Day 6 find us on the Greek island of Rhodes. We took a walking tour which started out at one of the two gates which provide entry to the old part of the city of Rhodes. After walking the streets with a very in depth presentation from our tour guide, we end up at the Palace of the Knights of St John, also know as the Palace of the Grand Masters. The palace has beautiful mosaic floors throughout which were made in the 3rd and 4th centuries.
After the Palace we went to the Hospital of the Knights. The picture of the two exits shows the regular exit and the morgue exit which can not be seen from the hospital entrance. Their thinking was that if people entered the hospital and saw the condition of the people leaving, they would not enter and the hospital would lose business. The Hospital was completed in 1489 and has been refurbished as an archeological museum. It contains pottery from the 6th and 7th century as well as a sculpture garden. In the courtyard there are cannon balls from the siege of 1522 and the marble looking balls were used as ammo for the catapults. We were surprised to learn that the balls for the catapults weighed less than 45lbs so that they could be carried by both men and women for battle. Following the hospital, We toured around the city and later found some delicious crepes before returning to the ship.
Day 7 is a day at sea. We’re heading straight to Egypt and should be there this evening.
