I woke up a few times during the night but finally got up just after 6 am. I put on shorts (but kept on my Rodos t-shirt in which I sleep) and went up to deck 10 and thence to deck 11 for my morning walk. I counted steps for a circuit – slightly over 400 steps – then walked for eight circuits. I forgot to bring with me sunglasses and headphones; the sunglasses weren't essential but the headphones were. I was surprised by how many people were on deck – maybe 50 – but only a few went up to deck 11. A small buffet was served – coffee, orange juice and muffins – that probably acted as a stimulus for those that didn't walk.
As we weren't due to arrive in Rodos until 3 pm, the rest of the morning was passed by finding things to do to fill in the time: resting on the sun deck on deck 7, watching a children's film on deck 6, drinking hot chocolate in one of the cafes, eating lunch, etc.
When we did arrive in Rodos, we disembarked and walked to the old city gate. Here there was a difference of opinion between my wife and me, so she stayed in the markets whereas I struck out for the new city in order to film all the places that I remembered. We agreed on a meeting place and time.
I then walked at a very fast place in order to complete my circuit in time: first to the new marina in order to film the 'guarded' entrance there, along with some of the buildings, thence to the 3D cinema (which is now 9D, whatever that means), up that road then down another in order to find the entrance to the pedestrian only mall that we found, then up past the restaurant where we ate the first night – which is now abandoned – and from there to the sea on the other side of Rodos.
The trip to Milano had left me with only 25€ in cash, so I wanted to withdraw some more cash from an ATM. Here disaster struck: there was an ATM near the Blue Sky hotel, so I put my card into the machine … only to discover that the machine was not in use. I tried to pull my card out but with no success; not only did I not withdraw any cash, I had now lost my credit card! There was nothing more that I could do then so I started back to the old city, walking behind where we had stayed and into the old city via a gate that probably most tourists don't see.
She insisted on having a break in a restaurant to drink and use the toilet, so stop we did. After a while, I noticed that there were some Israelis in the restaurant who were using their mobile phones to have a conversation with someone at home; I realised that the restaurant offered free wifi. So I asked the waiter for the password and shortly afterwards my phone came to life with various whatsapp messages. I sent one to my daughter to cancel the credit card, but after a minute or two (when I received notification that my card had been debited by the kibbutz), I realised that I almost certainly could cancel the card via the card company's app; this I proceeded to do. I then received a message from the credit card company saying that the card had been cancelled.
We spent some more time in an antiques shop where we had been before as well as in a clothes shop before heading back to the ship. By this time, the efforts of the day were taking their toll on me and I developed a case of hiccups that I managed to control with some cold water; I also needed a toilet fast. Once back on the ship, I relieved myself only to discover that the toilet was now blocked; very embarrassing. Fortunately the ship's plumber came reasonably quickly to fix the problem and one of the cleaning staff cleaned our bathroom. Another case of hiccups came and was cured.
I had a light supper (it was almost 9 pm) as my stomach was hurting and I didn't want a repeat of the previous two hours. A third case of hiccups came and was dealt with. Back in the cabin I lay down for a few minutes to calm my body, then had a hot shower and into bed. I noticed that my left big toe was hurting: I thought that this was a result of all the walking (over 17,500 steps) but I suspect that this is a case of gout. The toe hurt all through the night – although it wasn't too painful – and obviously I slept because my wife's alarm went off at 6:30 am, arising me from sleep.
| Title | Tags | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 952 | Dave Swarbrick, RIP | Obituary, Fairport Convention | |
| 1505 | Italy 2022: pre-flight check | Holiday, Italy, Bari |
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