A quest to see some historic sights and have a special meal out to celebrate Sam's birthday led us to the south shore of the Bodrum peninsula and its city center. Approaching from the sea, Bodrum makes an unforgettable impression with its 15th c. Castle of St. Peter standing high on a rocky peninsula dividing the modern town's bustling vehicle-free east eastern sector and the quieter western hub and yacht harbor. We stayed one night at the Milta Bodrum Marina, on the first dock near the entrance, which afforded us some welcome cooling breezes and an uninterrupted evening view of the castle illuminated in a golden light .

Arriving early, we were off by mid-day to walk along the tree-lined town quay with huge wooden gulets tied gunn'l to gunn'l. This side of town is white-washed, flower-decked, and charming with beckoning cafes and restaurants. Our noses led us to a traditional kofte (meatball) house where platters of grilled shish and brightly colored salads were offered up at shady sidewalk tables. Kath's lunch was grilled chicken kebab atop a pile of tomato strewn arugula (tastiest yet) but the real winner was the house specialty: hünkar beğendili köfte: a selection of lamb and beef meatballs with a "sultan delight" of pureed tomato, aubergine and cheese. Topped off with a glass of local ayran, a salty yogurt drink, Sam was a sated and happy birthday boy.

We were now ready to explore Bodrum's most distinctive landmark - the castle of St Peter which was begun in 1406 by the Knights of St John, with five massive stone towers representing the nationalities of its formidable inhabitants. When Suleyman the Magnificent conquered Rhodes in 1523 both Bodrum and Rhodes came under Ottoman rule and the knights left for Malta. Neglected for centuries, the castle became a prison in 1895 and was damaged by shells from a French warship during WWI. In the early 1960's it was used to store artifacts found by local sponge divers. This led to a fruitful Turkish-American partnership to restore the castle and put on display the fantastic undersea treasures found around Turkey. Their innovative reconstructions of ancient shipwrecks and their glass and amphorae cargo were fascinating and, not surprisingly, have brought the underwater archaeology museum international acclaim. And we're talking ancient as one ship was dated to 1025 in the Fatimid-Byzantine era! The photos above give you a glimpse of our experience, more to be added to the gallery soon!

The next morning Jen and Sam packed up while Kath & Craig wandered around the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, some of Bodrum's back street neighborhoods and finally arrived at the old stadium's weekly Market that was in full swing. The backpack was soon full of fresh veg, fruit, herbs and some local offerings of gözleme (GURZ-leh-MEH) - folded flat bread with spinach and cheese - and lovely zucchini blossoms filled with a tasty lamb & rice mixture to serve as starters for our guests' last supper aboard before the next morning's flight from Kos, to Athens, to Paris and home to Boston.