Rhodes is a Greek medieval fortressed city but of course it was conquered and settled by many different people. It was held by the Knights of St John during the Crusades and a large palace remains.

One obvious difference between Turkish and Greek towns is that Greece is mostly Christian so one notices more churches than mosques, though one can still find both.

The streets of Rhodes are distinctly European with charming narrow cobblestone streets and equally charming motorcyclists trying to run you down in the alleys.

Dotty and I enjoyed gelato in the Rhodes plaza before boarding the Viking Jupiter again for English high tea, followed by a fancy Italian dinner only 2 hours later. I feel like a sausage…

The next port-of-call was the town of Heraklion on the island of Crete. Crete, the second largest Greek island, was home to the famous painter known as “El Greco”, whom people mistakenly think of as a Spaniard because he lived in Toledo, Spain. The writer Nikos Kazantzakis, who was most famous for “Zorba the Greek” was apparently also from Crete.

My excursion included a bus ride up a windy hairpin-bend road to visit a thousand year old monastery. It had been closed for several centuries during the Ottoman Empire but reopened and now has 5 nuns in residence.

It was a dreary rainy day, but luckily the downpour held out until we got to our lunch destination. Greek salad, tzatziki (yogurt and cucumber salad), dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), goat cheese, stuffed tomatoes, bread and white wine was the vegetarian fare I had—yum yum!