a lovely town

Hello everyone! I am on my first full day in Rhodes. So far very good. I have settled into a hotel with air conditioning, a continental breakfast and few other amenities. The people that are staying here right now are also wonderful and I spent the day with a woman from Sweden. She showed me a café near the marina that is very popular among the Greeks. They are all out and chatting with one another…the café owner effortfully avoided us today which was interesting. My friend said that he does that every time she goes there. She functions at just my pace…a few days ago she slipped on some stairs in Lindos and sprained her ankle (may have fractured her tibia) and twisted her knee. I don’t know how she remains cheerful but she does. I watched the Greek men interact with each other and they are very affectionate, holding hands at times and walking each other to their motor bikes, of course I don’t know what they are really saying. It could be nasty but I don’t think so.
So let me describe the place to you in a play by play: I got off of my ferry yesterday early afternoon and was struck/excited by the wind on that side of the island as well as the huge walls around the old town. They are very majestic and surprisingly low. Not imposing but pleasant, it really just felt like some security or unifying building to keep the people of Rhodes together. I walked on the edge of the old town and into the new town where there are two starbucks on the main road. The map is printed with funds from Sephora and some other chain store I would compare the feeling to walking on the streets in Florence. Actually on the street that borders the ocean there are cafes with outdoor seating and cement arches leading into the shop area, I like it very much. This feels like the cradle of western civilization and I am only starting. I think that the engineering and architecture may have something to do with the natural resources available. Maybe because there was an abundance of volcanic rock the walls are made of stone. Hmm, I think I might have learned something about all of this in junior high modern civ. Ok now I might become a geology buff, does anyone have any light to shed on these things? The pictures that I have included are of port when I first arrived, the wall of the old town contrasting the new town, the café that I went to today and a statue in a parking lot…really? In a parking lot.
This evening I may go with my Swedish friend (who is on crutches) to Kremasti for a celebration of the Virgin Mary. I have heard that the locals are very devoted Catholics. I’ll let you know how it goes
Love you all,
RTK