A Return To Rhodes

Tuesday 13 September 2016. Thomson Dream diverts to Rhodes for the day. We had been scheduled to spend the day at Syros, Turkey, but the wind was a bit too much for the single tugboat at Syros to bring us safely to dock. Our captain took the decision to divert and, as we love Rhodes, we are not too disappointed.

So we can pile off the ship happy that we will be able to wander round without getting lost. Moored opposite us on the narrow jetty is Costa Riviera. We exit the port by a different gate than we have been used to and walk along the coastal road towards the city.

The Marine Gate was the main entrance to the city. It has reliefs of St John and St Paul and the Virgin Mary. We decide to carry on walking around the coast road though.

Some of these boats are shops. Racks of shelves on the back swing open like doors to double the width of the ship and they sell goods made of shells and sea sponges and loofahs.

There is a small fortress on the corner of a dog's leg on the coast. It gave command of the approaches to Rhodes from the sea and withstood sieges from the Ottoman Turks.

It was the entrance to the city used by St Paul on his travels once he left the Holy Land. The bridge to the fortress is still known as St Paul's Bridge. From here the coastal path leads to the old harbour, now more a marina for private and fishing hire boats.

The two columns are said to be sited where the legs of the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the World once held up the mighty statue, so large that ships could pass between his legs without their masts bringing tears to his eyes...

We have a rest on a bench before heading into the town itself. We walk back, retracing our steps for a little while before entering the city here, on a path we aren't too familiar with.

We find ourselves walking round the main fortress in a part of Rhodes we haven't seen before.

The castle was the stronghold of the Knights Hospitallers, who moved to Rhodes following the loss of Jerusalem to the Saracens. The fortress is huge and it's a fair walk around the massive walls.

It is very hot. Small lizards bask on the warm stones, but scurry away as we approach. The dry moat that we are walking round is a perfect killing ground. Cannon embrasures are angled to cover the approaches from either side.

We are approaching the town and I start to recognise bits of wall towering above us that we have walked on top of on previous visits. We pass under the arch into the castle outer bailey and then through a tunnel under the main gate. You can see a couple in the distance on the left about to pass through the tunnel. Look for two grey dots (I did say they were in the distance) between the tree and the woman in the red top under the shadow of the arch. It is dark in the tunnel but not so dark that I fail to spot the large square murder holes in the ceiling. Hot oil or rocks could be dropped down these onto the heads of any invaders.

We come onto streets that we had trod before. Maris had told us to look out for a cafe called the Blue Lagoon near the castle. We would know it because there was a parrot in a cage near it. This one is called Mama Mika but it fits all the other criteria and the under tablecloth had a blue design of fish and shells so we wonder whether it had changed names. Our drinks come in glass wellington boots that are quite heavy!

There is no shortage of cafe bars in Rhodes! They line the streets everywhere. We take a turning from the main street and again find ourselves exploring new territory.

And then back to the main street leading down towards the ruined cathedral and the Marine Gate.

Pottery, dresses, jewellery, carpets, wall plaques are just some of the goods on offer. The cafe owners will quite happily watch you turn down half a dozen invites from cafe bars further up the road. Each time you refuse one of their neighbours makes them more convinced you are waiting until you reach their cafe bar...

We make our way back to the port. We walk past the gate where we usually had left and entered and reach the gate where we came out this morning. Which is locked... Back to the usual gate then! There is some restoration work going on to the old windmills and walls of the docks.

Iconic Islands Index

Our First Day in Valetta, Malta

Hmm, a bit of a photo-fest for my readers today! This entry sets a record for the blog so far with 32 photos attached to a descriptive entry! There was one entry with a lot of photos of record albums without much description but I'm not counting that!

It's Sunday 31 August 2014 and, after a day at sea as we sailed on the Thomson Majesty from Corfu, we dock in the port of Valetta on the island of Malta.

Once the boat is safely parked (I know, I know...!) we are eager to be off and exploring. We've not taken up the option of going on a tour today as this is first visit to Malta and having done a bit of research we reckon we will be well rewarded with just walking from the ship. And so it proved to be.

Valetta city is set on a rather high hill. We could have just walked up it, but expending vast amounts of energy right at the start of the day seemed downright silly when, just along the road a bit, there is a lift that takes you up from ground level to er... ground level... But a good twenty storeys up to the new ground level! The lift costs one euro. We thought this was for each person for a one-way trip, thus two euros for up and down, but the descent is as cheap by lift as it is to jump from the top and the consequences are not quite as drastic. We paid our euro each and were whisked at high speed into the air. Then the attendant put us down and told us not to run off until we had our tickets which we needed to get through the barriers to the lift...

The lift took us up to a sort of park. Through these pleasing arches are a garden and refreshment stall and on this side, to the right of the photo is a wonderful panorama of the port and harbour of Valetta.

The viewpoint also overlooks a battery of guns one of which fires every day at noon and at four o'clock in the afternoon. We'll be back at noon for the firing, but for now we turn through one of the arches to have a look at the garden.

Now it's no good whatsoever expecting me to say anything remotely intelligent about any form of plant life. Despite three years and a bit working in a college of agriculture and horticulture, I still refer to anything totally green as a "plant" and anything with coloured bits amongst the green as a "flower". It's stood me in good stead for 60 years and I'm unlikely to change now!

The walls of the garden afford some stunning views over the city and harbour. The harbour seems to be huge. Opposite us are two deep inlets with forts on the promontories. The city was fortified by the Knights of the Order of St John, who had been kicked out of Rhodes by the Ottoman Turks and set to with a building scheme in Valetta, determined that it should not share the same fate.

They rebuilt their strength until Suleiman sent his army of 40,000 Ottomans against the Knights, who numbered 700 knights and 8,000 soldiers. The city but not the fortress was destroyed and when the Ottomans finally withdrew having heard of the landing of a supporting Sicilian force (but without realising it was relatively small) there were a mere 600 men still standing for the Knights of Malta.

We left the garden and walked into the city, admiring the taste of the street furniture. There are several post boxes and phone kiosks around the centre of Valetta. The day was hot - at least it was hotter than Blackpool - and we started to think of finding somewhere to drink.

The land slopes away from the city centre and there are several excellent views down to the harbour far below.

Miss Franny found a Costa coffee shop - that part-time job sniffing for illegally imported drugs at Blackpool Airport has stood her in good stead... An English woman in the line before me asked for a "latte".
"Only milk?" came the cautious query.

The Bibliotheca or National Library of Malta, flanked by Caffe Cordina, itself housed in a sumptuous building, once the Treasure House of the Knights of Malta, then the Grand Hotel, then a casino.

The Guard's Building facing the Palace in St George's Square. This building was in the sun and the Palace in shadow...

However, crossing the street we enter the Palace. This was the Grandmaster's Palace under the Knights of Malta. Valetta was in fact named after Grandmaster Jean Parisot de Valette, the founder of the city. The Grandmasters lived here, several of them enlarging the palace. During British rule it became the Governor's Residence, then it became the Prime Minister's Office and is currently housing the House of Representatives pending the completion of a new parliament building.

The entrance leads into the Neptune Courtyard, named for a statue of Neptune that I either missed or I was standing in a totally different courtyard/palace... If so, I have no doubt someone will tell me... Off this courtyard you can look round the Armoury, with a fine collection of weapons of the Knights of Malta, though apparently only a fragment of what they used to have after the attentions of the thieving ratbags of Napoleon's army - more of whom later.

We didn't go into the Armoury or the State Rooms because we wanted to catch (figuratively speaking) the noonday gun back at the battery. On the way out through the gateway I noticed several plaques on the wall commemorating various Royal visits. The ceiling was also worth a look (below).

During World War II Malta suffered unbelievably heavy bombardment from the Luftwaffe who flew over 5,800 bombing sorties, dropping six and a half million kilograms of bombs - almost as much as the entire UK was hit with during the Battle of Britain in September 1940. King George VI awarded the George Cross to the entire island in recognition of their bravery and suffering.

We left the palace and trotted down one of the streets leading downwards towards the harbour and waterfront. We came across this memorial to Dun Mikiel Xerri who helped lead a revolt against the occupying French forces of Napoleon Bonaparte and was one of 49 men captured and executed on Palace Square on 17 January 1799. Napoleon's forces were welcomed at first as the rule of the Knights had become quite oppressive. However in short order conditions became worse for the islanders and many were starving from lack of food. Xerri protested at the treatment of the population and paid the ultimate price.

We got this far down to the harbour and realised we were going to have to climb the hill again to see the noonday gun fired! At this point we swerved sideways with a steep flight of steps leading down before us and, turning again, started to climb back upwards.

It was a Sunday, so most shops remained closed and some of the streets were quite deserted. The buildings though were very pleasing to the eye. Walking back up was punctuated by short stops and clicks from the camera shutter!

How rude...

We arrived back at the battery garden with time to spare and took another look at the gorgeous views spread out before us. We sat, thankfully for a while, enjoying a drink at the open air cafe.

About ten to twelve we moved back to the balcony over the gun battery and eventually this chap came out and attached a detonator cap to one of two guns which, since we were last here, had had their breeches uncovered (I say, steady on...) and had been loaded with a charge.

The firing of guns at noon and four o'clock carries on a long-standing tradition. Many towns across Europe would fire a gun at noon, signalling the population to sit down and eat their lunch. At times of curfew, another gun would be fired by the authorities to say "Ready or not, here I come..."

I felt sorry for this chap really. He played his part extremely well, and remained glued to his pocket chronometer to be able to pull the lanyard exactly on the dot of 12 o'clock. That time came, he yanked: and nothing. A bit of a crack as the detonator went off and a small puff of smoke.

"Misfire!" he shouted and crossed to the second gun to attach another detonator and lanyard.

Without any ceremony he yanked the lanyard and I clicked the camera shutter. The roar was loud enough to make me jump and move the camera a little. But it gives the impression I wanted with the smoke and flame coming from the gun's muzzle!

We took a last look from our vantage point and returned from ground level to ground level via the lift. The Thomson Majesty was leaving at 5:00pm and by then we had lunched, lazed about reading and changed for dinner early enough to come back up to the Promenade Deck to watch us move away from the dockside.

We enjoyed the sun and the view of Valetta from the ship as we slid past small and large boats and cargo ships. The Valetta Pilot was onboard, there to offer advice if needed and the boat bumped up and down beside us on the waves which the Majesty disdained to notice. A moment of excitement as the pilot boat pulled in, the Pilot jumped across safely and the boat peeled off to return to the port. Tomorrow we will be in Sicily at the port of Trapani.

Italian Flavours Cruise Index

Jerusalem's Western Wall and The Way of The Cross

Thursday 3 October 2013. In the last entry I described the trip to Jerusalem, our descent from the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations.

We now leave the coach at the old city walls and enter the large courtyard before the Western or Wailing Wall. The first thing we do is dash for a toilet, knowing that we have a 2-hour walk before us. I came out the wrong way and had passed through a turnstile before I realised so there was a brief "Oh heck.." moment before I found I could nip quickly through a shop and back to the courtyard. Except it wasn't a shop, it was some sort of security place with a scanning doorway like you find at airports and a couple of armed guards on duty... I strode through trying to look bewildered (it wasn't hard...) and nobody thought me worth stopping.

As you can see by the golden Dome of the Rock behind the wall, we are very close to the Temple Rock.

In fact the lower bits of the wall are the original external wall of the Second Temple, raised by King Herod. It is tradition for Jews to pray at this wall, rocking themselves back and forth and also by placing prayer messages in the cracks between the stones of the wall. They consider this place the very foundation of the world.

This was a public holiday and the place was packed with happy family crowds celebrating Barmitzvahs. The photo was taken by dodging lots of cheering women, who were cheering their son, nephew, grandson, who was taking his place at the wall.

We gathered back as a group and followed our guide through a gateway and into a series of narrows streets. I would almost say passages - some were roofed by slats of wood, some by buildings that were built over the street. As narrow as they were, every now and then we had to press to the side to allow a car through.

We stopped at a small bakery. The shops seemed to be set into the walls, the counter was the sill of a large open window. After some negotiation our guide had the baker take a freshly baked pitta bread from the oven and passed it amongst us.

Miss Franny is waiting for a bit of pitta bread to make its way around to us. To the right of the photo was a vegetable shop. Actually no shop, just vegetables set in baskets on the paving of the street with the owner crouched down beside them.

We joined the Way of the Cross - Via Dolorosa means the Road of Sorrows. When the Romans chose Christianity to be their main religion, Constantine, the first Christian Emperor, sent his mother, Helena to Jerusalem to discover the sites associated with Jesus. This was in the fourth century, 326-328, so around 300 years after the events she sought news of. She presumably had to judge whether she heard tales handed down through generations or whether she heard someone hoping for payment... See Wikipedia for details of the relics she found.

The Fifth Station of the Cross. Jesus, exhausted, rested His hand against the wall for support. Centuries of people placing their hands in the same place has imprinted a deep indentation in the wall. Here Simon of Cyrene (now part of Libya) was ordered to carry the cross for Jesus. There is a sharp right turn here and the Way starts to climb up towards Golgotha via a series of steps.

Climbing up past Station Six, the House of Veronica on the left. Veronica (later St Veronica) had previously been healed by Jesus and came out of her house as He passed and wiped His face free of the sweat and blood with a veil she removed from her person. She bundled the veil and returned to her house and when she looked again at the veil, the image of Jesus' face was left on the cloth.

Her name was really Bernice. "Veronica" comes from the latin vera, (true) and the greek icon, (image) and refers to the veil which bore the true image. Her veil is one of the treasures kept at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

We climb up past Station Seven, which was the extent of the city at the time. Here Jesus' crimes were proclaimed or read out.

Part of the later city. As we walked towards the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, we pass the arches which lead into the area known as the Muristan. The Muristan was the site of a very early hospital catering for Christian pilgrims. A later hospital on the site was built and run by the Knights Templars of St John, who were part of the conquering Crusaders and who became known as the Knights Hospitallers. These are the same as those who built the fortifications we saw earlier in the week at Rhodes and who were evicted themselves by the Ottomans, becoming the Knights of Malta.

We passed under a narrow doorway and came directly to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, covering both the site of the Crucifixion and the tomb of Jesus. We shall see this in the next entry.

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