Thu 31.Dec.2009
Rhodes Town, Greece
Another Trip Around The Sun
I'll be dipped! The tail end of a lunar eclipse is going on even as I type. The whole bar (all seven of us including the proprietor/cook and the bartender) just went outside to look at it in a beautiful clear night sky. An eclipse of a blue moon on New Yew Years Eve. A rare enough treat for tonight.

Flashback
fireworks
A year ago tonight I was in Montenegro, celebrating the new year with thousands of - I suppose - Montenegrins at a free outdoor concert with the Balkans' biggest female pop star, Lepa Brena.

None of that here in Rhodes tonight. Greeks usually welcome in the year at home with their families, then go out and celebrate after midnight. Many bars and restaurants are actually closed up until tomorrow night.

OK, back to the (new year's) present
pebbped street with grasspeople sitting at outdoor table in sunlight
First, as per tradition, a couple of views from my window.
snow-capped mountains behind piers of Rhodes harborthree stone mortar balls in wall above a city gate
Turkey in the Snow.
The air was extraordinarily clear yesterday toward the north and the very mountainous coast of Turkey.

Looks like they've been getting some snow over there.

Balls to the Wall.
There are three of those huge granite mortar balls, embedded high in the city wall next to one of the back gates.

Yrs Trly is real pleased to look up at them, and reflect that none of the work that went into putting them there was mine.

orange clouds at sunsetdark pink clouds behind silhouette of outer wall
What do you really need to say about a medieval city wall and a good sunset? Shore is purty.

well-lighted clothing and general stuff
A shop next door to the nice folks at the ice cream parlor.
white minaret behind town christmas decorationsblack & white cat curled up against a wall in the sun
Ibrahim Pasha's mosque's minaret, backdropping the town Christmas decorations. This is the only active, functioning mosque in the old town, though Suleiman's mosque is well-maintained and a beautiful sight for tourists and locals alike.

I dub this snoozer Suleiman the Magnificat.


Head 'Em Off At The Past
In less than an hour it will be 2010 here.
Hello from The Future to all of you UK folks two hours in the past. West Coast people, The Future looks just like The Past, only more... well, now.

See y'all next year!

Next: New Year Stroll
Prev: Rhodes After Christmas -- Up: Index



Contents Copyright 2012 Jeff Bulf