August 22 – Cruise to Symi (or Simi) Island

Another full day tour.  We had some difficulty finding the bus.  And then more difficulty getting our tickets for the cruise boat.  But after a phone call things were straightened out and we got on our boat for Symi (or Simi) Island.

We had some great views of the Rhodes City Harbor and the city itself as we sailed out of the harbor.

The cruise was about two hours but we did see Turkey from a distance as well as several other Greek islands.

Symi Harbor and town are very picturesque with the pretty houses climbing up the steep hillside.  

We wandered the town some and found the sponge-monger shops (not hard to find as they are on the waterfront, which is the main tourist drag).  

We walked up some of the hillside stairs to try for better views of the town and harbor.

We then found a place to eat right on the harbor with the wind in the right direction to keep the cigarette smoke at bay.  Smoking is big here and there are no restrictions on smoking in the outdoor dining areas of the restaurants.  Sort of spoils it for us as we’d love to eat outside in this beautiful weather (hot and humid but the breezes make it very nice) but we usually eat inside because of the smoke.

We had about 3 hours in town and then got back on the boat for a short ride to the port of Panormitis.  

We toured the Greek Orthodox church there but since it an active church they didn't allow photos inside.  But the front facade of the monastery was pretty...

and the pavement inside the church courtyard was paved with stone mosaics.

And there is always something of interest to see at a waterfront.

Then back on the boat for the trip back to Rhodes.  Many on the boat snoozed through the return trip, us included.  Four hours round trip and four hours for sightseeing.  And the sightseeing didn’t take that long.  Not sure that trip was worth the time and money.

We were dropped off at the beach for the walk back to our hotel.

Dinner was at another lovely Greek Taverna.  We didn’t sit outside but were in an area between the front patio and a back patio, so we got a nice cross breeze without the smoke. 

They had an interesting way of making our bed at the hotel...bottom sheet with the cover folded up into a bow tie...sort of a make your own bed place.

Paul was in bed pretty early and Mary wasn’t very far behind.