Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Thursday, June 18, 2015 – Rhodes, Greece – Sunny, Warm – 80s

An almost perfect day in Rhodes, Greece.  

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Rhodes Town, as always, looks great from the deck of the ship.

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Rhodes Town from the Ship

We are not planning to walk into Rhodes Town today (we have done this several times).  Instead, we are both on tour today – “The Acropolis of Lindos”.  The tour involves a bus ride along the Southeastern coast of Rhodes to the the town of Lindros.

The tour started off in the parking lot adjacent to the pier and proceeded along the road bordering the harbor.  We passed the “Dolphin Statue” which sits ride on the beach.

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Rhodes Harbor and Dolphin Statue

The bus also passed by the purported site of the Colossus of Rhodes – a Wonder of the Ancient World.  The Colossus was thought to straddle the harbor entrance but that has been disputed.  Two non-colossal deer now stand at both sides of the harbor entrance.

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Entrance to Rhodes Harbor

Just outside of Rhodes (about 3 Km) sits the highest point in Rhodes, the Acropolis.  The Acropolis dates to the Fifth Century BC.  The bus stopped across the road from the Acropolis and passengers who wanted to get a closer look could walk over to the site.  Our stay was short so we walked partway to a point where we could get a picture of the Temple of Apollo.

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Acropolis of Rhodes – Temple of Apollo

A photo stop gave us a marvelous view of the Southwest coast of Rhodes and the Trianta Bay.

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Trianta Bay

The bus descended down to sea level giving us a nice view of the beautiful beaches of Rhodes.  Not too many people out here today despite the wonderful weather.

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Our route then took us across the island to the Eastern side of Rhodes.  Our first stop on the way to Lindos was St. Paul’s Bay.  It is believed that the Apostle Paul landed here in a storm in 51 AD to spread religion to the inhabitants.

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St. Paul’s Bay

St. Paul’s Bay is very close to the town on Lindos and our next stop.  The city of Lindos (population 3,600) consists of the typical Greek whitewashed building but the spectacular Acropolis of Lindos is why we are here.  Our tour will not take us up to the Acropolis but the bus stopped at various locations giving us great views of nearly all sides of the structure.

The Acropolis is home to several temples (Greek and Roman) and also was the Castle of the Knights of St. John (Roman Catholic Military Order similar to the Knights Templar).

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Lindos

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Above – Various Views of Lindos and Acropolis

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Yes, We Were Here

From Lindos, the bus drove North along the Eastern shore of Rhodes for several miles before stopping for a photo opportunity – Anthony Quinn Bay.  The bay got its name from the famous Mexican actor and Greek character player, Anthony Quinn.  When the actor was here filming “The Guns of Navaronne”, he fell in love with the area and vowed to return and set up a retreat for artists and actors in the area of the bay.  The land was “gifted” to Quinn (for a symbolic sum) but the government annulled the deal (even though Quinn had paid for roads and water distribution),  As recently as 2011, his widow was trying to get that land back.  In any event, it is a very picturesque area.

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Anthony Quinn Bay

Before we headed back to Rhodes Town, I caught a glimpse of a less than colossal Colossus of Rhodes guarding a store. 

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Re-Imagining the Colossus of Rhodes

Our return route took along the Eastern shore of the island and even afforded a view of Turkey in the distance.

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Turkey across the Water

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As we got closer, we got a very nice view of Queen Victoria docked in Rhodes Town.

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Queen Victoria Docked

Once onboard, it was unwind time from a long but nice tour of the island.  A good place to do that would be the Winter Garden Lounge.

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Ellen Chillin’ in the Winter Garden

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