Symi and Rhodes

Not much to say we motored all the way to Symi and stopped overnight in
a quiet anchorage on the southern end of Symi. The monastery that
dominates the bay thoughtfully stopped donging it's bells at about 10pm,
unlike Scario last year, when they went every 15 minutes all through the
night.
It looks like stunning scenery to explore, but we have to leave it to
next year as we wanted to truck along closer to Turkey in case the
weather slows us down.
At the moment we are enjoying the start of this regions 'Indian Summer',
30 degrees in the sun, but chilly enough for socks as soon as the sun
goes down around 6.30pm.
Today we are in Rhodes town, in the harbour. We walked for hours around
the old town, admiring the fortifications of the Knights of St John of
Jerusalem.
We filled up with diesel and for half an hour had to listen to the
diesel man's propoganda for why we shouldn't go to Turkey and why
Greece, particularly Rhodes, is a much better place - despite the fact
that he admitted that the marina is still under construction in true
Greek fashion, with no end in sight. According to him no-one goes to
Turkey anymore because it is so expensive, and their tourist numbers
have plummeted. Whereas, he said, Rhodes had 6 million visitors this
year. On questioning, he admitted that it had 11 million last year, but
he thought this was to do with the elections !!! Bless him....... He
said Turkey has no history, or culture, or castles, or churches, and the
diesel is dirty and full of water, so what a good thing we were filling
up here. If only they could finish the marina, we could stay !!
The buildings in Rhodes town are splendidly restored by the Italians
during their occupation. The remnants of Turkish occupation, including
the fantastic original mosque, are unfortunately struggling to find the
cash to start renovation. No doubt all those applications for EU funding
go astray in the Greek post!

Port police and passport control willing, we are due to check out of the
EU tomorrow and will be on route to Turkey. Turkish lessons have started
on board. Drastic measures are needed to make the strange words stick
......as you can see in the photo.....
We'll be less communicative for up to a couple of weeks as we get out of
range of the Greek phone system, and establish ourselves in the Turkish
one.
The international phone ( the 00 372...one ) will still work if you need
to call.
Love to all
Steph and Stu xx