Rhodes, Greece

Part Three... RHODES!! I took a ferry from Kos to Rhodes (this was an ordeal in and of itself since the company I was meant to ride with was on strike and rescheduled without informing anyone... so there I was... lone foreigner with a backpack at 4:30 am waiting for a boat that was not coming. Thank God for my awesome travel agent in Turkey - Aegean Tour Travel - who helped me to get a ferry with another company that same day).
Anyway, I made it and was instantly impressed with how HUGE the castle walls were and how it was still a part of regular life as my taxi whisked me through one of the gates and onto the newer part of the city where my hotel, Atlantis City Hotel, was located. The staff there were sweet and got me settled in no time with a map and a plan of action for the next day (I was really only here for one full day due to the ferry mishap.
Rhodes has an amazing old city. When I left my hotel, I walked straight to the water, wandered along until I came to one of the outer walls of the castle that was built by the Knights of St. John. I entered the moat and wandered in relative peace. Almost no one was in there with me. Like Kos, Rhodes is on their winter schedule because there are few tourists here. However, unlike Kos, Rhodes is open for business. All the shops and restaurants are generally open and willing to sell their wares. There were a few tourist shops closed but generally the city was bustling. The best part? The old town within the city walls. It really was like stepping back in time. The mark of each castle invader left in tact as well. There were mosques, synagogues and churches in their together. Museums for each as well. And people were still living in restored sections and running their businesses within the walls as well. Had there been no cars, I would have truly felt like I had stepped back in time. There was a little magic in the old section of town, that's for sure.

The Street of the Knights within the castle walls.

A 14th Century church within the walls of the castle.

Poppies were blooming everywhere... made me so happy. Can't wait to get my better camera so I can take better quality pictures of this kind of thing!

Walking in the moat. There were cannon balls everywhere as well... so interesting.


The inside of the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of St. John was full of mosaics and art work. I liked this piece the best. It costs 6 Euros to get in, pretty cheap for all the cool things you get to see.