Vathi, Samos, Greece. Samos is one of Greece's Eastern Sporades an hour by air from Athens, while Vathi is its Port of Entry fifteen nautical miles west of Kusadasi, Turkey. Founded in the 19th century as Stephanoupolis, so named in honor of the Greek prince ruling the island for the Ottomans between 1834 and 1859, Vathi is today a bustling commercial center featuring an archaeological museum housing treasures from the Temple of Hera at Pythagorion, and also featuring numerous isolated swimming coves to the west of Vathi Bay.

Karlovasi, Samos, Greece. Karlovasi lies on the north coast of Samos fifteen miles west of Vathi where it is the commercial center for the island's many vineyards. Karlovasi is notable for a relative absence of tourists, for magnificent beaches, for a river canyon behind the town replete with water falls and swimming pools, and for excursions to wineries at Manolates, Stavrinides, and Vourliotes. Seafood dining at Chimondidis on Potami beach.

Fourni, Fournoi, Greece. Seventeen miles off the wind from Karlovasi and not at all a part of the beaten tourist path. Substantial Hellenistic and Roman ruins in the town. As many caiques as male residents. Seafood unlimited, especially red mullet (barbounia) and lobster. Beaches and coves to the north and to the south and on the other side of the island.

Port Augusta, Arki, Greece. Seventeen miles off the wind from Fourni, frequently in the company of dolphins, Arki is notable for its colorful caiques, taverna dining on fresh seafood (Nikos Taverna), and a one-mile hike to fortress foundations dating from the fourth century BC. Ancient building remains reported underwater off the northeast coast. An island on which to forget the unreal world.

Nisis Marathi, Greece. One-quarter mile distant from Port Augusta, Marathi is an islet with secure moorings, two tavernas, and a medieval or earlier structure which may once have been, well, who knows what it may once have been; come help us speculate.

Skala, Patmos, Greece. A ten-mile sail to the west of Marathi into a stimulating breeze and among dramatic surroundings, Patmos is the sacred island on which St. John the Divine received The Revelation to be transmitted to the seven churches of Asia, including Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamon. From the monastery 500' up surrounded by the old town there are striking views of the island and its many beaches. There is a fine taverna in the port: Pantellis.

Lipsi, Greece. A ten-mile downwind run from Patmos, Lipsi is presumed by some to be the island of Ogygia on which Odysseus was shipwrecked returning from Troy and where he was seduced by the siren Calypso. One or the other, the island or Calypso, charmed him for seven years. Today Lipsi's beaches are the principal attraction, though local wine and fresh seafood are also sirens.

Leros, Greece. Eight miles off the wind from Lipsi, this is an island preferred by Athenian holiday-home buyers for its natural beauty and indented coast. It is also an island where real property passes from mother to daughter and where Athenian males might better proceed cautiously. A nice change of venue with a Knights castle which in 1506 was successfully defended by a single Knight Hospitaller, 18 year-old Paolo Simeoni, against an assault by Camali, Lord High Admiral of the Ottoman Navy, at the head of more than a dozen vessels with 500 marines. History aside, Leros is notable for charming by-ways, high-profile windmills, and fine dining at Zorro's Taverna in Pandeli.

Kos, Greece. A twenty-five mile run from Leros, Kos is one of the green Dodecanese islands, its beaches and inland treks popular with Egyptian pharaohs, Ottoman sultans, and modern Europeans. It is also the birthplace of Hippocrates. The Asclepion (hospital and school of medicine) founded in his memory is a must-see , while the Hospitaller fortress and ancient agora are also well worth visits. Port of Entry seasonally bounded by hibiscus and rose laurel. Ambient dining by the ancient agora at Taverna Plantanos in Kos Town.

Bodrum, Turkey. Eleven miles from Kos and birthplace of Herodotus, this town is striking from the sea and interesting once ashore. The Hospitaller castle is well preserved and encloses fascinating museums (including one of treasures from the Nefertiti bronze age underwater recovery off Kas), the bazaar has considerable variety, and there is a broad selection of restaurants, some good. Site of Seven Wonders tomb (ca353 BC) of Mausolus of Caria, Bodrum (and environs) also has miles of beaches and parts of the walls providing the only real resistance to Alexander's march through the Near East.

Gumusluk, Turkey. Fifteen miles from Bodrum, Gumusluk is within walking distance of "new" Myndos, a Carian town founded by Mausolus in the 4th century BC. The harbor here sheltered an Egyptian fleet throughout the following century and, in 44 BC, proved a brief haven for the ships of Gaius Cassius Longinus, one of Julius Caesar's assassins. "Old" Myndos, a Lelegian** town, is two miles to the SE. Gumusluk itself is whitewash and bougainvillea and rustic dining; the Aquarium Restaurant is long established and highly recommended. Cagey rug merchants abound.

Bargylia Creek, Turkey. Twenty-two miles northeast of Gumusluk, mostly off the wind, this boot-shaped anchorage was the port for ancient Bargylia the ruins of which may be explored about 1500 yards south of the landing, including remains of a theater, odeum, aqueduct, and temple perhaps that of Artemis Cindyas.

Kurin, Turkey. Four miles north of Bargylia Creek and the port of ancient Iasus. Memorialized in Iasus coinage is the association of boy and dolphin, and the dolphins still abound, playing in the white water of the Gulf of Gulluk. As for the boy, he was summoned to Babylon by Alexander and made head priest of the cult of Poseidon. Extensive ruins (as below at right) under continuous excavation off the beaten path. Fine seafood (the fresh seafood, not the farmed seafood).

Altinkum, Turkey. Eighteen miles from Kurin just east of Point Poseidon. More than a mile of broad beach. Three miles by road from ancient Didyma and its remarkable Temple of Apollo, fifteen miles from ancient Miletus and its 15,000 seat Greco-Roman theater. And at Miletus a Byzantine castle on the hill above.

Pharmakonisi, Greece. Ten miles from Altinkum, this is the island on which Julius Caesar was detained by pirates while a student en route to Rhodes (where he studied rhetoric). Perhaps because of Caesar's subsequent crucifixion of each and every resident, the inhabitants of Pharmakonisi today are limited to Greek Army conscripts and wild goats, the latter inhabiting arched structures dating from Caesar's visit.

Agathonisi, Greece. A 12-mile sailing beat north of Pharmakonisi and a 411 BC base for Alcibiades'* Athenian fleet besieging Spartan Miletus during the Peloponnesian War. Dine at George's Taverna and the Seagull Taverna in Agios Yiorgos, both excellent and both on the waterfront. Hike hundreds of feet up to the Greek blue and whitewash of Megalo Horio. Ruins, probably pirate ruins, from the Byzantine centuries. Idyllic. One of our favorite islands.

Port St. Paul, Turkey. Ancient Trogyllium fourteen miles north of Agathonisi. Once a refuge (Acts:20-15) for Saint Paul's oarsmen en route from Samos to Miletus, this anchorage is also five fair-weather miles west of the finest seafood restaurant on the Gulf of Latmos. Gray mullet abounds. Six miles of dirt road take the curious to Priene, a Hellenistic city situated on a hillside within marble walls and featuring the theater depicted below and to the right.

Pythagorion, Samos, Greece. Polycrates' ancient capital of Samos four miles north of Port St. Paul. Motor-bike up into pine-covered hills to tavernas without tourists. Buy at artist-factories producing ceramics recommended by Pliny the Elder two thousand years ago. See the Temple of Hera just outside of town. Explore Pythagorion's Eupalinus Tunnel built in the 6th century before Christ to bring drinking and bathing water to its inhabitants. An ancient public utility. Pythagoras, by the way, was born here when this was both the island's capital and maritime center. Greek cuisine on the beach at Trata Taverna, 50 yards beyond the last caique. Port of Entry.

Poseidonion, Samos, Greece. An idyllic anchorage four miles up the Samos Strait from Pythagorion. Crystal-clear seawater in which Poseidon is wont to cavort when the wind is blowing. Excellent tavernas in a pretty village lining the shore.

Guzelcamli, Turkey. An open roadstead eight miles due west of Poseidonion from which to visit the Panionium religious and administrative center of the twelve ancient cities of Ionia. Dedicated to the same Poseidon wont to cavort on the other side of the Samos Strait, ruins include the sacred enclosure, within which are foundations of the sacrificial altar, as well as an odeum or outdoor council chamber in which delegates hammered out league policies. Meanwhile, the swimming off Guzelcamli's beaches and in neighboring coves does not get much better.

Kusadasi, Turkey. Byzantine Anaea nine sea miles north of Guzelcamli, this port city 12 road miles southeast of ancient Ephesus gradually succeeded Ephesus as the latter's harbor silted during the early centuries of the Christian era. Today Kusadasi is a convenient entrepot from which to visit Ephesus (photo at left), perhaps the most interesting Greco-Roman city extant. Its theater still hosts performing arts two millennia after construction. While old Ephesus and the Temple of Artemis date from the eleventh century BC, there is also a rare Seljuk fortress nearby dating from the eleventh century AD. Kusadasi itself has an extensive bazaar, fine seafood restaurants (try Ibrahim Usta's salt-baked fish, near the Kismet Hotel), and unprincipled rug merchants. Port of Entry within one hour of Izmir's Adnan Menderes International Airport.

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