like sailing to Byzantium...

The days are so filled with details, with new sights and tastes and also recollections of past pleasures, kaleidoscoping across our memories...
We said farewell for a while to all the friends at Kusadasi and told of our hope to return (one never quite knows what will happen when dependent on wind and waves...)
David, Karen and I sailed out of the harbour on a beautiful sunny morning with a wind from the northwest.

We headed for the Straits of Samos. The wind roughening the waves, and we heeled about 45 degrees. Karen was amazing: she has never sailed in a small yacht before and not a shriek nor a squeak did she utter. But we both got very cold (under-dressed) and asked David to prepare the bunks inside. Ans there we slept for several hours. All through Samos straits and past Port St. Paul... David was a superb capitano and made Karen a hot-water bottle, and offered us suitable dry biscuits to munch if needed.
And so after an eight-hour sail we reached Didyma (Didum) which has a very new marina outside the town. The city is an ancient port (some remains dating from 8th (?) century BCE and the entrance easy (I steered in while David announced our arrival on the marifone).
All was peaceful, the stars appeared in the silent sky, we had (as ever) a splendid supper. And deep sleep.
The following day we planned an expedition to the Temple of Apollo in Didyma. That was after a salad lunch prepared by Karen: most colourful, mauve flower petals, green lettuce and white crumbly feta, amongst other things...

Above. a man making freshly-squeezed pomegranate and orange juice, a familiar sight in these parts of Turkey.
After a circuitous bus (dolmus) ride we reached the Temple. Here our first view:

More to follow. I need hardly add, the weather is perfect. We feel truly blessed...