He's Not Ian, But He's Not Bad

After leaving the Palace of the Grand Masters, we headed up to walk on the City Walls (a family tradition – whenever possible, it’s great to walk along the fortress walls of an old city. York remains our favorite, primarily because it was the first. But there have been many since.)Torie had a muscle cramp going, so she opted to wait for us along the row of cannons near the entrance to the Grand Palace. Her loss.

We walked along the wall in the rising hot sun. I sensed that, between having split our family forces in two (leaving Torie behind), the rising heat, and the lack of provisions (i.e. water), it was going to be a short campaign along the walls – we wouldn’t make it all 2.5 miles around.So I picked a tower to walk to and turnaround at. We walked to the Tower of Spain, climbed up it (Carol declining, preferring not to risk the slick, narrow rocky steps). At the top, I was gently accosted by a British fellow who immediately engaged me in conversation. It was the most engaging conversation of the trip – so much so that Maddy and Julia crowded into to listen, and Carol changed her mind and came up the steps.

His name is Graeme Jones (he actually said, "you may have heard of my brother, Indiana") and he is retired from the British military. The history of Rhodes is his hobby – he spends three months at a time, then goes home to England for a month, before returning again to do further study and research..He first showed me painstakingly drawn maps he has done of the wall (the thickest city walls I’ve every seen). That was as interesting to me as my showing crosstabs to people who couldn’t care less. However, then he launched into a description of the walls, the moat, and the sieges of Rhodes. The stories he told were like silver and gold. It gave us a greater appreciation for the conflicts, how the battles were fought, the bravery of the knights, the leadership of Suleiman the Magnificent.

Graeme really made the history come alive. Carol and I kept asking questions (and Maddy and Julia hovered near by, soaking it in).

Finally we took our leave, having to go back to Torie after nearly an hour. He sold us a VERY readable pamphlet he had written entitled "A brief history of the Old Medieval City of Rhodes." The cost was only two Euros, which we were happy to pay in appreciation for his time and enthusiasm. So, if in Rhodes you get accosted by an Englishman who clearly is a frustrated tour guide/historian, spend some time with him. You’ll be the richer for it.(The Ian reference in this posting title will be clearer if you go back and read the Israel part of the blog -- March 2009.)