The next port of call for the voyage onboard the Celebrity Infinity was in the city of Rhodes, which was in the island of Rhodes. The island of Rhodes is just southwest of Turkey, but the island is a part of Greece. The only time I have ever heard of Rhodes was the Colossus of Rhodes, which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Unfortunately, the wonder does not exist anymore, but I get to go to its former site.
This was the only port where we did not book any excursions, so we did not have much of a plan when we left the ship. There were many taxi drivers who wanted our attention and our business. We found the taxi driver who can give us the best price and asked him to give us a tour of the city.
We drove around the fortified outer walls of the old city (called the citadel of Rhodes) while the taxi driver took us to the first stop of the tour, which was the old harbour. The old harbour was the purported site of the Colossus of Rhodes. On the other side of the harbour, across the turquoise water, stood the fortress of Saint Nicholas. I did not know Santa Claus had a home here (this is a joke).
The next stop of the tour was the northern tip of the island of Rhodes, where the island’s aquarium stood. The northern tip of the island was a park with some beaches on either side of the point. We did not have the time to go swimming, otherwise I would have dived in. The water looked nice for swimming.
The next stop on the tour was a hill overlooking the western shoreline of the island, as well as the city of Rhodes itself. I am glad it was a nice day because the views were nice. The water surrounding the island looked so vivid, almost like I was in a paradise.
Our taxi driver dropped us at a small park outside the fortified walls and that was the end of our city tour. We said our goodbyes and walked through the Amboise Gate, entering the citadel of Rhodes.
A short walk later, we reached the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes, which was a medieval castle previously home to a Catholic military order. The palace had a nice courtyard with many statues, while the inside of the palace had rooms of artifacts and artwork. The walk through the palace was not the most exciting thing to do, but nevertheless, the architecture of the palace was neat.
I tried some of the local Rhodes beer. It was not my favourite.
The slow walk towards the ship was full of food shops, souvenir shops, and stray cats among the dense walkways and alleys. We would pass the occasional fountain or ruin, but that was the day in Rhodes in a nutshell. The trip itself was decent, though there was so much more to the island to explore than just the city. Maybe another time...
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