Mon 30.Sep.2013
Rhodes, Greece
It is a cool evening, but still t-shirt weather. A pair of acoustic guitarists are
playing more-or-less Greek music in the patio of my home-cum-pub. This corner of the
world is in its orbit, Athens and Washington notwithstanding.
As I said a year ago...
now for something completely different: pictures of Rhodes.
I spent a couple of nights en route at a hotel near Vienna airport. Even Viennese hotels
can have their quirks. There could be worse than this one.
My departure gate at Vienna airport was laid out so that I could not see my plane
before boarding. Here is my first look at it, and my first photo in Rhodes for this season.
Whatever spiritual songs may say, there are eleven gates to the city in these parts. Here
are two of them.
The D'Amboise Gate, on the landward side of the medieval city,
named for the Grandmaster of the Knights of St John who ordered it built.
The Arnaldo Gate, on the harbor side of the city. I don't know who it was named
for, but I imagine he was named Arnold.
St. Fanourios Street, just around the corner from home. A fairly major arterial
in the old city, and fairly bustling with commerce and tourists at this time of year. In six
weeks it will be still and contemplative, an Ingmar Bergman set waiting for a cast and director.
Street of the Knights. Historically a Very Important Street, but rather sterile
and uninteresting for daily life. Irony and history often go hand in hand.
Does everybody recognise the lovely white minaret of Ibrahim Pasha's Mosque?
Of the many mosques in the old city, only this one is still active, and they
keep their profile low. If there is a call to prayer here, they do it by telepathy.
First hibiscus photo of the season. Expect more; you won't be disappointed.
The Cannon Gate, formally St Anthony's Gate. A former gate to the city, until the
D'Amboise Gate was built outside it, turning this into one more archway in a city with no
lack of them.
That's it, we're back.
Welcome home-away-from-home for the winter.