Day 20-21 Greece & Cyprus

Rhodes, Greece is an important island in the group known as the Dodeanese as it is the most easterly island of the Aegean Sea. Although it is a fairly busy port we were docked near the old walled town of Rhodes.

With the children wanting a break from ruins of towns they opted to stay aboard and get involved in some organized activities. A sports day was held with events like long jump for them to compete in.

Luke & Louise started quite early while Chris, Elisabeth, Simone & Marloejse set off on their own extended shopping tour (much to Chris’ apprehension) of the old town.

Paved with individually placed small river rocks the streets are quite wide in places and branch off in what seems a complicated maze. Luke & Louise took the less travelled back lanes which virtually took you through the living areas of the locals. No matter which way you turned you eventually end up at the central market area where there are heaps of Greek restaurants and shops.

There seemed to be a never ending supply of Dolce & Gubanna bags and accessories. Free Ouzo tasting is common in the shops and everyone came back with a good supply. Many of the restaurants with open air dining also act as bars and competition between them is fierce. They try and outsell each other on price and the size of their beers. Some glasses we saw held over 2 litres of beer.

Our next stop of Cyprus was at the city of Limassol. The island of Cyprus gets its name from one of its richest resources – copper or ‘kypros’ in Greek. The climate combined with the very fertile soil makes it an excellent country for agriculture.

Chris, Elisabeth Simone & Marloejse set off fairly early on a tour of the area including the capital city of Nicosia. Being such a busy industrial port meant access from the ship was limited to a shuttle service to the city. With the temperature rising into the 30’s Luke, Louise & the kids opted for the easy way to see Cyprus – from the top deck of the ship by the pool. After hours of swimming, reading and relaxing we all met up for a quiet dinner before Louise took Johanna, Alison and Danielle to a live show in one of the ships theatres. It was a glittery singing and dancing performance with lots of costume changes and classic songs which the girls really enjoyed.