Cats in Greece

There may not have been any other people in the moat, but of course there was a cat.

In which I finally make my escape

Silence has succeeded the roar of the guns, the shouts of combatants, and the clash of weapons. Scenes of slaughter and death have faded away. Yet the fortifications, the moat and the walls, the towers and bastions, have been consecrated by the sacrifice of thousands of human beings, most of them young men, who fell here during successive sieges, great or small, by Arabs, Franks, and Turks.

The visitor is called upon to seek the memories soaking through the stone and show due respect for the hallowed ground.

This was on a sign near where I took this picture—not, alas, a sign accompanied by a map with a handy “You Are Here” arrow, but it was the first sign I'd seen in the park. And this particular section looked a lot like the place where I had walked in, so I thought I had finally reached the end. (Spoiler alert: I had not.)

But what I did see, around the next bend, was a couple walking toward me—the only other people I had seen in the park. They had obviously entered the park from the other end, and that meant that, eventually, there would be an end.

It was maybe ten more minutes before I found it, and having by that point sought more than enough memories soaking through the stone, I showed my due respect by scurrying out and back to the ship.

The fortifications

Some of the towers and walls that glowered down at me as I made my way through the moat. I was just glad that it wasn't the middle of summer as I quickly finished off the bottle of water I had as it was.

Famous last words

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.

Easier said than done, as it turned out. The moat is a pretty park, but once you are in it, there's no way out. At least none that I found. I wasn't walking that fast, but it took me almost an hour to get to the other end of it, and I had started to believe that I might never find my way out.

Those are not decorative stones, by the way, but actual cannonballs. You may beat your swords into plowshares, but they'll still have been to war.

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.

Imagine if I had actually spent some time in India

...instead of a mere five days. 

But I'm done for the moment (except for the birds of course.) Here's one last view from the Amber Fort, with that beautiful temple in the foreground.

On to Jordan.

O'er the ramparts we watched

One last look at the Agra Fort. It looks a lot more like our concept of a fort from the outside.

Amber Fort

Amber, or Amer (no relation to the stone or the color amber), was the seat of government before Jai Singh II founded Jaipur. The fort is more of a palace than an army barracks since it was also the home of the maharajahs, though it is highly protected, with a wall that snakes along the mountains like its counterpart in China.

I took so many pictures there that I am just going to post a few of the most interesting ones, rather than waiting until I have time to go through everything. Otherwise I'll never get to Bharatpur or the Taj Mahal or Petra.