Day 5 - Rhodes

Our first port of call. 

We docked early at Rhodes. I went to the gym at 6:30 am, and the view of Rhodes from the front balcony was amazing.  

We walked off the ship early and were met with the walled city. Jamie stopped at a rentacar place and picked up a map - which turned out to be critically important, as navigating the streets of Rhodes was very difficult.  

We passed through the main square, and made our way through the streets. 

We were awed by Rhodes.  The old city was actually a fortress - surrounded by high walls and moats.  

We traversed through the maze of streets, trying to locate the Jewish Museum. After asking directions several times, we finally located it - but it opened at 10am (it was 9:40), so we opted to return towards the end of the day, as it was close to the pier where the Equinox was docked. 

By this time, part of the crew was already hungry, and hot. So we stopped at a rooftop bar and had drinks and salads.  Several of us had a tall iced frappacino, which was extremely refreshing.  Once again, the salads were incredible.  

After our "morning lunch", we continued to explore.  

There were several staircases to nowhere - obvious that the old building that was there thousands of years ago had collapsed and disappeared.

We passed through more moats and over bridges.  We passed out of the old city briefly, but never actually ventured into the newer city.  

We again arrived at the Jewish Museum.  Part of which was a synagogue - the oldest in Greece.  

The museum was dedicated to the history of the thousands of Jews that had previously lived in Rhodes.  Numbering in the thousands prior to World War II, the current population is under 100.  

Between the holocaust and general anti-semetism, all but a few had left the island. 

After the museum, we stopped for lunch at Taverna Kosta. A place you could never find unless you looked for it.  We sat in back, in an outdoor room with windows open to a garden.  

We originally thought that we had ordered too much food - but the meal was so delicious, we are every last piece.  Salads, mussels, cheese - we had one of our best meals to date. 

Upon leaving we noticed that tourists left small notes on the entryway, extolling the tastes of one dish or another.  We likewise did the same, on the back of one of my business cards.  I can only hope that the send me an invite for a free meal - requiring us to make a return trip. 

We slowly returned to the ship, where we changed and sat poolside as the ship left port. 

After another fine dinner, we went to the show, which was a Beatles impersonation group.  Very entertaining, even if their voices were not the best. 

A quick trip to the casino thinned out the group, as some opted to head to the cabins.  Soon enough, we all headed to sleep - with dreams of Mykonos in our heads.