Me and my shadow... and a moat!

So, I'm in Rhodes and the living is goooood! Here is a summary of my first trip into Rhodes (I am staying in Ixia, about 5 minutes north by bus). Here I am on the bus, there is even a seat at the back with an ocean view!
Once I arrived into Rhodes, I chose the "old town" for my first visit - as opposed to the "new town" (which isn't really new, but is certainly newer). My first introduction to the wonderfully preserved medieval old town was, to my delight, the moat!!!!

Yes, I truly was walking in a moat! It was very cool. If you click and read the below though, you will see it's not all fun and games, as thousands perished on this very spot in ancient conflicts. It's sobering... yet also neat to see new life here: people running, children playing, tourists and lots of greenery and flowers...

I was at the spot in this old town map shown by the read arrow (click to enlarge). I explored his and a couple of adjacent spots, maybe 3-5% of the total thing, and that took me an entire afternoon. So much more to still explore!

After exploring the moat, I stopped and had lunch: pork souvlaki! Tried for lamb, but to no avail. The places that are open this time of year have scaled back menus. But it was incredibly good, sitting there in the sun. I call this my "not Ouzo lunch" as the first carafe of wine he brought me was actually ouzo and was quite a surprise when I took my first sip! Didn't hate it though, and will try it again. In the end, drank the lovely wine quite happily....

After lunch I set out to explore a bit more... The city's road makes one short detour through the old town's walls - in one gate and immediately out the other - right at this spot (otherwise, cars in the old town are limited to residents [yes, people live in the old town!] and handicap vehicles. This bench I was sitting on was ancient (I think) and was right beside the ruins on the site of the Temple of Aphrodite (didn't get a good pic, will return later to get a good one I can post).

Here's starts the bit on my shadow.... For some reason, I was feeling playful (must have been the moat that did it!) and I was shooting my shadow all day... Here I am playing feet shadow puppets!

... and my legs as I walk on these cool stone paved sidewalks they have everywhere here.

The last spot of the old town I visited was right by the sea, and I caught this vista of the outer wall that looked out from a little courtyard as I entered it...

Super cool shot through the old wall, looking out to the ancient pier (still in use today, I think it's considered part if the new town, but not sure...). More on that shortly...

Now this is one cool shot: my shadow on the beach just outside the old walls... I took this picture looking through a slit in the wall, and I am lit up from behind in the dying sun of the day. Neat, eh?

This little guy was begging me to take his picture: (warning, if you don't care for cats, it's time to stop reading... heh)...

Pleeeaaaaassseee pet me?

I'd resisted the petting of Greece's cats until then, but rubbing up against my leg? I become putty in a cute kitty's paws....

... and "me and my shadow" takes on a whole new meaning!!! This guy was very reluctant to leave my side after a bit of attention, and followed me for quite awhile (sorry, computer is turning the picture on it's side, sigh...)...

Me and my shadow cat....

Still have a few more pics of the day to share, but first this: the view on my way home at the end of the day, sunset time, taken from the back of a taxi!

I looking through one of the walls of the strucures on the peir, and I didn't ask the seagull to pose, he just did it! Honest!Now, just a few more cat pics, because one can never have enough, right? I literally took hundreds.... heh... This one was an encouraging sign at a spot where volunteers put out food for the cats at the end of the pier (and, yes, I emptied my pockets of change):

In this spot alone - where the cats were fed - I counted 17 cats, in every shape and size possible. All looked very content and rather healthy. (I probably saw 100+ on the pier during my walk).

Now, click to enlarge this pic and tell me how many cats you see?

Ah, yes, there I am with my shadow again.... It's a theme I return to several times and makes for an interesting aspect of my trip photo collection. Maybe I can publish a book just of my shadow travelling Europe. LOL. Would go well of my collection of pictures of me in mirrors and reflective surfaces....

Overall, Rhodes continues to be great. I did that 5 minute bus-ride on foot one day... I think it took me well over an hour, but it was spectactularly lovely!!! Oh, that 5 minute bus ride? It's great, the only problem is that no one can tell me the schedule (transit responses vary from 30 minutes to an hour apart - and the schedule they gave me is in Greek and based on the summer schedule). When I go to town, I go and stand at the stop and figure if it takes less than an hour to come then it's a bonus. On the day I am writing this, it only took about 5 minutes to arrive.... but I've waited as long as about 35 minutes so far... LOL. It's why I often take a cheap 8E taxi home at the end of a day in town...

And the answer to the # of cats in the last picture? The answer is FOUR. You might have to look closely to see the 2 cats sleeping so curled up they appear as one....