Bodrum

The Bodrum Peninsula is in the southwest part of Turkey, along the Aegean Sea (Ege Denizi).  The Knights of Hospitaller built the Castle of St. Peter in the 1400s, and it is the "land mark" of the city of Bodrum now. 

The Castle of St. Peter

The city is old, with some areas dating to the 11th century BC.  We stayed at the Manastir Hotel, which is on the grounds of an old monastery.  

The original entrance to the monastery

Happy Hour at the Manastir

The castle is now open to the public and houses the Museum of Underwater Archaeology.  Many ship wrecks have been found in this area, and many of the treasures are housed in this museum.  

Amphoras held wine in the ship's hold, as water could not always be found and stored

The castle had several towers and rooms, each dedicated to different articles found in the wreckage of ships.  Besides the towers, there were eating areas, sleeping quarters, a dungeon, chapel, gardens, moats, stables and more. They now keep glass, coins, clothing, pots, gold, etc. separately in different parts of the castle that were found under the Aegean. 

During WWI the Germans decided that Castle looked like it could "hide" enemy artillery so it shelled the place (and the Turks sided with Germany in WWI), and it didn't get refurbished until the 1960's and later made into the museum.

As with any tourist area, there are lots of shops, many similar to those we saw in Istanbul.  There were also many, many bars and restaurants, but only a few Mosques, as this is a "liberal" party town.  

Enough purses?

Afternoon cocktails

Although we slept in Bodrum 4 of our 7 nights of break, we really were only in town for 2 1/2 days.  From Bodrum we traveled by ferry to Kos, Greece for one night, and spent one night in Pomukkale for a total of 4 days away.  We were told we traveled over 700 kilometers from Bodrum to Efesus to Pamukkale on Wednesday and Thursday.   

We returned to Bodrum late Thursday night and then had a relaxing day Friday, after all our running around.

Drinks before dinner Friday night

Sunset from the same spot as above

The tourist season really doesn't start in Bodrum until May, so we hit it with lower prices and less people, as many businesses opened up again while we were there.  Plus, the summer gets pretty hot and very humid!  So, this is one trip we hope to take again, and next time stay in Bodrum a little more travel less.