Where: Rhodes, Greece
When: July 25, 2007
With: Rachel, Lucy and the Contiki crew
After our scorcher of a day in Patmos and Ephesus, our day in Rhodes felt like a dream. It was water-based, we weren't hungover, and there was limited sightseeing. Ahhh.
Rhodes has had many lives since it was first inhabited in probably the 15th century BC. It was important for the Greeks, then the Christian Crusaders, and later for the Ottoman Turks. All the different cultures have left their marks on Rhodes.
The thing that probably first comes to mind when hearing Rhodes is the "Colossus of Rhodes", one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world. This 100ft tall statue depicted Helios, god of the sun, and was built to commemorate a victory over an attempted invasion by Cyprus. The statue was the tallest in the world in its short life before it was destroyed in an earthquake and never rebuilt. While the remains are obviously no longer there, you can picture what it must have been like, standing on this entrance to the harbor, about the size of the statue of liberty. Unbelievable.
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The most striking mark on the city was left during the medieval times and we noted it right as we came into the harbor. Rhodes is surrounded by a fortification wall that is over 700 years old. It runs 3 miles long, encircling the Old Town, and is 40 feet thick.
When: July 25, 2007
With: Rachel, Lucy and the Contiki crew
After our scorcher of a day in Patmos and Ephesus, our day in Rhodes felt like a dream. It was water-based, we weren't hungover, and there was limited sightseeing. Ahhh.
Rhodes has had many lives since it was first inhabited in probably the 15th century BC. It was important for the Greeks, then the Christian Crusaders, and later for the Ottoman Turks. All the different cultures have left their marks on Rhodes.
The thing that probably first comes to mind when hearing Rhodes is the "Colossus of Rhodes", one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world. This 100ft tall statue depicted Helios, god of the sun, and was built to commemorate a victory over an attempted invasion by Cyprus. The statue was the tallest in the world in its short life before it was destroyed in an earthquake and never rebuilt. While the remains are obviously no longer there, you can picture what it must have been like, standing on this entrance to the harbor, about the size of the statue of liberty. Unbelievable.
We docked and took a short walk through town, but sadly too short, because I would have loved to explore more of the cobblestoned Old Town.
The reason for our short stay was that we were going to try scuba diving! In the shadiest way ever! So we left one boat to board another and set off around the island for our lessons.
Some views of the walls of Rhodes from the water.
A great view of our cruise ship as we left the harbor.
We rode around the island for about 30 minutes to this beautiful, little grotto.
We spent the day diving off the boat, swimming around, grabbing lunch and swimming on-shore. The scuba diving was...basic at best. My favorite part was that the crew attached our tanks to our backs with lit cigarettes hanging out of their mouths. But all in all, it was a beautiful and relaxing day.
Drying off and catching some sun.
Definitely was an amazing day, though I wish I could have also seen the city of Rhodes. Can't have it all!
We set sail for our last two stops of the trip, Crete and Santorini! It's going by too fast!
A picture of the entire Contiki crew on our last night all together.
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