Bodrum Castle

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Wednesday - Bodrum: Not the early birds today. Casual breakfast and then into the launch/tender ashore in Turkey. We walked through town to the castle built in the 16^thcentury by the Knights of St John and abandoned when Rhodes fell. It is a lovely castle, brought back by the town very diligently. It has many rooms and a fortified harbor. But the most interest part of the castle is the Underwater Archeological Museum. Several wrecks – one from the Minoan era with glass on board and one from the Roman era with many amphora – are highlighted with actual scenes from the finds and recreations of the location itself. Very well done and interesting.

After completing the walk through the museum – and avoiding the mess left by the peacocks (dirty but lovely birds) – we stopped for a coffee and lemonade amidst the hundreds of gulets for hire. These sailboats are beautiful to look at and a great way to see the coastline and all the underwater reefs, fish and Greco-Roman remains. But there sure are a lot of them. We walked along the waterfront and took in their size – some are immense – and their beauty – some have great lines for such comfortable vessels. John took some pictures of the best kept and looking in case we ever decide to charter and cruise the coast.

Our objective as the monument to Mausolos, the ancient king of Halicarnassus, and his queen, Artemisia. This huge structure, with pillars and statues, was many levels and recorded as over 500 feet high. Considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, it is the basis for the concept of “mausoleum”. Not much is left, as it collapsed in a 14^th century earthquake and the remains were used to build the castle about a hundred years later.

Tired of walking and ready for a rest, we found a local restaurant and enjoyed a nice lunch. Then back to the ship for a rest and taking in the sights from the deck as the afternoon progressed. Finally we are relaxing. Although small-ship cruising is an interesting way of getting around, it does remove you from the local culture and experience as you move “through” it and are not “in” it. At the same time, many of the people who are on the ship with us are from our American culture and may want to have it available while traveling to new cultures. A food-tasting expert (he does it to assess the quality of various cruise lines and is taking this cruise for work) told Peggy that most cruise lines try to Americanize the food so that the guests feel comfortable.

After a BBQ on the aft deck the sails were set and we are off to Kusadasi. Peggy and John are now off to bed.

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