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Fiendly Service I dreamt I slept in a boiler room. On the way back to the ferry terminal we passed a bakery with mouth watering smells pouring out the door. It lured us to a quick stop and we picked up two steaming loaves. At the port entrance the Saturday market was beginning. I didn't know there were so many carpet sellers on the island. The fruit and vegetable stands looked great with their fresh and colorful produce. While waiting for the arrival of our boat, we purchased some freshly roasted pistachio nuts. As promised, the ferry arrived at 8:30 a.m. Unfortunately there were no showers-or rather, there were, but they were locked and the ferry personnel wouldn't let us use them-so we made do with a wipe up. I washed my hair in the sink instead. It took me a long time to wipe up, standing at the sink, taking off a few clothes at a time and putting clean ones back on. Once I finished, I washed my cycling apparel in the sink. I was amazed at how much dust was packed into that material. Hot water took it out much better than when we rinsed them at cold water spigots. The mountainous coastal scenery was much easier to enjoy from the boat deck. I hadn't realized it was that mountainous until I viewed it from the sea. Know wonder my legs had felt rubbery by the end of each day. We spent most of the voyage visiting with other English speaking travelers. A Brit, Andy, and a Kiwi, Deidree, were traveling together. There was also a Dutch and French pair. At one of the island stops we picked up a couple from the States. Seattle. I hadn't spoken so much English in ages. The Seattle couple had worked on Kárpathos. They picked olives and did watercolors of Greek scenes to sell. Paula said she had sold over a thousand dollars worth-enough to pay all their expenses. She said scenes of fishing boats and churches sold the best. At the next port an old woman didn't get off in time. She was creating quite the commotion, screaming and crying at the purser's office. They probably wanted her to buy a ticket. She had probably never been off the island before. We arrived in Rhodes two hours before midnight. We put on our reflective clothing and I used my headlight to lead us along the coastal road. We went till the street lights ended at the edge of the city, then set up on the beach. I hoped the tide didn't come up too high. Saw a sign: "Fiendly service." It should have been in one of the travel agent windows back in Heraklion. The moon was so bright that when I woke in the middle of the night I thought it was the sun rising. I left the tent to relieve my tiny bladder and discovered it wasn't the sun rising, but the moon setting! Sometime during the wee hours of the morning a motor scooter arrived. When we emerged from the tent there was another sleeping bag clad body on the sand near us. We explored the wellpreserved medieval city. The old portion was enclosed by a three mile wall. Towers and ramparts seemingly filled the skyline. The city was dominated by the Palace of Knights with its dry moat affording a deer habitat. We visited the Palace of the Knights with its incredible floor mosaics. Then we made a trip to the Acropolis. A theatre, stadium and the remains of three temples stood on the site surrounded by fields and trees. There wasn't much remaining of the temple-three pillars-but the site wasn't cordoned off. It was the first site we were allowed to walk around freely. Sharon was fascinated by the old town. Cobble streets were everywhere. The wall blocked all sound from the new city. Being Sunday, every shop was closed and the old town was deserted except for tourists. As a result it was easy to spot fellow travelers. We had an impromptu reunion with all the English speaking people who arrived on the same ferry we did. We had a good visit then everyone set off in their respective directions. Immediately in front of the old city was a marina filled with gorgeous yachts and sailboats. I was enticed by the boats and their names. My favorite was Spirit of Space. Sharon actually caught me smiling. She said it was the only time that day I appeared happy. I was preoccupied with the next portion of our trip, heading for Turkey. So much so that I wasn't enjoying where we were at that moment. We had checked ferry prices and schedules to Cyprus, Israel and Turkey. The problem was: if we went to Turkey we could get to Northern Cyprus, but because of the Turkish and Greek feuds it didn't look as though we would be able to get into Southern Cyprus to catch a ferry to Israel. Traveling had many complications. We revisited our beach camping, shifting down a few hundred feet to a more secluded location, but otherwise had the same view with the bright moon. Behind us was a recreation center where we walked to phone home. Mom's cancer had returned. She sounded frail and fatigued when she quietly asked, "Aren't you getting tired of traveling yet?" |
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