Part 4 - AQUAMARINE
Saturday 12th September 2009
The English version of the Louis Daily News reminded us that today we were to visit Rhodes, the most famous of the Dodecanese islands, so that meant lots of ships to see after 8.30 a.m. arrival, as well as the fascinating Old City.
There had been lightning visible during the previous evening, and localised storms had obviously sent a lot of rain onto Rhodes, judging by some huge puddles near the quay but the heat soon dried them up. On the way out on the quayside I took a photograph of my aquamarine-coloured scarf hanging in the porthole of my cabin. Why? Because I had hung it up there, and wanted to see just how low my cabin was, and I’ve never had the chance to do this before.
I visited the Archaeological Museum and particularly admired the sculptures from 420-410 BC showing women in flowing robes, with the ‘fabrics’ carved in such beautiful and lifelike ways as they fell to the feet. That must be so difficult to do.
Coffee called from one of the many street-side cafes; scented olive-oil soaps had to be bought; beautiful jewellery from dozens of shops had to be admired; walking amongst crowds of other tourists had to be negotiated; the cool shade and hot sun of the old city streets had to be contrasted; and at one of the numerous T-shirt/hat shops we had to look at the cotton sun hats with synthetic hair attached – either blonde or black flowing locks; there were lots of ships to see out in the harbour.
The blue sky overhead, the heat and the flowers around the Old City made for a happy morning, before returning to AQUAMARINE.
Lunch time and tea time on the ship passed happily, and then it was time to dress for late dinner at 9.15 p.m. and Greek Night on board the ship.
Posh frocks and high heels (for me anyway), pre-dinner drinks at the Sunshine Bar and excellent food in the Restaurant followed, and then one of our number impressed the rest of us tremendously in the karaoke competition in one of the bars.
Ships seen: Gemini (Quail Cruises), Ierapetra L (Anek), Blue Star 2, Nautica, Symi, Marmaris Express, Sapphire
To be continued...
