We arrived in Bodrum on the Turkish coast around about 8 am. The weather has continued to be absolutely gorgeous, and we both remarked that we are rather pleased we have visited this early in the summer season as at the height of the season it would just be stifling. Weather apps are saying a top of 22, 23, 24 but it is just feeling a lot hotter. We are wearing our sunscreen and being sun safe while outdoors exploring, however we are seeing numerous very white skinned people that look like lobsters, or certainly will the next day!
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| First views of Bodrum from our suite verandah |
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| Inside the Bodrum castle |
Bodrum is an old world fishing town with high society appeal. It is situated on a peninsular and mirrors other Mediterranean countryside - landscapes of large granite hillsides, with sparse greenery which must make for very rough and hostile conditions. From the seawater up the hillsides are predominantly white building developments. While Syros was quaint and very Italian, Bodrum felt much more contemporary, and a little overdeveloped and crowded. We caught the shuttle bus into the town centre and headed for Bodrum Castle which we were told was a must see. We paid our money and rented audio headsets and then walked around the castle grounds - which sit front and centre on the harbour. The history was interesting, and has a complex history ranging from construction by the Knights of St John and then occupied by the English, French, German and Italians before modern day Turkey and its place as a museum. It has a nautical archaeological display which was very interesting…the work that goes into identifying boats, their cargo and heritage is astounding. One of the most interesting things we saw was a white Peacock…which of course I had to feed.
After wandering for a few hours we both felt better heading back to the ship for lunch and a rest (as it had been a rather late night the night before…dinner and then the dancing show was all these old ducks could manage…a midnight finish and we were stuffed the next day!).
Lunch onboard was a beautiful seafood saffron soup with crusty French baguette and a glass of rose!
We had a little snooze before dinner in the the Med Yacht Club - enjoying more seafood (grilled lobster tails) followed by lamb curry.
Rhodes arrived at our door around 7.30 am…we docked and looked straight out of the window to a castle turret - embedded into the modern port pier.
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| View of the pier |
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| Turrets of the Castle |
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| We became Segway experts |
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| Just a door on one of the alleys |
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| Inside Saint Pantaleon Church…just gorgeous |
We booked a Segway tour of the medieval city to start at 10 am. After some orientation and practice on the segways we spent the next three hours whizzing around the city following our guide ‘Bill’ who was just learning to be a guide, so not as informative or on the ball as he could have been, he was however very caring and considerate.
Rhodes was a gift from Zeus to Helios, the sun god. It is written in history as a place where Cicero and Caesar once roamed. It is said to have had a giant Colossus statue at the entry to the harbour, now hosting twin dear - the symbol of the isle. The UNESCO listed medieval city was another home of the Knights of St John before being conquered by the Ottomans. It has housed Christian’s and Muslims over the years - and as in Istanbul, in the same buildings.
Our segways allowed us to cover a lot of ground during the few hours - even riding through the old moat to the city which showed just how hard it would have been to conquer the castle walls.
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| At the entrance to the Grand Master’s Palace |
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| On our Segways in front of the windmills on the harbour |
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| The Street of the Knights |
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| Gorgeous iron gate on the Street of the Knights - looking into a fountain and garden |
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| Yours truly on a Segway |
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| Forecourt of the Palace |
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The entrance to Rhodes Harbour…where it is rumoured to have had the Collossus Statue…his fee on the pillars standing some 33 metres above…now two deer are there
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After a quick bite to eat in town, we headed to the Grand Masters’ palace which is now a museum. We were a little underwhelmed - it has been rebuilt and renovated quite a bit, and now while some of the floor mosaics are lovely, the rooms lack an authenticity - filled with antiques from various centuries and countries to attempt to make it look authentic - there are only so many dining rooms and receptions rooms once can see (and we saw many). There were some lovely digital presentations that took us through the history of the building - being initially built by the Knights of Rhodes (Knights of St John) which ultimately became the Knights of Malta!. It was conquered by Ottomans, occupied by Italy, and ultimately handed back to the Greeks. I don’t pretend understand the politics other than to say you need to be careful who you speak to about it…it appears to have tentacles that extend to modern day!
At the end of the day, we sat on the top deck of the ship and watched as we sailed out of the Rhodes harbour…a lovely farewell.
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