23 April 2007

Rhodes


Another early morning aboard the Veendam. I find myself up just after sunrise (which, according to the daily schedule, occurred at 06h24) and exploring the ship.


Today's destination is the island of Rhodes, which is (of course) part of Greece. But just off the left side of the ship the mainland of Turkey is clearly visible.


Just looking at a map it is easy to see that Rhodes was destined to be a major port in ancient times, poised as it is at the outer edge of the Greek Islands, more or less at the heart of the ancient world between Greece, Rome, Egypt and the Middle East. It's also easy to understand why Rhodes was a major port for crusaders on their way to and from the Holy Land.




Rhodes is also, of course, was once home to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - the Colossus of Rhodes. But more about that in a second.



Some local tugboats make their way out to us to help us dock.


As we draw closer in to dock the style of architecture that dominates the skyline is a surprise to me.


As we move toward the harbours I suppose it's time to discuss the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

It occurs to me like a kind of epiphany that on this trip we happen to be visiting the locations of 3 out of 7 of the wonders of the ancient world (and sailing rather close to where a 4th once was). The first location of an ancient wonder that we'll visit will be today as we pull in to dock near where the Colossus of Rhodes once stood.


Here we see an artist's rendition of what the Colossus of Rhodes might have looked like if it were still standing today and we were sailing in past it. The artist in question is me, which explains the somewhat crappy nature of this rendition.


Salvador Dali's rendition of the Colossus of Rhodes looks nicer than mine, but in truth no one really knows what the original Colossus of Rhodes actually looked like. The reason for this being that it didn't remain standing long enough for anyone to make any contemporary paintings of it. Completed in 280 BC it stood only for something like 60 years before an earthquake caused it to fall over.


Thanks to the Internet I can steal a number of different images showing the Colossus and we can see what different artists imagine the statue to look like.


The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek god Helios (the sun god), which explains the spikey beams of light coming out of his head. Those spikes probably look familiar as the Statue of Liberty was itself based on the Colossus. In fact, at 35 metres tall, the Colossus was roughly the same size as the Statue of Liberty. That said, this particular rendition of the Colossus, with arm outstretched, is probably not accurate in that particular detail since it would be pretty difficult to build such a thing (structural-support-wise). Then again, it did fall over, didn't it?


In this artist's rendition by Martin Heemskerck we see another idea famously associated with the Colossus of Rhodes, which is that rather than it being a standing statue, that it straddled the entrance to the harbour at Rhodes and ships would sail underneath it. Once again, this is probably not an accurate representation of reality since it would be difficult to build such a thing.

This picture by Heemskerck shows the Colossus as it supposedly stood, but also shows it after its collapse. After standing for less than 60 years the Colossus laid around on the ground for more than 800 years. The locals, fearing that they had offended Helios (who then struck the statue down by earthquake, supposedly), did not attempt to stand the statue back up again and eventually the bronze that covered it was sold off for scrap and it disappeared. But even lying around on the ground it attracted tourists and it was said that few men could wrap their arms around one of the statue's thumbs and that the fingers were larger than a normal statue of a man. That gives some idea of the scale, I suppose.


Wherever the statue might have stood, it certainly was right around here.


If the Colossus did, in fact, straddle the entrance to the harbour then it would have been right here, where today stand two deer statues on columns. Each leg of the Colossus would have stood where these are located today.

But as attractive as that idea is, I'd think it more likely that the Colossus stood out here on this breakwater where this fortress in the foreground (the St Nicholas Fort) now stands.


As we continue in to dock we can still see the mainland of Turkey in the distance. The ancient peoples would have been able to see this as well, of course. I am fascinated by close proximity to each other in which these cultures exist.


The skyline of Rhodes Town becomes more clear. It's a strange mix of styles. Minarets pierce the medieval skyline here and there. In the foreground you can see the bases of three ancient windmills.


When we first pulled into Rhodes harbour I was unsure as to where the Colossus was supposed to have stood so I made sure to get enough pictures that I could look at them later. Up ahead is the Great Harbour where we shall be docking today.




A tugboat comes alongside and ties up to help guide us in to the dock.


The very early morning sunlight reflects off the medieval forts and mosques of ancient Rhodes Town.


And finally we come to rest at the dock here in Rhodes. Looking back a bit we again see the mainland of Turkey in the distance, as well as the windmills we just sailed past and the other harbour (Mandrahki) where the Colossus of Rhodes would have stood.


Following the usual routine the deckhands throw lines down to the workers on the dock below us.


This guy missed on his first throw and has to pull the whole thing back in again and make a second attempt.


A nice view of the St Nicholas Fort (complete with Greek flag)with mainland Turkey in the distance.


Perhaps it is a good time for a satellite map orientation. Here we see a few different things. The big yellow line is where we sailed in today, tying up at the dock (except that the Veendam is quite large, obviously, and takes up most of the space here in what we see as the top half of the dock The windmills we just sailed past are marked, on the breakwater leading out to St Nicholas Fort at the end which is circled along with the entrance to the smaller harbour. Somewhere in that circle the Colossus must have once stood. And finally, the walled old city of Rhodes Town, where we are heading now.


As you can see, the Veendam is docked right outside of Rhodes Town itself. It's always nice when the ship can dock within easy walking distance of the town.


Making our way off the ship we step onto the dock and head for the town.


The walls of the old city are visible across the harbour.


A maze of ropes are used to secure the Veendam to the dock.


And there go the passports of everyone on the entire ship. One advantage of taking a cruise ship from place to place is that the crew of the ship takes care of all the customs stuff for you. All you do is get off the ship and go wander around and have fun while your passport (instead of you) goes to the customs office.


A very short walk brings us to the edge of the city walls of the old town of Rhodes.


As you can see, the water here is also very clear and beautiful, much as it was in Dubrovnik.


A view back out toward the open ocean with the Veendam tied up to the dock.


And so we pass through the city walls and into the old town.


Various heraldic standards of the Knights of St John adorn the walls and passages of the city.


This is the Street of the Knights, which is where the Knights of St John (or whatever name you want to call them by) would have their Inns.


I believe that this is the archaeological museum located here on what I believe is Museum Square. None of this stuff is open, of course, because don't forget that we just saw the sunrise a while ago. It's still unbelievably early in the morning at this point.


A pigeon has a drink from the fountain on Museum Square.


Just inside the city walls on the Northern side of town are the ruins of the Temple of Aphrodite.


It seems that the old town of Rhodes is overwhelmingly medieval in nature, but the Temple of Aphrodite dates from much further back to ancient times (about 300 BC).


As you can see there is not much left of the Temple of Aphrodite.


Some snails hide out under a stone sphere near the Temple of Aphrodite.


Stepping outside the city walls for a moment we take a look at what used to be the moat protecting the city from attack.


Back inside the city walls again we make our way up the Street of the Knights and past the former Inns. Most of them are offices or embassies nowadays, it seems.

The Knights of St John have a confusing history and many names that I don't really fully understand but I find it interesting that the present day St John Ambulance is a descendent of the Knights of St John who once occupied these Inns in Rhodes Town. Those knights arrived here in the year 1309 after being forced from the Holy Land after the Christians of the First Crusade lost Jerusalem to the so-called infidels. But even before the First Crusade the Knights of St John (or whatever you want to call them) were in Jerusalem for centuries providing medical care for sick pilgrims visiting the Holy Land. In other words they are long known for providing medical aid.


A courtyard off of the Street of the Knights. The atmosphere of this place seems to hold many secrets.


Swords and Roses. This is, perhaps, the logo of an ancient musical group.


The buildings here are in such good repair that it's easy to imagine what life would have been like many hundreds of years ago.



Some views off the Street of the Knights into courtyards and side-streets.


Stepping out of the medieval side streets we catch our first glimpse of a completely different architectural style in the form of a mosque a few streets over.


I like this photo and the contrast of influences here in Rhodes.


And this is the so-called Palace of the Grand Masters, which is the crusader style castle we saw as we were sailing in this morning. It is here that the Knights of St John also had their hospital.


Seeing the outer walls of the Palace of the Grand Masters is all we can do at this point because it's so early in the morning that it's obviously not open yet.


Another satellite map orientation might be of use. Seeing Rhodes from space is very interesting because of the wonderfully preserved city walls. Here we see a few of the highlights of our early morning wanderings through the old town.


We continue along to another gate in the city walls. This is the Amboise Gate, located just next to the Palace of the Grand Masters.


As you can see, the former moats of the city fortifications make for nice park spaces nowadays.


A view back at the Amboise Gate as seen from the bridge over the former moat.


The Amboise Gate silhouetted against the clear blue sky.



An attacking army would have a unhappy time navigating through the twists and turns of the city wall openings.




Some more views of the Palace of the Grand Masters.


Several dogs take shelter in the shade. Rhodes must be a dog town. (Funny how characteristically dog or cat so many of these towns we're visiting are.)


A different view of the same clock tower (with medieval knight statues) and minaret in the distance that we saw earlier.



This is the Suleyman Mosque whose minaret we've been seeing all morning, including from the ship as we sailed into the harbour.


The streets of Rhodes Town are often maze-like. To the left at this junction we can head down the Street of Socrates, which contains most of the stores and shops. But instead of going there we shall first wander around some more in the smaller back alleys of the city.




Wandering through the side streets and alleyways of Rhodes Town.


A lot of the architecture in this part of the city reminds me of Kosovo. This Turkish Bath, for example, reminds me of the one in Prizren, for some reason.




Some more wandering brings us to another example of the mix of cultures and styles and epochs that are to be found in Rhodes Town. This is some ruins of what used to be the Roman Agora.


I think Rhodes Town is a lot like Jerusalem in this respect. It's an ancient city that shows the influences of its many masters over the years. From ancient Greek, through the Romans, to the crusaders and Islamic influences. Not that there is much left of the Roman Agora at this point, however.


A bit of colour comes as a surprise in the almost monochromatic colour scheme of Rhodes Town (and is reminiscent of Santorini, a bit). Everything here is coloured in pale brown stone.



I wonder if they've ever filmed any movies here in Rhodes. It excellent state of preservation seems to make it a good place to make a period film.


Look closely at this picture, paying particular attention to the façade of the this construction. As you can see it's not real stone, but fake plastic stone covering. While I admire the attempt to blend in with the medieval architecture, I will be sure to touch any suspicious looking stones from now on to see if they are real.


And so, after a considerable amount of wandering the back streets we emerge onto the Street of Socrates, a relatively wide thoroughfare that bisects the old town and serves as the main commercial street.


It is a little-known fact that it was the Knights of the First Crusade who founded The Body Shop. All that crusading was tough on the skin, no doubt.


There is something wonderful about just stepping out and wandering around a place, not really knowing what to expect. Reaching the Eastern end of thr Street of Socrates the space opens up into Platia Ippokratous and continues on the other side as the Street of Aristotle.

I have no idea what "Platia Ippokratous" means, but I am going to guess that means something like Hippocrates Square. The streets here seem to be named after all the famous Greeks. I notice the Street of Sophocles and the Street of Pythagoras on the map as well.


Lurking behind even the more modern storefronts is the ever-present pale brown stone of the medieval town. I assume this is real stone without climbing up to check.


After crossing over Hippocrates Square (I am further convinced that is what it is) we look back toward the West and the bottom end of the Street of Socrates on the left fork.


The Street of Aristotle narrows down considerably, but contains no fewer shops than did the Street of Socrates. Popular here seem to be stores selling fake designer stuff. I buy myself a fake designer label belt for 5€ in the hopes that it might be worth it. Probably not, however, since the only belt I ever bought that was any good was one I bought on the street in Tientsin, China for a dollar and I've been wearing that one ever since.

In this picture you can also see cheap fake designer sunglasses for sale. I am noticing during this trip that a LOT of people are wearing Ray Ban sunglasses. Back in Italy I assumed this meant that Italians simply valued style and quality over affording food. As we continue through Croatia and Greece and see the same trend continuing I start to question the authenticity of these Ray Bans. For some reason I find the purchase of fake sunglasses to be somewhat offensive.


The Street of Aristotle opens up again into another little square ringed with Cafés. The street branching off to the right is yet another famous Greek street - the Street of Pericles. I wonder why the Rhodesians named their streets this way? And can one call them "Rhodesians"? I suppose you can as long as you pronounce it in three syllables and not four. Four syllables would refer to people from what is now called Zimbabwe, I think.


Yet another satellite map orientation to show the various Famous-Greek-named streets that we've passed by.


Reaching the Western end of the town we pass by the Church of Our Lady of the City, or what remains of it anyway. It's not often that you see Christian churches in ruins, is it? Usually it's Greek or Roman temples.


Heading back down through the city walls again the gate frames the water and landscape beyond nicely.


We make our way back toward the Veendam to have some lunch and go swimming and just generally relax a bit before heading back out into the town again in the afternoon.


A view back along the city walls and the Palace of the Grand Masters just sticking up a bit in the distance.


Another view out across the harbour and the looming Turkish mainland in the distance. We are really at the edge of the empire here.


Almost back at the Veendam now I try to capture on film the beautiful dark blue-green colour of the water.


The ship is slightly empty-ish. I suppose that most people have gone ashore.



Playing around on my laptop in various locations throughout the ship.


After some lunch and a swim it's back out again to explore the town. Perhaps we'll walk all the way to the top of the Street of Socrates


Aha! This photo is much better showing the radiant blue-green colour tone of the water. But it's still not as good as actually being there, of course.


Far in the distance the minaret of the Suleyman Mosque pierces the sky and marks the Western end of the Street of Socrates. The plan is to walk all the way there and back and take a look in the various shops along the way.


A sign nearby warns that there is no swimming allowed here. It's a nice little beach, right outside the town. I wonder if the warning is one of those ones that you can ignore, or if there's actually a good reason for it? No one is actually swimming here, which might provide the answer.



These two nearly identical photos provide a study in picture-taking trickery. I couldn't decide which I wanted to have draw the eye of the beholder - the ruins or the gnarled tree - so I took the picture both ways so I could choose later.


A view of the Church of Our Lady of the City from what used to be the inside.


I love the contrast of colour with these fingers of brilliant blue against the darker medieval stone.


Making our way West along the Street of Aristotle. As before, the minaret of the Suleyman Mosqure in the distance marks where we're headed.


Something about this exposed staircase and old medieval architecture somehow reminds me of an old-fashioned movie set from the 1920s or 1930s.


Some pigeons drink from the fountain at the centre of what I think is the Hippocrates Square.


I have no idea what the writing on this sewer plate says, but I wanted to show the deer insignia that is on all of them. Remember the deer statues from this morning as we sailed in? The ones where the legs of the Colossus would have stood if it did, in fact, straddle the entrance to the harbour? There is something about deer and Rhodes, it seems.


Making our way up the slight hill that is the length of the Street of Socrates.


Some religious iconography up in someone's window.


Here we see a sign showing that we are on the Street of Socrates.


And so we reach the Suleyman Mosque where we passed by this morning on the opposite side before heading into the back alleys.


A view facing East looking down along the length of the Street of Socrates.


An interesting little building silhouetted against the clear blue sky (another good weather day today, as you might have noticed).


And a closer look reveals the sliver of moon up in the sky above us.


Back at the Veendam once again we are greeted with hot wet towels to freshen up with as well as ice water and lemonade. Nice, huh?


And so our day in Rhodes comes to an end. A tugboat ties up to us and starts to pull us away from the dock.


The Veendam starts to back away on her own power and we bid farewell to Rhodes.


As we pull out past the entrance to Mandrahki harbour I try to take a good shot of the deer statues that mark the entrance.


I am finding it difficult to hold my camera steady in a long zoom because of the gusts of wind and motion that one generally experiences when standing on the deck of a moving ship.

I think the shots this morning were better when the sun was behind us. At any rate, I won't go into the whole Colossus thing again.



Good bye to Rhodes. Perhaps some time for a swim before dinner?


Tonight's dinner is a special one. It is the Master Chef's Dinner featuring only dishes from Holland America Line's master chef Rudi Sodamin.


As is usual for such events they put on a weird little show for the passengers.


Even some of the showgirls from the on-board Las Vegas style show take part in the show and help prepare a giant salad that they don't actually serve to us.


Our servers and busboys pose with one of the showgirls around the giant salad (that we don't get to eat - did I mention that?).


The choices for tonight's main course include: Tagliatelle with Roasted Chicken and Portobello Mushroom, Sautéed Shrimps "Provençales", Apricot Glazed Salmon with Soya Garlic and Ginger Splash, Duck Breast à l'Orange and Wild Mushroom Strudel.

Of course I choose the Beef Tenderloin, however. Sorry to disappoint you for not trying the more exotic stuff but they really do beef well on Holland America Line, in my experience. I can hardly turn down the chance to have it, in any form. And unlike when I crossed the Atlantic on the QE2 I don't feel confident enough to handle two main courses.


I love our server dude. He is savvy enough to notice that I am a big antsy-pants when it comes to meal service and therefore asks if we want to have dessert ahead of everyone else. Tonight being a special night they have a whole show thing around the presentation of dessert so he brings dessert out ahead of that. If there was tipping per person on board I'd leave an extra tip for just that. Oh, and I'd also leave a tip for their noticing what we like to drink and having it ready there already when we arrive for dinner.


A quick stroll on deck brings us back to the cabin where another towel animal awaits. A Manta Ray? Even I could have made that!

Let's check in with the Daily Logbook to see where we're at:



Fact of the day: NONE (I wonder why not?)

Distance travelled (Santorini to Rhodes) = 179,5 Nautical Miles (332 km)

Total distance travelled = 3522 km




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