Our first visitors, Lord Herndon’s Aunt C and Uncle D, arrived last Monday and spent a week with us. They were eager to see as much of Istanbul as they could, and so were very forgiving of the fact that we could only spend time with them after school. But we did have one weekend together, and so we made the most of it. They flew us all down to Bodrum, small town on the coast of the Mediterranean know for its sunshine and tourism.
It was known as Halicarnassus in ancient times and is the site of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: the Mausoleum of Mausolus. It is also known as a summertime party destination, but this is spring and we are a family, so our priorities were slightly different. Richard, one of our British teaching friends, joined us with his family. His kids are older, though, so their evenings were spent a bit differently than ours.
Every morning, we stuffed ourselves on the fresh Turkish breakfast, eaten outside under the leaves of the hotel’s lemon and tangerine trees. Turkish breakfast is usually a hard-boiled egg, fresh crusty bread, tomato, cucumber, olives, and a soft white cheese similar to feta, all served with sweet black tea or coffee. We loved it!
Ancient antiquity called to us first, so we headed over to the site of the Mausoleum. Richard’s daughter described it as nothing more than a pile of rocks, but we thought the ruins were much more extensive than the guidebook led us to believe. Prince loved the tunnels and climbed over and around all the rocks and pillars that he could find. Princess took the opportunity to nap in the sunshine like a cat.
We then parted company so the kids could play for awhile.
Later, we explored the extensive Bodrum Castle of the Knights of St. John, built in the 15th century by the Crusaders from the stones of the destroyed Mausoleum.
The castle itself was amazing, but what made it even more special was the fact that it housed the Museum of Underwater Archaeology. Within every tower and turret was another shipwreck exhibit, some from as long ago as the Bronze Age! One was a ship carrying all sorts of glass beads, bottles, and dishes. Another held ancient weaponry and armor. Still another carried hundreds of amphorae, those clay pots used all around the Mediterranean and designed specifically in each region. (You can see that we ran out of steam long before we ran out of things to see.)
The last major site to visit in Bodrum was the amphitheater, just a short walk up a very steep hill from the Mausoleum.
We spent the afternoon at a cafe with table right on the beach, the castle behind us and the sun on our faces. Prince and Princess threw rocks into the bejeweled water of the sea. It was a glorious weekend.
