By Nick Wilder
I don’t recommend visiting mainland Greece and Türkiye in summer. It’s hot. Fortunately, sailing through the Aegean islands is considerably cooler. This is part of the world that anyone interested in western civilization must explore. Our exploration took place on the three masted sailing ship, Sea Cloud 2. We started our journey with a two day stay in Athens including an exhausting climb up to the Acropolis and visit to its impressive museum. We boarded our ship in Piraeus and started our cruise around the Cyclades islands. Highlights included a stop in Patmos where John the Evangelist was inspired to write the book of Revelations. We also hiked way up to the Byzantine monastery on Amorgos. My favorite stop was Ephesus on the Turkish coast. The library and Roman apartments were the most intact ruins we visited. After a stop in Troy, the cruise ended in Istanbul where Christian mosaics and Muslim mosques coexist in breathtaking splendor.
Here are some photos which I hope give a flavor of this special part of the world.
Guards at the Greek parliament in Athens
Two tired tourists at the Parthenon
The maidens look out over Athens
Standing on a glass floor looking down at mosaics at the Acropolis museum
Our ship, Sea Cloud 2
Crew scampering up the rigging
Furling the sails
Fresh tuna for dinner
Church on Amorgos
Keven on Patmos
Dove at the monastery of Saint John
Bells at the Monastery of Saint John
Time for ice cream
Adjusting the ship’s gangplank
Monastery high above the Aegean on Amorgos
Entertainment at Pythagoreio
Library at Ephesus
Roman apartments
Girls just want to have fun
Tug guiding us to pier
Mosaic in Hagia Sophia in Istanbul
Blocking out Mary and Jesus to avoid distracting Muslim worshippers at Hagia Sophia
Jewels at Topkapi Palace
The Blue Mosque
