Monday 21.Dec.2009
Rhodes Town, Greece
Home Sweet Room
The sun came out to play on the afternoon of the solstice.
We've seen this view from my window before, but it looks nicer in this
light.
I still get a giggle out of the Greek spelling of MANGO BAR
(almost) next door.
That window next to the red surfboard is also the Mango Bar. I was
hoping to include the white-haired old gran'ma who was leaning out of
it. Sadly, she vanished before I had my camera out and turned on.
A parade of eleven cats came up over
the edge of the breakwater at the yacht harbor, and lay around
picturesquely, with the coast of Turkey in the distance behind them.
Buncha hams!
Moat Rim Park
By 1500 the moat structure included a raised cleared zone outside
the moat proper, making an easy target of troops or cannon who tried to
draw up to the edge of the moat.
The zone was slanted, so that a cannon shot high enough to clear it
would also go ever the city wall without damging the defenses.
Today, most of that zone is a city park, with walking paths, children's
playgrounds, refreshment centers, and in one part some huge balls made of crushed rock bound
by large metal bands.
There is even an amphitheater where a show called Sound and Light
is
projected against the city wall. Haven't seen it myself - it actually
sounds kind of hokey. But the wall itself is a great show by daylight.
One of the back gates. (Amboise Gate.) Looks a lot like the front gate,
only this one towers high above the moat.
These little floral guys sit modestly under the wall of the
Grandmaster's Fortress inside the back gate.
No fortress here; this bell tower belongs to a Christian church inside
the city, next to Suleiman's Mosque. I don't think the church is still
active - at least I haven't found an entrance to it (or to Suleiman's
for that matter). Both buildings are beautiful and well-maintained,
unlike many ruined and abandoned old structures here. (Rhodes is a
veritable graveyard of dead mosques. I think the only active mosque is
Ibrahim Pasha's with its white minaret
soaring above Hermes Ice Cream
Parlor.)
My room is one of four which share this little kitchen above The Walk
Inn. Fine music in this here bar. i've heard no lack of Dylan, and
absolutely no disco and europop. The owner seems to attract interesting
people. A Norwegian guy I met this evening just showed me a
video on
youtube of a skier - himself he says - extreme skiing down a hair-raising peak
somewhere in
Alaska.
Later: It has occurred to me to wonder whether that is really
my new acquaintance in the video, or if perhaps he is
just an amiable B.S.-artist.
Folks in the U.S. tell me that the video is blocked there because it is
copyrighted by NBC Universal. Hmmm...
Contents Copyright 2012 Jeff Bulf