Hey crew.
The cruise ship I am working on has brought me to Rhodes, and I couldn’t be happier. I love Rodos. The old Greek town where the locals are friendly and the food is brilliant.
The ship will dock in Mandrake harbour and from there it is a short walk to the old town, which is where all the hustle and bustle is. If you want to go somewhere else for the day, there are taxi’s lined up just outside the port.
Rhodes has the oldest inhabited medieval town in Europe, with 6,000 people working and living here. The old town was built in the 14th century, and still has the original stone walls, cobblestone streets and medieval gates, which gives it a fairy tale feel.
Once passing through the main entrance which has giant medieval wooden gates, you will come into an area of little shops selling everything you could ever need, from holiday supplies, souvenirs, clothes, shoes and loads more.
This is the tourist centre in Rodos so you probably will find more English people here than Greeks, but it’s a nice way to potentially meet some other holidaymakers who might give you ideas of where to go. The shops here are varied, with some being quite expensive and other’s being very affordable. Whatever shop you go in, the people are eager to help.
Haggling is accepted in some shops, but not all, and it’s not always obvious which ones will, so the best way to find out is to start haggling and they will either go along with it or will tell you that that’s not how they do business.
Hippocrates Square is the centre of the Old Town which is surrounded by cafes and bars. There are over 50 restaurants within the Old Town that all specialise in a different cuisine, so you are bound to be able to find whatever you fancy to eat. There are a few restaurants that offer crew discount, so you just have to ask. The group I was with went to a place that offered 20% crew discount and it was in Hippocrates square. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of it but it was a fast food, end of the night sort of place. The food was ok but I probably wouldn’t go back there because I like to stay away from fast food if I can, but we were enticed by the crew discount. Something Rodos is famous for is the boot of beer. This came from the olden days when men would pop beer into their boot to drink from. Nowadays, they provide the boot, which is made of glass. So it’s a boot-shaped glass, which holds about a litre and a half of beer inside.
All over the old town, there are things to see like medieval castles and churches, so it’s a beautiful place to get lost in. As you wander around the old town be sure to weave in and out of the alleyways as some lead to beautiful views and cute little cottages. mA relaxing day in Rhodes’s old town might be just what the doctor ordered, oh, and a boot of beer.
