Thursday, November 5, 2009

Bodrum, October 26th

Before I start, I must give a shout out to my sister Sawah ... the 26th is her Birthday:)
Happy Birthday Sawah!

This morning was similar to the others, room service woke us up with breakfast and we watched the ship pull into port. It was a hazy morning, which in fact turned into a downpour! While it created havoc for us, this area had not seen any rain in 5 months! And eventually the sun did come out as you will see in the later images.

From our balcony,

Twisting out over the water to get a forward shot. FYI, the orange is the lifeboats.
the boat was now moving sideway to the dock ... it was on the other side of the ship.
Tied up, our view of Bodrum from the balcony.

Now that we are in Bodrum, most people ask what is the significance of this port ... well, at least that was my question. Here is what I learned: the city was first known as Halicarnassus - dating back to the 13th century BC. This place is OLD!! Excavations reveal the 5,000 year history of this town. Homer (not simpson) tells in the Illiad that the Carians helped defend Troy. In the 6th century BC the Persians ruled. Around 353 BC it was the capitol of Satrap of Caria, this was brilliant time for the area. Famous for its trade, sailing and boatbuilding.

The most prominent feature of Bodrum today is the castle of St. Peter. The origins date back to the Knights of St. John. This was a group that began in the 11th century with a church and a hospital in Jerusalem ... while they were devout Catholics, they did not deny care to anyone. When the knights came to Brorum, they named it Mesy, not knowing they were in an ancient city To build the castle, they used any usable parts from the tomb of King Mausolos. (Mausoleum!)
This fortress became known as the Castle of St. Peter, the Liberator. This was the sole place of refugees for all Christians on the West Coast of Asia during the time of the crusades.

The castle has undergone several uses ... a military base, a prison, and a public bath. Now it is one of the finest museums in the region.
I say all that to set up our tour of the Museum ...
Let me first tell you about the treacherous trip from the boat to the terminal to the bus.
Our excursion group met in the show lounge all ready to go, then we heard the thunder and our guides delayed having everyone exit the boat - until the storm passed. Which was a nice warm room. When we finally began our exit of the ship we were given umbrellas, as we stepped off the ship to the dock more then half the umbrellas turned inside out. The rain was not falling down, but coming at the side and the wind was wicked. Aaron and I hurried trying not to slip along the dock into the terminal. We found our bus and settled in. The drive to the castle was about 15 min. During the drive we learned that Bodrum is the hot spot to summer for wealthy Europeans. The boats where magnificent!
On to the museum, entering the castle, love the umbrellas ...

on our way, the rain was still coming down ...
the road map:
into the castle ...
As we moved through the castle, stone reliefs had been placed in the structure, depending on who was "using" the building ...
First view from the top of the castle
View of our ship ...
A relief from the Crusades


The castle, right on the water
A non-christian relic ...
Moving from the outside to the inner sections of the castle
A church, then Masque ... now holds a replica of a shipping boat
No umbrella, the sun is drying all things out
Shipping Vessel:
some of the containers found off the shore:
these containers held olive oil ...

Aaron checking out items found through archeological dives:
an olive press ... it was HUGE!

A courtyard
the walls


next we entered the "glass hall"

at one time the Venitians inhabited this area ... they created beautiful blown glass

The museum was completly black, with lights under the vessels.
It almost seemed like we where underwater.

a demo:
a pretty flower :)

a new view, we where climbing higher in the castle, this is a view of the "old harbor"
ships used to drop anchor and take tenders in ....
now they have a dock on the other side of the castle ...
so many masts ....
the shore leading to our ship
top of the castle
inside one of the towers (notice the SUN!)
our ship is in the background
These boats were huge, rough estimate at $300,000 each, from the boat expert on our trip

A second courtyard, turning into a beautiful day ...
one of the towers
ariel view of castle and old harbor


Following the tour, Aaron and I took the bus back to the boat for room service, cheeseburgers, chocolate shake and fries - YUM!
Returning to the ship, on the dock we got an excellent view of the harbor opposite our room

the castle

After lunch we took naps, then went up to afternoon high tea ... enjoyed classical music tasty scones and tea. Then we got ready for dinner, this was the night to "DRESS" we also would be dining with the Purser, she runs the hotel /money side of things on board.

We had a surprise, docked right next to us was a million dollar yacht ... it was pretty fancy!
We had a cocktail party on the back deck with an excellent view point down into the ship.
Aaron chatting with Paul, aka Mr.McDonalds (he owns 3 in the Greenwood area)
Bodrum at night,
I started with soft shell crab ... yum!

salad ...
this was "da bomb"! Flaky white fish, with diced apples in a light cream sauce ... yum!
Following the example of Todd, I had the cheese plate for dessert - YUM!!!


leaving Bodrum ... the blue lights are the yacht

We set sail at 11pm, heading for Rhodes Greece, 70 nautical miles

GRACE AND PEACE!

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