was telling us that we left one town and entered another, but you couldn’t tell from the surroundings.
Athens itself is just another big city, but with a Mediterranean feel… meaning that the buildings are low and mostly white. Then, right in the middle of the urban mix, you come across the Acropolis and an instant time travel back about 2,000 years. The modern city has grown up around and right next to the ancient ruins, with very little demarcation between the two. Not at all what we expected.
The Acropolis itself was fascinating: three major structures including the Parthenon, all in various states of decay and restoration: quite a mix, but fascinating to walk around. We have many pictures and will share those when we get back to the land of free (or at least reasonably priced) internet access.
Athens was very interesting, but not the kind of place that calls either of us to come back for another visit. It’s a strange mix of modern and ancient, all right next to each other. We docked in Piraeus, the old port, and took a bus tour past the docks and then on into Athens. Something like 5 to 7 miles from one to the other, but it’s really all one big city now, just like LA or Chicago: the tour guide was telling us that we left one town and entered another, but you couldn’t tell from the surroundings.
Athens itself is just another big city, but with a Mediterranean feel… meaning that the buildings are low and mostly white. Then, right in the middle of the urban mix, you come across the Acropolis and an instant time travel back about 2,000 years. The modern city has grown up around and right next to the ancient ruins, with very little demarcation between the two. Not at all what we expected.
The Acropolis itself was fascinating: three major structures including the Parthenon, all in various states of decay and restoration: quite a mix, but fascinating to walk around. We have many pictures and will share those when we get back to the land of free (or at least reasonably priced) internet access.
We left Piraeus just before sunset and had a pleasant transit to Rhodes. And that’s when the fun began!
Rhodes is beautiful, historically interesting, and very, very easy to fall in love with. It’s so nice as to be hard to describe: 14th century fortifications, all largely intact, churches from the knights of Saint John, mosques from the time of Suleiman… it’s about 10 centuries of European history all wrapped into a package that you can see in a half-day of walking around. We did the walk and our jaws are still hanging around our knees. One of the things that really struck us was that the folks in Rhodes managed to grow up and around the artifacts of their past, but in a very graceful way that struck a great balance between the old and the present, but the folks in Athens didn’t manage to find the same balance.
The real bottom line of Rhodes: we’re already trying to figure out how we get back here for a week or so, because we know that we only scratched the surface. Seriously, we’ve had the opportunity to see a fair number of places around the world, and this is near the top of the “we gotta come see it again” list.
And did I mention that the temperatures were in the upper 60s with clear blue skies? So nice…
Rhodes is beautiful, historically interesting, and very, very easy to fall in love with. It’s so nice as to be hard to describe: 14th century fortifications, all largely intact, churches from the knights of Saint John, mosques from the time of Suleiman… it’s about 10 centuries of European history all wrapped into a package that you can see in a half-day of walking around. We did the walk and our jaws are still hanging around our knees. One of the things that really struck us was that the folks in Rhodes managed to grow up and around the artifacts of their past, but in a very graceful way that struck a great balance between the old and the present, but the folks in Athens didn’t manage to find the same balance.
The real bottom line of Rhodes: we’re already trying to figure out how we get back here for a week or so, because we know that we only scratched the surface. Seriously, we’ve had the opportunity to see a fair number of places around the world, and this is near the top of the “we gotta come see it again” list.
And did I mention that the temperatures were in the upper 60s with clear blue skies? So nice…
We were back in the ship in time to see a gorgeous sunset, and now we’re off to Egypt after a day at sea. We’re looking forward to seeing the pyramids and the battlefield at El Alamein, but I think that maybe more that those (which will be pretty cool to see) we’re looking ahead to Malta. We’ve heard that Valetta, the main city, is just a beautiful and interesting as Rhodes. That we’ve gotta see!
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