Wednesday 27 June 2012

Overtime at the Office

Yea, well, sometimes we all have to put in a bit of overtime I suppose. yesterday it was my turn. I was doing the "Rhodes by Day" (or, as the company calls is, "City Delights") excursion and had a nice manageable 18 people to drop off in Rhodes town, after first leaving the crazy ones at the water park.

After giving the guests their free map at Spiro's Top Three bar, I decided to trot off with the trusty digital camera in an attempt to fill the five hours "down time" with minimal boredom. Mind you, However many times I do this trip I can honestly say I'm never actually bored when in town. It's so vibrant at any time of the year, not to mention incredibly beautiful, both the old and new parts.

I'd explained to some of my guests, four very young and very attractive young ladies, that out at the far end of the Harbour there's a fortress, which usually you can walk inside of and up a few flights of stone stairs to a room where there's an audio-visual presentation, which lasts for about fifteen minutes and gives the viewer a brief history of the harbour. So I decided to head out there first just to be sure that it was open. Of course, on arriving at the arched stone entrance I was dismayed to find that it was locked with an iron gate. Ho hum, austerity measures I suppose. But I was now a bit worried that they'd walk all the way out here and then curse me for having sent them on a wild goose chase...

Camera poked between the iron bars of the gate toward what might have been.
Turning around to inspect the shot, I noticed the four girls in question approaching rapidly, so I decided on damage limitation. Hailing them, I apologized with all the profuseness that I could muster (in the profuse stakes, I reckon I managed "most profusely" with ease, I was that embarrassed).

Having a well, tanned face can be an asset on occasion. People can't see you blushing as easily. Having explained the situation, they very graciously said it didn't matter as it was a great place for a photo call anyway. Covering my failure even further I offered the usual info about the harbour entrance; you know, the deer (doe and stag either side), the legend of the Colossus and so on. They were well pleased and so - I have to add - was I at the outcome...

Three of the girls in shot here. One's got her back to me as she takes a photo. No idea where the other one was at this moment. Hadn't even asked their names by this stage.
A little more conversation soon revealed that they all lived in my home part of the UK, the Bath area. What a coincidence. After a few moments exchanging place names and saying things like "Yea, I know it well!", the idea sort of evolved that perhaps I could show them around a bit, some of them having never visited Rhodes before. The idea was instantly appealing to me, but I ventured the thought that perhaps they wouldn't want an old geezer (old enough to be their father) tagging along, to which they replied to the effect that they'd be well-pleased to have a personal guide (don't breathe a word of this to the professionals, all right? I don't want to be thrown into the harbour next time I set foot in town after all) show them around. So, that all settled, we headed off to the the old town for a mooch around...

Don't jump!! Things can't really be that bad...
  Here they all are with some geezer who didn't have much conversation, but probably would have given a fortune for a can opener...

And before you start, I know there was no one inside, OK? I just thought it made a good joke.
I'd taken them up the Street of the Knights, then through the above "lane" back on to Socrates Street...


 ...all the time strolling proprietorially into shops with them to make sure that they got a good price for anything which they may want to buy. Then the question of hunger and thirst kicked in and, to my delight, they were up for a visit to a nice traditional back-street taverna, so I took them to Yianni's for lunch. 

Photos of YIANNIS, Rhodes Town

This photo of YIANNIS is courtesy of TripAdvisor
 
Over a very enjoyable lunch I learned that their names were Helen Altoft, Claire Collins, Lucy Cannon (no obvious jokes here guys) and Alison Walker. Our appetites sated and thirsts quenched over an expectedly excellent repas, I led them down to the main square where the stone fountain is situated, gave them a few more pointers and bade them farewell until it was time to rendezvous at the Top Three to await the arrival of the coach for the return journey to Pefkos. Never outstay your welcome, eh?


When I saw them off the coach back in Pefkos I think their reaction was quite genuine when they thanked me for the personal "guiding" services and waved me goodbye, assuring me when I told them that I had around 4,000 hits a month on the blog that I could now expect 4004! I think somehow that this wasn't going to be their last visit to this island. Hi girls and thanks for helping me fill a few hours very pleasantly too.

The last drop-off on the coach was the Miraluna here in Kiotari, where my wife met me in the car. Dashing home I just had time for a quick shower, change of clothes and off out again to report for work at the gate for the big finish of Rhodes Rock. The stage having been re-located to right in front of the ancient amphitheatre in Lindos, I was looking forward to another fix of live Floyd music and Think Floyd didn't disappoint. They never do. That reminds me, I must put a permanent link to their web site on my links page soon.

The opening two bands were equally good. I'd never seen Walkway before, but they are outstanding, and Ben Poole is simply to me the British Joe Bonamassa - which is the highest compliment I could pay the young lad!!

Think Floyd finally arrived at the closing chords of "Comfortably Numb" at around 1.00am, so while Eddie, Elaine and I plus a couple of thousand others wiped the tears away the team began a round of goodnights as the crowd ebbed away and I was able to head for home. After dropping a couple of Floyd fans back to their accommodation at the Med Bar in Pefkos, I finally crawled into bed at around 2.45am.

So, a long day but - to be honest - there are much worse things I could be doing for work.

5 comments:

  1. A Joe B fan. Good taste, thanks for the pointer to Ben Poole, he sounds good on I tunes.

    Love the blog I discovered it a month or so ago researching a forthcoming visit to Rhodes. A lot of what you write I could have written myself, I think we're probably of a similar vintage.

    Steve

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    1. Welcome Steve, nice to know you find a measure of entertainment in my drivel!!! Glad too to have added another one to the Ben Poole fan base.

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  2. Just another day at the office!! You do your job so well and you enjoy it

    Love
    Annette
    xxxx

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    1. Well Annette, you may be wrong on the first count, but you're right on the second!!

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    2. John,

      Looks like you had a good time!!

      Since it opened to public after renovation, about 7 years ago if memory serves me right, St Nicholas Fortress (aka Tower, aka Lighthouse) has kept some strange opening times - we have been caught out like you on more than one occasion when arranging to meet friends over there. Hopefully you were just there at the wrong time of day and this was not a permanent closure??

      Cheers,

      Dave.

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