S/V Aphrodite

For the last year we have been planning a rendezvous with our former Moraga neighbors, Donna and Angelo, to meet in Santorini and sail to Rhodes. Despite the fact that meeting guests at a specific time and location with plans to deliver them to another place and time is a challenge most cruisers avoid, the [...]

We made landfall in the Peloponnese at sunrise Tuesday May 6th. It was the realization of a long-time dream for Michael, that he would sail his own boat to Greece. To picture the Peloponnese, imagine a large island resembling an extracted tooth with its roots pointing south.
The 387 NM sail from Syracuse Italy to the [...]

We enjoyed a day sail to Pantelleria and a free berth along side the wall. We were close to everything and stocked up on vegetables and foods that just were not available in Tunisia. Our first meal included pork chops and Italian pasteries for desert. Brisa seemed to grow about an inch a day and [...]

It seems like ages since my last journal entry.  That is because we have been in Tunisia since Nov. 2007 and haven’t had much to report.  But, since we are preparing to disembark and get “on the road again”, that is all going to change.
We have had some wonderful times in Tunisia, mostly because of [...]

Brisa is the newest crew member of Aphrodite. She is a Portugese Water Dog (Cão d’Água) from Lagos, Portugal. We met her mother, Buba, when we were in Lagos and bought one of her puppies from our friend Rodrigo. She was born December 14th, 2007 and she arrived in Tunisia on Monday [...]

Our return flight from Istanbul was meet by our new friends Karen and Derek in a rental car.  We spent that afternoon visiting Dougga, a UNESCO World Herigtage site and besides El Jem, the best preserved Roman site in North Africa.  Originally a fortified Berber village (the name meant “pastures”), the Romans occupied the city [...]

Location of Istanbul on the Bosphorus Strait, Turkey

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Click the play button to hear the Turkish call to prayer.
Every great city has a story, and Istanbul has hers. Her history and exquisite legacy is told through her architecture, which in Old Istanbul is all encompassing. Her skyline is voluptuous with [...]