Goodbye to Turkey, Hello to Greece

This is usually not the best time of year to visit Turkey's southern coast, we're told - it can get very rainy during late September and early October. But we were presented with a perfect day to walk through the primary tourist attractions in the whitewashed city of Bodrum.

The Castle of St. Peter (erected by the peripatetic Knights of St. John in the 13th century before they moved to Malta) and the remnants of the Tomb of Maussollos (the source of our word "mausoleum," it was one of the Seven Wonders, destroyed in an earthquake, with many of its parts later used in other structures - it became kind of a "pre-cut marble quarry" for the town) .

Bodrum has a picture-perfect inner "yacht harbor," but rather than a basin full of floating fiberglass mansions, this harbor features scores of wooden sailing ships, many of them the round-sterned, locally produced craft know as "gulets." And the promenade around the harbor is one of the most pleasant we have seen in our visits to Middle Earth.

Our wrap-up on Turkey: This is a land that has really only opened itself up to tourism over the last two decades, and there is much of historic interest to see - the quality of the antiquities is stunning and not to be missed by any fan of archaeology or ancient civilizations. The towns and cities are well-maintained, and the streets and sidewalks are kept very clean. The food is good and fresh, if not particularly inventive. If you're a bargainer by nature, shopping can be great sport - if you're not, then it's not as much fun. The three Turkish guides we had over the course of three days were warm and interesting people, and they all were emphatic that Turkey is a secular nation and that it should stay that way. It's clear that the current ruling party, which has fundamentalist Islam leanings, is a source of discomfort for the educated class, and they are concerned that the image of these rulers not scare away tourist dollars. Fortunately, if the crowds of tourists we saw during the early autumn season are any indication, that is not an immediate risk.

From Bodrum, we sailed to Santorini, anchoring in the harbor facing the walls of the immense caldera that sits in the middle of what was once the island's core. It's a picture-postcard island, with iconic views of whitewashed buildings, cobalt blue doors, windows and rooftops set against a turquoise Aegean Sea. The villages are set 1000 feet above sea level, and you get there either on a bus making hairpin turns on roads with no safety barriers (as we did, because we were on a tour), on a funicular (much like a skilift), by mule or on foot.

Santorini's primary contribution to history seems to be the fact that it blew up circa 1500 BC, and the volcano created a quake and tsunami that destroyed the Minoan civilization on Crete, opening the door to the Mycaenean civilization. Today, the island exists mainly for fun and, relatedly, for winemaking - though I would stick with the vinsanto and some of the whites and avoid the reds. Oia ("EE-ya"), the loveliest of the 13 villages, offers fun walks, awe-inspiring views and a number of fine and creative jewelry shops and art galleries.

Tourist tip: When a guidebook tells you how many steps you must walk to approach a hillside castle or trek through a mosque or a palace, multiply that number by three. Ann called Bodrum Castle "a medieval Thighmaster."