Turkey is an amazing country, but it was time for us to leave and I couldn’t wait to get into the Greek Islands. Our first stop was Rhodes (or Rhodos to the Turks, who share the history just as much as the Greeks). The city that started with a small Venetian fort where the citizens would hide in when under seige and grew into one of the most formidable Venetian fortresses (the city was built as a fortress, with priority given to holding off attackers with 12 metre thick walls and seige weapons, rather than anything resembling aesthetics). In saying this, I thoroughly enjoyed our day of exploring the old city, and lying on the grass under a tree at the base of these incredible walls.
But what I enjoyed more was our means of arrival from Turkey. The only option for us was the Hydrofoil. As we entered the cabin we realised that this was a vessel of total luxury and exclusivity about 30-40 years ago, with ornate, faded carpet running the length of the extra wide aisle, oversize airliner style seats, and a captain who dashed into the cabin in full whites and hat (pants with a possible 70’s flair at the bottom?) and announced himself as our captain for the day, before stepping into the cockpit (I use this term because he looked and acted more like the pilot of a fighter jet - ala Top Gun - than the captain of a boat). The 90 minutes of literally planing on the surface of the water at a ridiculous “cruising” speed, banking into turns and watching other craft wallowing in our wake was too short. What a way to travel!
Photos: The fearsome wake of our Hydrofoil, and the view from under my hat while lying on the grass in the Venetian fortress city of Rhodes
No comments:
Post a Comment