Saturday 8th September 2012 Rhodes

Today was a day for doing some sightseeing around the beautiful old town of Rhodes which has been inhabited for more than 2400 years with the city being first built in 408 BC. In 1309 a citadel was built over these ancient remains and the Palace towers dominates the centre of the old Town. The new town lies beyond the original city walls which are almost 4kms in length. Rhodes is now a World Heritage Site and is one of the finest walled cities in the world. We were pleased to have the electric bikes which allowed us to cover quite a distance during the day. We rode all around the old city and stopped and visited the Palace of the Grand Masters which was a fortress within a fortress, built in the 14th century. It had survived earthquakes and many sieges but was accidently blown up in 1856 and finally restored in the 1930’s. Following our adventure around the old city we prepared the boat for our final guests this year, who were arriving in the late afternoon from Italy. Our Tasmanian friends Don and Susie had flown to Italy for a special 60th Birthday celebration of a close friend of theirs from Melbourne. A week in a beautiful villa in Umbria, with half a dozen of your dearest friends sounds like a nice way to celebrate any special birthday!! Happy Birthday Alan.