Didim, Turkey

One of the two lighthouses at Didim.

Didim is a small harbor town where we anchored this morning. A ferryboat picked us up — along with around 40 of our fellow guests — and took us to the town dock where tour buses were waiting. Our destination, around an hour’s drive from the port, was the archaeology site of the ancient city of Herakleia, near Lake Bafa and at the foot of Mount Lamos.  Ancient Greeks and Romans lived in the city, which later belonged to the Byzantine Empire. The disappearance of the population that once lived there  is due to the silting up of the nearby lake, which in earlier times was a sea port. Afterwards, for some years, the lake provided a large catch of eels, which were caught, smoked, and canned for export, but this industry too has become unfeasible because silt and algae have built up in the water.

Ancient stones at Herakleia.

Only a tiny village still exists at the site of Herakleia. We made a stop at the town’s one cafe, where we encountered several women from the village. They were wearing head scarves, plaid shirts, and brightly printed pants, and aggressively selling beaded kerchiefs and other handicrafts. We sampled the local drink made from yogurt, salt, and ice water. The two buses from our ship were the only visitors this morning. So different from yesterday! 

Another ancient Greek city, Miletus, also in this area, was home to several famous ancient Greek philosophers including Anaximenes and Thales. Miletus is on the schedule for this afternoon, but because it’s extremely hot today (over 100°F) we decided to stay on the ship.

The other people from our ship this morning made a tour of the Herakleia site. It was led by the archaeologist/professor who is currently excavating the site and several students from the University of Kansas. Meanwhile, Len and I requested a different activity: we went on a bird walk near the lake with one of the local guides and one other birder, who happens to be the ship’s doctor. Obviously, we wished we could have been there at 5 AM for optimal birding. However, we did see a few nice birds, especially some herons, egrets, and cormorants, and one lone flamingo.

Len’s photo of the flamingo, which is white.
(You may know that flamingos get their color from the food they eat, so I guess this one does not eat shrimp)

We looked for birds on the lakeshore. A Byzantine-era fortress is on a small island
near the edge of the lake. Heavy fortifications were all along the shore.
You might be able to make out an egret at the left of the fortress.

Photos © 2025 mae and len sander

Ephesus, Turkey

The ancient city of Ephesus was one of the largest in the Roman Empire, with a very long history from earliest times. We visited the center of the ancient city, with good views of the library and the theater. 

A very strange archaic statue of Artemis in the archaeology museum.

At the remains of the ancient city, which has been preserved and restored.
The first restorations were in the 19th century, and work continues.

At its peak of population, Ephesus had around 1.5 million people.
Today the number of tourists and visitors was less than that, but it was crowded!

Blog post and photos © 2025 mae sander

Samos

Today’s island is Samos (July 16). Here are a few photos of the town and the fabulous archaeological site. From early in the history of Greece, the island was sacred to the goddess Hera, wife of Zeus and queen of all the gods. Her sanctuary was built, rebuilt, added to, developed and redeveloped from the 6th Century BCE or before until the end of Roman times, when Christianity demanded the end of pagan worship.

Here are a very few photos of the town and the archaeological remains. The internet isn’t cooperating or I would post more photos. All © 2025 mae sander.

Patmos

 

The Monastery at the high point of the island of Patmos.

Today, Tuesday July 15, we are visiting the island of Patmos. Our walk in the morning was through the whitewashed and very narrow streets that twist around the top of the highest hill on the island. At the very top is a monastery, but our tour didn’t visit it. (The other tour did visit it.) Patmos is famous for its role in early Christianity, and did not appear much in the history of ancient Greece.

We mainly looked around at the streets, the views out to sea — very picturesque — and a brief stop in an old mansion and a small church. The old mansion was like a hoarder house: crammed with miscellaneous collectibles from several different time periods. Our real interest is the ancient Greek ruins in these islands, and we hope the other days of the tour will provide more access to such ruins.

The National Geographic/Lindblad Orion, our ship.

Windmills.

The small Greek Orthodox church.

Blog post and photos © 2025 mae sander

Delos

 

This morning (July 14) we visited the island of Delos. The sun was bright, but not yet unbearably hot, and the sky was deep blue, contrasting with the stunning white marble that was used to create the very large city, with its marketplace, its public buildings, many private residences both luxurious and simple, and its theater. Several well-preserved mosaics were especially interesting. A small museum included many marble statues and a few items of pottery. I was thrilled to see still more Greek landscapes.

Fences prevente visitors from entering the buildings.
You must walk on the walkways.

A small iron statue from thousands of years ago in the museum.

A number of lion statues lined one of the avenues in the public area of the city.
The original statues are in the museum, with copies in their place outdoors.

Photos copyright Mae Sander  2025

From Athens to the Ship

This morning when I first woke up, I looked out the window of our cabin on the ship we boarded yesterday. On the horizon I saw Rosy-Fingered Dawn! The boat was rocking a lot as we scudded through the wine-dark sea. (If you have read the Odyssey you know why I’m talking funny.) 

Yesterday, Sunday July 13, we had a beautiful day beginning at our hotel in Athens, and traveling to the Lindblad ship which will take us on our continuing adventure in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Greek and Turkish islands. We visited the ancient Greek Temple of Posidon at Soumion, and then had lunch and a wine tasting at a winery near the port where we boarded the ship. Internet is a bit iffy on this ship, it seems,  but this post might work.

 

The Acropolis Up Close

Finally, this morning, we visited the Acropolis of Athens. For many years I have wished I could see this very famous place, including the most famous temple, the Parthenon, and the Erechtheion, which is the temple decorated with the breathtaking caryatids (female statues holding the structure on their heads). Our tour was planned for us to arrive early in the morning to avoid the heat and the crowds. Huge numbers of tourists were in fact there with us, but we understand that four cruise ships were about to send thousands more tourists later in the day. 

Walking up the rather steep stone path.

Beyond the trees we could look upwards towards the temples on the top.
The major structures were built during the Greek classic era, in the 5th century BCE.

A stadium is alongside the path: it was built much later by the Romans, who always used arches.
(Classic Greek architecture doesn’t use arches.)

Every column is amazing!

The Parthenon is the iconic Greek Temple. Its construction started in 447 BCE, and it was completed in 438,
with some of the decorations completed a few years later. An amazing speed for such a masterpiece.
There’s a lot of history here about wars, generals, politicians, and the great artist Phidias.

The Cariatids at the Acropolis are copies. We saw the originals yesterday at the museum.

Every view is breathtaking.

More photos of the Parthenon

The steps up to the building have an interesting feature: they bow upward in the middle,
which creates the characteristic look of the building from a distance.

The history and foundational nature of this place would make a profound discussion. Years ago, in college, I took an entire year course on Greek archaeology, with many classes on the Parthenon and its builders and its architectural features. As I walked around I could remember much more of this course than I thought I would. However, I won’t try to repeat all that here today.

It was a wonderful experience that I’ve always hoped for.

Leaving the Acropolis

As we walked down the slope to reboard the bus, we could see that the crowd was becoming ever more dense. Too dense, in fact, for more photos: people stopping to take selfies were holding up the people behind on the stairway. The sun was strong and the temperature was rising, as well. We were happy that our tour had been planned to take place first thing in the morning. 

As I say, I have always dreamed of visiting here.

No ancient Mediterranean archaeological site is complete without its resident cats.

Blog post and photos © 2025 mae sander