July 28 - August 7
We left Tilos at 8:20 AM heading 39 nautical miles to Rhodes, Greece our last stop before we have to leave back to Turkey for 8 months. We motor sailed and arrived safely into Mandrake harbour. It was quite something entering the harbour. On either side of us were deers standing watch.
We were put right in the heart of the commercial vessels and on the main street. Our neighbour on the left was captain Nemo, the yellow submarine boat -
http://yellowsubmarine.gr/rhodes/the-boat/. We became friends with them.
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| Captain Nemo |
We noticed a moth visiting our Canadian flag as we were getting settled. Once we had finished our post sail check list we headed out for a walk to explore the town. We ended up having a beer on a street full of tavernas. If you didn’t know any better you would think you were in Vancouver or New York. Very upscale shopping districts with loads of selection.
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our first visitor in Rhodes
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| first large beer in Rhodes |
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We headed back to the boat with plenty of sunlight left and hooked Paige up to go up the mast to get photos of the rigging. We had an audience of tourists passing by as she went further and further up. Yanis with the yellow submarine company next door was so impressed that he invited us for free on their excursion. After the excitement we got Jordan ready for bed and Shaun and I headed out for a drink on our own. We left Paige in charge, turned the VHF on and took the hand held radio with us in case of emergency. We headed back to the street where all of the tavernas were. What a transformation, each one is blasting music to outdo the one next door. It all ends up sounding like a mash-up. It was wall to wall people. We grabbed a table and had a couple of long island ice teas.
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| view from up the mast |
The following day once we finally got up after our late night we took the girls and walked into the old walled city. It is incredible to see the walls, turrets, places for cannons, and cobble stone streets. Inside there is a mixture of tavernas and stores. We aloso encountered the lovely sound of the singing birds. They are in tiny cages which always bothers me. I think that they should be free. The old world charm mixed with modern day. This particular old city was built by the knights of St. John.
As we were heading in the direction of the boat inside the walls we came upon some parrots that the girls got to hold. Of course there was a string attached. Said string was a taverna wanting us to have a drink, so we sat and had a beer. We put Jordan to bed and Shaun and I headed to our new favourite watering hole the “Yachting Café” which had excellent wifi and drinks.
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| view of the walls of the Old town |
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| inside Old Town |
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| one of the main streets |
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| one of the long streets |
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| one of the store keepers loved Jordan and wanted to take a picture inside the store |
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| fountain inside |
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| another street lined with shops |
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| this parrot wanted to eat Jordans hat |
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| crazy parrots |
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| a beautiful wall |
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| one of the main entrances |
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| close up of the main entrance |
The following day we decided to go on the hop on hop off bus system to check out some sights and stop at the aquarium. We found out later that the aquarium was really close to the boat and we really didn’t need to spend the 34 Euros for the bus…… Life lesson. The aquarium was a lot of fun. We saw some great fish and eels along with Dave the octopus from Penguins of Madagascar movie. He really put on the acrobatics for the girls and I.
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| up on the top floor of the double decker bus in the scorching heat. I had puddles under my legs. |
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| view along the wall of the city |
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| old stadium |
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| entrance to the aquarium |
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| Dave the octopus |
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| Dave being acrobatic |
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| hiding away |
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| diving platform at the beach close to the aquarium |
We headed back to the boat in the 43 degree heat. There isn’t much that can be done in heat like that. As the evening closed in the temperature dropped to a manageable temperature so we took Jordan to the play park across the street. It was a good place for her to play with other kids.
The following morning we headed out on the 10:00 AM trip with captain Nemo of the yellow submarine. There were not many people aboard which was nice. We were able to see the entire “dive show”. The girls and I really enjoyed ourselves. Later in the day we headed back into the old town so the girls could visit the parrots again. We bought Jordan a new 2 piece bathing suit. We followed our noses through the labyrinth and located the parrots. Unfortunately, Paige was bit by the blue parrot as he didn’t want to be touched.
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| top deck on Captain Nemo |
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| view from the boat |
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| view of the old town |
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| below deck on Nemo |
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| dive show, showing us a starfish |
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| Paige at the bow below deck |
One of the afternoons that Shaun and I left the girls at the boat Jordan fell in the water while looking for crabs. Paige jumped in after her and then Yanis the yellow submarine guy jumped in after as well. We got a frantic radio call from Paige. By the time Shaun got back to the boat the girls were in the shower smiling away as they got cleaned up. We took Yanis a bottle of wine later that evening.
We rented a car for 2 days in order to grocery shop, pick up some boat parts and get laundry done. We were happy to find that she charged 5 Euros for a 5 KG bag. One of the most reasonable places for laundry so far. So we dropped the laundry, picked up the boat items and headed for our first round of grocery shopping as the car was pretty small. We also were able to stop at a store similar to Futureshop and Chapters called Public. We purchased a router and a larger storage device for our movies and pictures. We are now able to watch movies wirelessly on board when we are plugged into shore power. We also found an awesome selection of English chapter books in their upstairs portion. We stocked up on Rick Riordan and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
We headed back to the boat to drop off the first load of groceries and then Shaun and I headed back out to pick up the rest and to grab the clean laundry (it is the little things that make life). It was a busy day running around.
The following day we drove to another portion of the walled city. Close by was a big play park with a taverna attached. We stopped by so that Paige and Jordan could play for awhile. Shaun took a walk over to the walled city. When he came back he insisted we make the 10 minute walk over to check out the moat and walls. It was well worth it. Incredible! It would have been very interesting to see how life was lived.
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| sitting while the girls played at the park |
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| views of the walls and castle |
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| more castle views |
On our last evening Shaun was feeling a bit under the weather so we were in bed early. We were planning on leaving Rhodes at 10:00 AM so we had time to prep the boat in the morning.
The following morning during our preparations Yanis popped over with a gift for us. It was a glass triangle with elephants etched into it. So very thoughtful. We were lucky to be beside such nice people. It was a bittersweet departure. Excitement to return to Marmaris but sadness for leaving Greece. On to our next adventure.
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| crabs that live on the wall where we were docked |
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| chilling in the lounge chair |
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| chilling |
I forgot to mention our nighttime visitor while we were sleeping....... A cockroach was crawling on me and then Shaun. He turned the light on after he had swiped his back and the critter felt big. When he said what it was I shot out of bed quicker than I have ever moved cursing........ I didn't get much sleep after that thinking about what other critters were possible in our bed.
Follow our video adventures on the following youtube channel:
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