Rhodes

Another change to the itinerary after losing Egypt was spending two days in Rhodes rather than one. Rhodes is a perfectly pleasant place, but I'd been there before and I had a hard time choosing a second excursion I was interested in doing.

Which turned out to be moot, since the one I ended up picking was cancelled. I spent the unexpected free day walking around in the town of Rhodes, which was far more interesting than anticipated. I think the last time I was here we were docked in Lindos, and I never saw Rhodes at all. It has what's described as the largest living medieval town in Europe, all surrounded by extensive and impressive fortifications, courtesy of the enterprising Knights of St. John who basically built Malta.

The season is definitely over, so almost all of the shops and restaurants are closed, but I walked through the moat, which has been turned into a very pretty park, and when I got hungry, I just went back to the ship.

Back in town

The street along the waterfront is full of restaurants and cafes, and of course, like any self-respecting Mediterranean metropolis, there is a fortress in the harbor.

Views from the shore walk

 

Nafplion

(The Greeks call it Nafplio, but since I just got used to pronouncing Nafplion, I'm sticking with the spelling they use on the ship.)

I'd actually been here already—we spent the night here on Thursday, but we arrived late after a two and a half hour drive in the rain that made me regret that I'd eaten so much moussaka at lunch, and left again right after breakfast. So I had an impression of a pretty little town, but didn't see anything except for the hotel.

I'd cancelled the excursion I'd booked, since I realized I'd seen most of the sites—like the Corinth Canal—on the pre-cruise tour, so that gave me a day to investigate the pretty little town on my own. I walked to the end of the marina and found this path along the shoreline; there was a locked gate and a sign warned of danger from falling rocks, but I saw all the locals ignoring the sign and walking around the gate so I did, too.

This man was one of several I saw fishing that day, but none of them seemed to have caught any fish. I'm wondering if all the fishing was less for bringing home Christmas Eve dinner and more for getting out of the last-minute Christmas shopping.