The ferry was a glorified version of the interislander but with cabins. Our cabin was pretty good complete with bathroom and bunk beds that were relatively comfortable, but I guess we are so used to sleeping just about anywhere, beds don't tend to bother us to much anymore except when you get an exceptionally comfortable or uncomfortable one.

We had an earlish night so woke up early and watched the sunrise come up while seeing Rhodes in the distance. At 8am sharp we docked and jumped in a shared taxi and roared off at great speed as only the Greeks can do, to our hotel in Rhodes town.

Rhodes Town is really two distinct and very different towns. The Old Town lies within but utterly apart from the New Town, sealed like a medieval time capsule behind a double ring of high walls and a deep moat. Nowhere else in the Dodecanese can boast so many layers of architectural history, with ruins and relics of the Classical, Medieval, Ottoman and Italian eras entangled in a mind-boggling maze of twisting cobblestoned alleys. The citadel of Rhodes, built by the Knights Hospitalliers of St John, is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Europe, which in 1988 was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Our hotel sat in the new town but outside the citadel and in fantastic location, close to good restaurants. It was really an immaculate peaceful pension complete with tiled floors and a fabulous Greek alfresco breakfast of fresh croissants, Greek cheese puffs (yum), feta and tomato, bread rolls, biscuits, Greek yoghurt with honey and walnuts, hard boiled eggs and coffee with cream. Devine. The owner was a tad odd with a weird sense of humour but seemed to warm to us after a while.

We were feeling quite shattered as the jet lag was kicking in so we had a sleep and then wandered the stunning cobbled streets in the citadel to get a sense of the place. The North face was under the rule of the Grand Master, then moving West and South the posts were held by the Langue of France and Alvernia, the Langue of Spain (Spanish and Portuguese), the Langue of Germany (English and German), and the Langue of Italy which has Inns on Knights Avenue. The amount of history is staggering from the Classical, Roman, Byzantine, Knight's, Ottoman, Italian, and then post WWII periods.

That evening we went to a really fabulous inn and had our first ouzo and I have to say I like it though it's strong stuff, as we found after we hopped off our chairs.

The next day we went and saw the Archaeological Museum which was interesting although there was not a lot of information on what we were looking at but the building itself is impressive along with the joined by a courtyard, Villaragut Mansion. The museum is housed in the monumental edifice that was the hospital of the Knights of Saint John. Construction of it was begun in 1440. We then checked out a "Decorative Arts Collection" which was mainly beautiful Ottoman plates and then the church Panagia Tou Kastrou (Lady of the Castle) which now houses an art collection.

We then walked to the Tower and Lighthouse of St Nicholas and on the way passed three windmills and many cats who apparently total over 200 strays who are fed by a local. Of course, we had to stop off (many times) for a pat and to donate.

A further walk was had around to the North Eastern tip of the island where we were surprised to see Turkey in the distance but so close by.

The following day was spent at the Palace of the Grand Master, an impressive castle that was built in the 7th C and occupied and repaired over time. Again we didn't really know what we were looking at due to the lack of information.

We then got lost in the maze of streets and went hiking up the hill to see the remains of the Acropolis, dating from the Classical Greek period (5th-3rd century BC). This included the Temple of Apollo (completely covered in scaffolding unfortunately), a small reconstructed amphitheatre and a quite impressive partially reconstructed by the Italians, stadium.

We also then saw a beautiful little Greek Orthodox Church covered in frescos.

The next day we felt a tad seedy as we had over indulged in wine and ouzo the night before while watching of all things, a Peruvian band in a bar to the wee small hours. It was so nice to go somewhere "normal", so to speak.

We then jumped on a local bus for an hours trip down the Eastern coast of the island to Lindos.

Lindos has been enjoying its wonderful setting for 4000 years, since the Dorians founded the first settlement at this excellent harbour and vantage point. Since then it has been successively overlaid with Byzantine, Frankish and Turkish structures, the remains of which can be glimpsed all around. The white washed walled town is nestled underneath a hill which is dominated by an acropolis. Below the town are two beaches of fine brown sand with a natural almost enclosed harbour of the clear aquamarine Aegean.

We wandered down the hill opposite the acropolis to the town and found most shops and restaurants closed with practically no tourists. Our pension had a spectacular view of the harbour from the terrace just outside our room and behind us the acropolis loomed. The town had narrow cobbled streets which are quite beautiful and typically Greek. Thank goodness for Google maps as it was very confusing.

The next day we walked up and looked around the acropolis, although it turned out to be a quick look as a thunderstorm started, apparently the first rain since May. You have the option of taking a donkey up or down the steep walk but it wasn't really very far, so we didn't, and frankly I would have felt bad for the donkey. The acropolis was impressive and had awesome views. Everything is so darn old, it's hard to comprehend. That is one thing I particularly love about Europe. One thing I don't love about Europe is how expensive it is. Our budget is taking a bit of hammering as Greece is not as cheap as we had expected. It's also getting quite chilly and too cold for swimming now unfortunately, as we were hoping Rhodes would be around 24 degrees Celsius but alas it's around 16 to 18. The water is an inviting aquamarine clear but the Aegean is freezing.

After quite a mission we managed to rent a car, all very relaxed as the Greeks are. They didn't even want to see our international drivers license and said when we return it to just leave the keys under the mat in the unlocked car! Then the rain really came and lasted the whole day. We have been lucky to date with no forced downtime until now.

The next day was a beautiful day so we took off around the island in the car. I haven't driven on the right hand side in a left hand drive car for 20 years so it was a little scary at first but fortunately the traffic wasn't bad at all so it was a painless trip.

The island is reasonably small and can be circumnavigated in six hours, so we only had to drive about half an hour to each stop. As you would expect in Greece the island was barren, brown and hilly with only the odd goat and olive trees by the roads to keep you company. White washed villages were huddled on the hills next to the bright blue sea and it was fun trying to drive through the narrow streets and work out where to go.

The highlights that we stopped at were the Castle of Askipeiou and Monolithos Castle. Monlithos is a medieval Castle, built on top of a 100m rock. This castle was built in 1480 by the Knights of Saint John to protect the island from attacks. In fact, this castle was never conquered. The Castle of Monolithos is widely ruined today but it offers great views of the sea and the two islets opposite to it. Inside the Castle, there is a small working chapel dedicated to Agios Panteleimon (Saint Pantaleon).

The ancient city of Kameiros, constructed initially by the Greeks in the 6th Century BC was partucarly stunning overlooking the sea and you could clearly see the ruins of the bath houses and Hellenistic houses.

Josh then managed to catch a Chelsea game at a English owned pub that night. Then the next day it was off on the bus to Rhodes Town before taking another bus to the airport before our flight to Athens then to Santorini.