Another beautiful hot day …

We took our time getting off the ship. As we did, a very pleasant chap (Chris) approached and offered us a little tour in his Mercedes.

He showed us a church …

… where the Colossus of Rhodes is supposed to have stood astride the entrance to the old harbour (marked by the pillars behind us here) …

Then around to the beaches …

… and up a hill for a great view of the town and across to Turkey (only just visible in the Mediterranean haze 16 miles away) …

Rhodes has an acropolis too …

… and an Olympic stadium (only 200 meters around this one)

Then Chris dropped us off at the main city gates (the old city wall, 4.5km, is intact all the way around) …

… and in we went …

… it was a shopping mall … well almost … it was certainly the main (only?) occupation of the locals …

We looked around a bit, and then, because it was so close went back to the ship for lunch. I then made Jan’s day … you shop, while I go exploring!!!

I hunted the back alleys …

… and the squares …

Climbed a clock tower for a view over the city …

and went to the Grand Masters Palace …

The Knights and Crusades and all that stuff are a big deal in the history of Rhodes. You only have to see where it is on the map to see why …

The Palace is magnificent. Now a Museum throughout, of course.

In the courtyard they have concerts. You can just imagine how wonderful they would be …

I then explored the Street of the Knights. A row of amazing old stone “houses” …

… some with secret little courtyards you could catch a glimpse in to …

I looked in, but didn’t go in, to this huge old hospital. The knights suffered injuries too! It’s now also another Museum.

On the way back to the ship (along the harbour front outside the wall) I found Jan … really happy with her afternoon in the shops …