Rambling in Utrecht

Wednesday September 2, 2026. Utrecht, Netherlands.

I slept in and enjoyed the view of the Dom tower from bed.

Double-paned windows a foot apart

There’s an art store in the U.S. called Utrecht Art and I’d hoped it was founded here and there’d be a big flagship store, but no.

My first stop was the Museum Speelklok, a unique place full of antique music-making machines (clocks, watches, music boxes, barrel organs, etc.) and automata. The machines are beautiful but it was frustrating not to be able to hear and see them all move. The on-the-hour tour played a few of them, and I understand they are old and fragile and if every six-year old that visited pressed “play” on the exhibits they’d be broken in a week. Still, sigh.

Our guide was sweet and a saint to have to grind hand organs and listen to the same music boxes over and over. The oddest thing I saw was a ten-foot-tall music machine that played violins! The circling thing in the video below is the bow and the violins are pushed out to meet it.

The dance hall organs were insanely loud and incredibly ornate. The guide warned us before she fired one up and she wasn’t kidding! I asked her if these were controversial when they came onto the scene, replacing musicians (me thinking about AI) and she said yes, but nothing compared to when the phonograph appeared not too long after. Right! I know these technological revolutions happen over and over again, but the one you experience in your lifetime is the most painful and disruptive.

On a much, much smaller scale, I laughed at this erotic snuff box. I can totally imagine the guy that owned this being the king of his social group for a few weeks until everyone was like, “Yes, Basil, you did already show me that, it’s so naughty. Let’s get a drink shall we?”

After the museum I was in search of the perfect lunch spot when everyone was surprised by a sudden downpour. Not just me without an umbrella on the previously sunny day, but everyone dining al fresco–servers dashing around and customers running for cover. I ducked into the restaurant nearest me, Jozef, and had what I’d call a grilled cheese and they called a toastie.

When the rain stopped I wandered the streets once again. I liked Utrecht old town. It was beautiful but practical, with a nod to tourism but shops mainly geared to locals.

After many hours of pleasant wandering, I stopped back at the hotel for a rest and to plan my night. I found out there was an English language comedy event the first Wednesday of every month at a nearby bar. Yes please! I set out early to find dinner that was not Greek/Turkish/Mediterranean…really hoping for something Asian, and stumbled across a hopping Vietnamese place, Anan, with a line out the door. When I got to hostess she asked if I had a reservation and I did not. This is what blew my mind as compared to San Francisco. She wanted to help me. She wanted to find a way to seat me. She frowned, she poked the computer screen and looked around, finally saying she could give me a table if I was willing to share. Oh yes. Thank you!

The couple she seated next to me were locals and they struck up a conversation after I tried yet again to order a vodka tonic and again had the server look at me blankly. They asked me where was I from, etc. Fun chat and really good food.

Over at the bar they were reconfiguring the room for the comedy event and though I was a few minutes early and one of the first seated, it soon filled up. The emcee was from Britain and he was great, really engaged with the audience. As part of the warm up he asked where everyone was from and there was no way I was outing myself as American. Indeed he asked, so what do we all think of America? A polite and restrained silence followed. Ouch.

I enjoyed the comedy, however, there were a number of non-white comedians and all their acts were focused on their race in an uncomfortable way. No one talked about a bad boss or a crazy first date. More like, hah hah, I’m Indian and my dad wanted me to be a doctor and I’m a comedian and a huge disappointment. Another, I’m from China and this is what happened when I moved to Utrecht. People on the street pulled back the corners of their eyes and my boyfriend’s parents asked strange questions. A quick internet search (I need to dig deeper) reveals 80% of the country is white and Dutch. So, tolerant about sex and drugs but maybe not so much with race? I left the event with my rose-colored view of the city a little less rosy. I’m not on any high horse coming as I am from the U.S. and I realize the problem with travel learnings is only having one data point and drawing huge conclusions.

I checked my phone and saw it was scheduled to rain in ten minutes, so I finished my drink and hurried home.

Full disclosure. This was a view from my room from last night, not tonight the cloudy night.

From ancient to merely old

Tuesday Sept. 1, 2026. Rhodes, Greece to Utrecht, Netherlands.

Time to return to the Netherlands! There was more to explore in Rhodes but I had the strange but comforting feeling I was heading back to real life. A week ago Amsterdam seemed exotic but less so now.

AI was used to remove the dirty clothes stuffed into the top pocket of my suitcase. You’re welcome.

I packed up, had a final breakfast, and dragged my suitcase across the crazy rocks to E. and B.’s hotel. I barely had time to wipe my brow before we dragged suitcases again to get out of old town to where a cab could pick us up. Sweat, drag, argue about whether or not we were in the right place.

Rhodes Diagoras airport was a delightful madhouse. I might have mentioned this in another post, but planes taking off from here flew loudly over the old town constantly. Very disruptive. The airport website says over 1.3 million passengers arrived in August 2025. This is what, the Cancun of Europe? Maybe.

Anyway the place was packed. I wandered the length to find the best food to bring onboard for lunch and got a great spinach feta pie. At a Starbucks (I know) I was so excited to be about to buy a black, unsweetened iced tea (next to impossible to find in Europe in my experience). Oh, but they were out. Okay, green tea is fine…and…it was sweetened. Ahhhh!

Easy Jet had us walk out onto the tarmac, get on a bus, drive out to the plane, and board via stairs. Wacky and fun though hot.

The clouds cleared and I had a great view of the Netherlands. Green for miles with farms and canals and a glimpse of the coast as we descended. Customs was easy, and I wished E. and B. a sad farewell, as they were going home and I would spend a few days in Utrecht. Sad but quick, as they’d done carry on and I had to wait for my bag.

I knew the drill. Buy a ticket to Utrecht from a kiosk, tag in, and figure out the right platform. Get on the train and try to keep my luggage out of the way.

The area around the station was upscale and disappointingly modern, but after a fifteen-minute walk I arrived in the cliché old town I wanted. The big surprise was that Utrecht’s canals are ~20 feet below street level (as opposed to Amsterdam’s, which are still below but only a few feet) with homes and businesses on that lower level.

When I arrived at the hotel I was worried because entrance was on a small side street and I resigned myself to a view of nothing, but the hotel itself turned out to be two townhouses right on the square that were only connected to the reception by an external elevator.

My room was on the middle floor of the peach-colored building

My room was great! Cool design. View of the Dom tower (a tower built in the 1300’s as part of a church that was never completed), plus great bed, bathtub.

I might have stayed in for the night if I wasn’t starving, but hunger drove me out and I had a good pizza and tiny bottle of Prosecco, then wandered the streets afterwards until dark. It was a beautiful night and all the cafes were buzzing. I wasn’t in the mood to sit by myself so I went up and spent some quality time in my lovely room.

What’s old is new again

Monday, August 31, 2026. Rhodes Greece.

I slept in, enjoying the huge bed and the air conditioning. I figured out that if you opened the bathroom door inwards, it could serve as a shower door and help me not flood the bathroom. The included breakfast was good, though the patio it was served in was narrow, high-walled, and stark white. More prison than old town so I didn’t linger.

Greek yogurt in Greece! This was so good. The yogurt was not tart and very creamy,
and there was a jar of honey to pour over it for sweetness.

I met E. and B. at their hotel and we went to explore the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes. Built on the site of ancient temples, maybe even on the spot where the Colossus of Rhodes statue stood, the roots of the current building were from 1309 when the Knights Hospitaller established their headquarters here. As with everything here, it’s been many things throughout the millennia and is now a solid and obviously reconstructed edifice with some actual old things here and there.

If Lonely Planet is to be believed, the palace was “devastated by an explosion in the mid-1800s, it was rebuilt by the Italians, who introduced a grandiose, lavish interior.” I most enjoyed looking out windows, as that made me feel connected to the people of the past.  

I wanted to spend a few more hours by to sea before we headed back to the Netherlands, so I lured E. to accompany me to Kalithea Springs, a beach club about ten miles away. It looked great on the internet and less great in real life. Not that it was bad, just that the small inlet was crammed with people and boats and the beach chairs were $40 per pair and only one was in the shade (such as it was from the silly macrame umbrellas). I was a little embarrassed that I dragged us here and it was $$ and not amazing. Still–it was great to get into the water and read, chat, and people watch, and the pizza we ordered from lunch was excellent.

The cab driver warned us we’d have a hard time getting a cab back to town and he was right. The website he suggested we use to get one was all in Greek (of course!) and I had almost no cell service and the translation function wasn’t working well. We stood, complaining, with a nice couple from Tel Aviv as numerous drivers heard where we wanted to go and shook their heads.

E. and I gave up and decided to take a bus back and walked up to the road, whereupon we were immediately able to hail a cab. We had him drive down to the beach club and pick up our new friends. I discovered, surprise, it was only a 1.5 hour flight for them. Not being from Europe or Africa or the Middle East, and the way history was taught, I imagined all these places being disconnected. Now that I was here, the Mediterranean felt like a big lake and all the countries encircling it would of course sail around on its tide-less seas and explore and trade and fight and build things that were the ruins I wondered about. That, on a clear day with extremely powerful binoculars, I could see Egypt and Israel from Rhodes blew my mind. (That probably isn’t possible but maybe with future tech.)  

I explored the old town some more, then cleaned up and brought the bottle of free white wine I’d gotten with my room over to E. and B.’s hotel. We drank it on their lovely back terrace, and discovered the vacant and ruined building next door was for sale for 1.6 million euros! WTF!!

The house on the left is for sale for 1.6 million euros. The one on the right is also abandoned.

We hesitantly sat down for dinner at a nearby restaurant, Sissitio, as it had been a raging party destination a few nights before, but on a Monday the huge courtyard wasn’t crowded and the DJ played really interesting music. We had a great dinner and rolled our eyes at the women who came in, ordered a soda, then took a bunch of photos of themselves looking sexy against the historic backdrop. This “women trying to look sexy for social media” happened all the time, everywhere. My favorite moment was watching a woman walk seductively down a cobblestone alley, seemingly talking to her purse, against which she’d propped up her phone.

Here’s the crowded main street to contrast my quiet walk home, below.

We walked to a different charming square with another beautiful giant tree and drank tiny bottles of Prosecco. A tiny black cat jumped onto B.’s lap and fell asleep. When we got up to leave, the cat yawned and then jumped onto the lap of the guy at the table next to us. Hah!

My quick walk back to the hotel was on quiet back streets.

Don’t drink the water! Oh no, too late!

August 30, 2026. Marmaris, Turkiye to Rhodes, Greece.

I had ambitious plans to have breakfast in the old town, but failed. I tried to find the covered Grand Bazaar, which allegedly had many entrances. I seemed to be right on it, according to my phone. It took me a while to figure out that I was already in the Grand Bazaar and it consisted of modern, junky stores and wasn’t covered in most places.

It seems so obvious once you find the one sign.

Most stores weren’t open at 9:30 a.m. and those that were were staffed by a sullen-looking clerk slouching out front on a plastic chair and smoking. Though a few restaurants were open, they had no customers and the menus were in Turkish. I was intimidated and not in the mood for a challenge. Also, sitting by myself on an empty shopping street wasn’t the fun café vibe I was hoping for.

I gave up and walked out to the waterfront and got tea and a croissant at a tourist trap with an English menu. Lame of me, but at least it was busy with great people watching.

I walked around old town before heading back to my little apartment.

My apartment is through the passageway on the right. Notice cat on the steps.

I packed and returned the key and opted not to drag my suitcase up and over the hill to meet E. and B. at their hotel and instead take a flat route and meet them at the entrance to the ferry terminal. On the way I walked down the bar street with all the clubs I’d seen the night before from a distance. If we were here for another night I’d have loved to have a drink and check out the scene.

It was hot, and the walk was longer than I’d have liked, but with the old town being a no car zone it made sense to walk the mile instead of driving the long way around in a cab. After some confusing bureaucracy with passports and tickets and go here and there we were back on a cool ferry. I was just starting to get over my land sickness and didn’t want to get set back by getting on a boat again, but what can you do?

Once we arrived in Rhodes, E. and B. called their hotel to have a golf cart pick them up and I walked to mine.

Painfully walked. The strange style of cobblestones in this city–small round rocks laid on their sides–bit through my thin sandals in a non-therapeutic way and I had to heft my suitcase as there’d be no rolling. Still, once I got off the main drag and into the small alleys I was charmed. They were pretty and peaceful and I could stop and appreciate the layers of history without someone trying to sell me an evil eye keychain.

Most of the residences on this street were abandoned, falling down inside, padlocked. Cat on the left!

My hotel, Ancient Knights, looked promising, and I was able to get into my room early. I laid down on my huge, amazing bed and never wanted to get up again. Finally I would sleep! Ahhhhh bed. So important. I was also excited by the exotic shower that had six water spouts, though it turned out there was no shower door and two of the nozzles sprayed straight out into the bathroom, all the way to the toilet. Surprise! (Please have shower doors hotels. I’m begging you.)

No time to lay around though–must explore! I met E. and B. for lunch at a great place they’d found, Zebrano, where we sat outdoors under a huge tree. Again, still hot. Very hot. Once you are not hot it’s hard to remember how heat can shape a vacation.

I dunno when the best time is to mention intestinal distress, maybe not during an appealing description of our lunch, but it turns out you aren’t supposed to drink the water in Turkiye. I never even thought to check. Miraculously I made it through the pre-boat trip and boat trip with no issues, but the last night in Marmaris got me. Nothing debilitating but low-level not quite right down there. I’m only adding this as a public safety announcement should you go there.

After lunch we decided to go to the Archeological Museum of Rhodes because museums are cool. Not hip cool, but temperature cool. Also, history! Sadly the museum was completely open air–worse than open air because the galleries had a door but no windows. I tried but it was hot. Really hot.

There are so many old things on this island they just pile them around. You can’t dig in your garden without discovering an ancient Roman artifact. Stunning to me as a Californian.

I tapped out and meandered back to the hotel, getting a feel for how hard it is to manage a crumbling city that was founded before 300 B.C.! I didn’t have to dig too deep to find a beautiful mess. I gained a new appreciation for the role of the tourist. I might not be ruining a place, I might be helping save it, infusing enough cash to keep the walls from falling down. Being in Rhodes, being able to touch and see everything filled me with curiosity and empathy and a feeling of being connected to humans worldwide and through history.

We had dinner at the Marco Polo Mansion hotel restaurant, hidden in a garden courtyard, and it was very good, and then a nightcap in another outdoor restaurant. I’ve never experienced a walled city with so much lush vegetation, so many giant trees. I even found a fig tree growing straight out of the city wall. The place doesn’t get a lot of rain, so I’m curious what nourishes all these plants. I returned to my hotel (by the light of the moon) and snuggled into my big, beautiful bed.

From Sea to Sogut to Marmaris

August 29, 2026. Mostly Marmaris.

Saturday morning we sailed the short distance back to Sogut. The crew seemed eager to be rid of us. I heard they don’t always go for a full week. They were probably really tired.

I said farewell to the boat. Mostly fondly but some mixed feelings in there as well. You already know about the hot cabins. A few days ago it got windy so they took down the sun shades on the front of the boat and my favorite reading spot became a frying pan. I hesitate to mention this, but there was an ongoing problem with my toilet not flushing. That was pretty embarrassing as I had to ask the crew for help. I learned to write “Please help flush toilet” in Turkish and left that note on the lid for when they came through to take out the trash. You aren’t supposed to put toilet paper in the toilet, but in the trash can instead, so it was important they empty that.

Pottery shards on the sea floor, taken earlier in the trip with my underwater camera. It took me awhile to learn to spot them. You can see shapes that aren’t rocks. Also, can you believe how clear the Aegean water is?!?

Not to trash talk the boat at the last minute. There are always the small annoyances on any trip. This week was one of the most interesting and surprising and relaxing trips I’ve taken, checking all the travel boxes for me, which includes imagining what I’d do differently now that I’m more experienced.

Even more exciting…the trip was far from over! None of that flying right back home to cruel reality after a great time.

There was no place to dock in Sogut (which was surprising as I figured on a Saturday the pleasure boats would be taking tourists out) so we had to ride the dingy in. First load, our luggage, which did make me nervous as they piled it high and sped off. It made it! Next, us, in two loads, dumped onto rickety disconnected floating docks crisscrossed by ropes. To my surprise (because things didn’t always go as planned), the van we’d pre-booked to take us to Marmaris was already there, and air conditioned. The driver took a different route than we’d taken before, avoiding the hairpin turn mountain route and going the long way around. I enjoyed the 1.5 hour ride very much.

This is a not amazing time-lapse of the entire journey from Sogut to Marmaris, but I worked so hard to keep my phone pressed against the window I feel obligated to include it. You don’t have to watch it!!

The driver dropped us off at the entrance to old town (no cars allowed.) Most of our party was leaving Marmaris that day, either to fly home or take the ferry to Rhodes. Only E. and B. and I were spending the night.

I went to check in to my apartment hotel and found the tiny street in front of the entrance to reception crammed with people. The spot must be a Turkish Instagram location. People were essentially in line, waiting to get their picture taken there. My room wasn’t ready so I left my suitcase in the lobby and went to rejoin our group for a final lunch together.

The little alley was between the two houses, and the house on the left was also popular for photos. I wasn’t used to seeing so many women wearing religious headscarves. We don’t experience much of this in San Francisco.

Unfortunately, and unexpectedly, I had a pretty bad case of land legs, or land sickness. The world rocked and I felt nauseous. I ordered lunch but couldn’t eat more than a few bites. I wanted to lay flat on the ground but couldn’t do that in the restaurant.

We said goodbye to several of our group, and I went back to check in to my extremely charming tiny apartment house. It was off the beaten path, away from tourists, and I had my own resident cats who really wanted to come in.

My place! I put water out for the cats. That shutter upstairs banged in the wind.

While I was petting the cats, a call to prayer sounded from the nearby mosque and I had one of those, woah, where am I? moments. Everything suddenly felt very exotic and I was proud of myself for getting myself here, granted mostly due to my friends extensive planning but still. I was in old town Marmaris in Turkiye. I’m trying to remember to spell Turkey the way the country actually wants it spelled.

The instagram street in a brief moment with no people

The place had a washing machine and I used my phone to translate the Turkish and got a load going. The cycle took forever. You’d think Eko would have been shorter but no.

I went to rest upstairs on…so sad…a really uncomfortable bed. I think it was actually a box spring and not a mattress. I could feel the springs and when I thwapped it, it made a sproing sound. I’d been so looking forward to a good nights sleep. Sigh!

My cat plus laundry

After I hung my wash to dry on the rack outside the apartment (feeling a bit nervous about this but if someone wanted to steal my underwear…well…nothing to be done about that.) I did some sightseeing. The old town is really beautiful. Steep hills, narrow street paths, bougainvillea everywhere popping against the blue sky and white walls.

E. and B. were having drinks with the last of the party to depart, so I joined them on a beautiful roof deck. And thankfully, a vodka tonic (no one has ever ordered this drink before, it seemed. Gin and tonics were on every menu, but time and again when I asked for a vodka tonic, the servers stopped dead in their tracks and looked at me like I was insane. I think I was both mispronouncing vodka, wodka maybe? And tonic, which I think maybe they called Schwepps. I dunno.) Oh anyway, having a drink made my land sickness feel better. A Russian family tromped up the stairs, the pretty but overly-made up daughter with huge artificial lips took a few selfies and they left without buying a drink.

The roof deck with a really disgusting pizza on the menu. I did have land sickness but still! Really?

I went back to my apartment to bring in the laundry and later met E. and B. for a romantic dinner at an Italian place overlooking the harbor. Oh my gosh, down road the dance clubs and bars were going off! Booming music, flashing lights. Party time!

Check out the strange blue underwater party lights on that boat. And hello moon.

I was happy to head home (the Instagram street was still crowded), say goodnight to the cats, and collapse onto my very springy bed.

Datca and data dump

August 24-28, 2026. Many places in Turkiye.

The next day we set off way too early–before dawn. I felt obliged to get up and watch the sun rise for hopefully the only time on the trip. I’m not a morning person. I’m glad I did. It was really pretty and since we were motoring past jagged mountains I got to see it rise again and again. Done and done!

We anchored near the town of Datca and went ashore in the dingy to visit the old town. While it was pretty, it was restored to the point of being a completely new place, so didn’t interest me in a historic way. It was very hot, and everyone ended up in a shaded passageway having drinks. On the plus side, there were lots of adorable, friendly cats who really wanted to be petted.

I was petting this cat and took a break to take a picture. You can see him/her getting ready to knead the rock.
You can also see the completely rebuilt wall.

Back on board, we had lunch and then motored east to Kochini Bay where we spent the night.

The following days unfolded in a similar manner. Wake up, swim, eat breakfast, motor to the next mooring spot, swim, eat lunch, swim, eat dinner, toss and turn in bed.

For some reason, everyone thought there wouldn’t be enough Aperol,
so we ended up with eight or so bottles on the boat. (We stocked the bar). So many Aperol Spritz.

Here’s a data dump of random experiences and musings as I fast forward through the rest of the week:

Semi-wild goats! I’m not sure why they were so thrilling. I don’t normally care about goats but climbing on the rocks in Turkiye they were captivating. There was also the reality that in our new, slow-paced life in nature, there wasn’t a lot of external entertainment (when we weren’t swimming). I watched people on other boats and speculated about their lives, watched boats come and go in the bays and hoped they wouldn’t park too close to us, watched fish, read a book I brought that wasn’t very good. So the goats were pretty exciting. We named some of them. We ooo-d and ahhh-d over the little babies trying to make it up the steep hills. We hoped the straggler would catch up and join his friends.

Overly-crowded bays. We pulled into one bay that was like a Walmart parking lot but with yachts. Me and D. were politely horrified and hoped we wouldn’t stay. We didn’t because there was literally not room for one more boat. Yikes. It’s kind of like driving for hours through the wilderness and ending up in a crowded campground. Totally not what you want. The next bay was also very crowded but prettier, though we were still a stone’s throw from other boats. I never imagined that when I pictured the trip. I thought we’d be all alone.

Mystery ruins. While some ruins, like the broken castle, were known, other ruins dotted the hillsides and weren’t anything special to the locals. I was agog, pointing, wanting to know who built that and when, but people have been building in the Mediterranean for the last 5000 years plus and that low rock wall could have been built by any of them. I’d have loved to visit more famous ruins and learn about them, but this was a swimming vacation and not a National Geographic tour, so I had to let it go.

Important? Who knows.

No American tourists. Yay! Turkish. Italian. Russian. New Zealand maybe? Anyway in this fraught time with our awful government it was nice to step out and get a broader perspective.

Being “single” with couples. R. did not come with me on this trip, thank god. He’d have hated it. Too hot, bad internet. Being on my own was very interesting. On the plus side, I liked not having to tell anyone what I was planning to do and when I’d be back. I jumped in the water when I wanted, went for a hike, read, went to bed, all without any negotiation. On the minus side, I did sometimes feel like a third wheel. I felt awkward at mealtimes, figuring out where to slot myself in. I also missed having a trusted partner and friend to shoot the shit with after a long day of new experiences. R. and I could text twice a day, but when one of us was tired and about to go to bed and the other had just woken up. I was a few more time zones away in Turkiye. All in all it was very good for me to feel my way through a trip with just myself. I’ve become lazy in some ways and accustomed to a division of labor and, spoiler alert, I returned home more willing to do what needs to be done and not perform mental algebra on who did it last and who was supposed to do this or that. I also gained empathy for my friends who don’t have a partner and have to contend with those of us who do.

The great outdoors. I like being outdoors. I’m not sporty but I am outdoorsy. I like watching the moon rise. I like watching the water change colors. I’m curious about the geology of places I didn’t know existed until this trip. I held tight as we zoomed across a bay in a dingy. I touched very old olive trees and stones carved 2000 years ago. I found pottery shards. I was afraid to go ashore after swimming to a beach because the goats looked fierce.

To be fair, many good things happen inside too. At home I admonish myself to get off the couch and go somewhere, and somewhere is usually inside. This week of being outside was so so good for me. A calming reset. Though to be completely honest…I was excited for the next portion of the trip and looked forward to getting back to Sogut and traveling on to Rhodes. I like cities too. : )

Bozukkale–the broken castle

August 23, 2026. Day 2 on the boat.

I woke to the sounds of breakfast loudly being prepared. My cabin was nearest to the galley and as I said, I kept my door cracked open. I got up and went for a swim–a great way to quickly clear my head after a tough night of broken sleep.

The water is so unbelievably beautiful. A color you can almost taste and crystal clear. I love the ocean but there are times and places I’ve been very nervous to enter. Waves, cloudy water, dense seaweed, rough rocks. To be able to jump in with no trepidation was a dream come true.

That’s a rock on the sea floor over 30 feet down

After breakfast (eggs, sausage, salad, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, bread with spreads, coffee and tea) we motored around the peninsula to the bay of Loryma, where we could see impressive ruins atop a hill, which we planned to visit at sunset.

That’s our boat on the left with the Turkish flag. Ruins to the right of the pine tree in the distance.

One of my companions told me there was a big pile of underwater ancient pottery adjacent to a distant buoy, so I swam and swam and never found it, and when I got back he said, oh sorry it wasn’t in this bay. I swam to shore and took a hike along a rocky prominence and explored some ruins. I stumbled and put my hand out to steady myself on a boulder and cut the heck out of my hand–the rocks were deadly sharp! In the future I will read more about the geology of this area.

Ancient pizza oven?

As sunset approached we took the dingy to the ruins, conveniently located near a dock and restaurant. “The Harbour Fortress was probably built at the beginning of the 3rd c. B.C. on behalf of Rhodes.” Wow. Just wow. The huge stone blocks used to construct the fortress wall were about three feet high, five feet long, and three feet deep. As far as I could tell the place was unrestored. Whereas the walls of the old town of Rhodes clearly had old and new rocks, this seemed to be in original condition. The website linked above says the ruins have not been ruined by tourists as there is no road to this place.

We sat on the top of the old fortification, drank wine, and watched the sun set. It was magical.

Back down in reality, a raucous group of party goers danced and sang on the dock. For some reason we couldn’t get in touch with our boat to have the dingy come back for us, so we had a drink in the restaurant which was a fun change of scene. Once back on the dock, waiting, a fancy new dingy pulled up (our dingy was very slow and shabby) and the driver yelled, “Erden!”

My friend the moon, back to help me orient. And can I say, great shot. : )
Everyone knows how hard it is to photograph the moon with a phone.

None of us got up, thinking it couldn’t be for us, but it turned out a friend of the captain was also anchored in the bay and he had them come get us. Niiiiiiccce. We zoomed back in comfort. I don’t know a lot about dingys but I looked at ours much more critically after this.

We had a late dinner and my fellow travelers grumbled about the party boats on the other side of the bay. They played loud music, flashed lights, and everyone danced. It sounded pretty fun to me. Lot’s of WOOOing. They were so happy and having a great time. I wanted to swim over there. I wasn’t going to be able to sleep anyway, so I’d rather not sleep listening to Abba and twenty-year olds having the time of their lives.

Yakamoz: the word in Turkish for the reflection of moonlight on water. I love this word in spite of the fact that my shipmates explained it to me at least twenty times. “Do you see that? You know what it’s called in Turkish?” I do, yes, I do. I now know two of the best words in Turkish, thank you and moonlight on water.

Setting sail (without a sail)

August 22, 2026. Sogut, Turkiye to not very far from Sogut

I woke excited to get on the boat but also sorry to leave the hotel. I really liked the end-of-the-dirt-road yet elegant vibe. It’s run by a small staff and though I didn’t speak Turkish and only one person spoke a little English, I appreciated the “let’s figure this, out don’t worry,” attitude. I’ve tried hard to learn a bit of the language on all my trips until now. I couldn’t learn Greek and Turkish and gave up and relied on my iphone. “Thank you” in Turkish is Teşekkürler – so you see what I was up against.

The evil eye coverup and hat I bought in Rhodes

After breakfast I took the kayak out and got a glimpse of our boat, the Erden, docked further down the beach. It felt like cheating–seeing it before the big reveal!

The white building in the center is our hotel, and you can’t actually see the Erden,
but it has the vibe of the ship with the tall mast

I packed up and sat in the patio with everyone else and waited for the crew to come and get us. They drove our luggage to the boat in someone’s car as it was a quarter mile on the afore mentioned dirt road and we all had roller bags.

We navigated a bobbing dock and climbed onboard and I was charmed. The boat was way bigger than I expected (72 feet long), and here is where I reveal I don’t know much boat terminology. I’m not going to look it up. Sorry. This is my blog. The back of the boat had a covered area (with solar panels on top of the roof) a large table and couch area, and the cabin where the captain and instruments and kitchen lived.

In front of that was an area with lounging pads and in front of that a couch and the prow of the boat (I know one thing!) and a barbecue attached to the railing where many meals would be cooked. Down the stairs were the six cabins. I was elated to discover I had my own private bathroom. I pictured there’d be one we all shared which would have been difficult. You can read more about the Erden if you want specs.

I liked the pretty wood of my cabin and there was enough storage. Since it was just me in there I could also leave things on the far side of the bed.

A crew of three ran things. The captain (who motored the boat then took the rest of the day off and smoked), a guy who set and cleared the table and made us drinks and took the dingy out to tie up the boat, and the poor cook who worked like crazy all day and night cooking for us. They didn’t speak any English which I appreciated as it provided a sort of privacy in the close quarters, but did put a lot of pressure on our two Turkish speaking friends every time we had a question.

We set sail…uh…except we didn’t sail. We never sailed. The captain turned on a loud diesel engine and we motored out of the harbor. I was shocked, but it turns out none of these romantic-looking boats ever sail. The masts are mainly for decoration. I confirmed this with my eyes throughout the week as we passed many boats just like ours. J. explained to me that the boats aren’t built for sailing, and the crew needs to get from place to place each day without fail, and you can’t count on the wind. That took the wind out of my sails, so to speak. Har har.

Boats like ours with no sails

We also didn’t motor for very long each day, which bummed me out a bit as I liked being on the move and lazily admiring the scenery. This first day, we very slowly cruised for an hour to a cove not too far from Sogut. This turned out to be one of the more interesting locations. We were the only boat there aside from a fishing boat (they were probably annoyed when we showed up), there were ruins, pottery shards on land and underwater, and a wild horse and donkey!

After we anchored and tied up (we backed in, as the anchor was in the front, dropped the anchor, and then crew guy number two tied us to shore in two places), they’d lower the ladder so we could easily get in the water, and everyone got their suits on and jumped into the water, which was warm and crystal clear.

E. and I swam to shore and explored the ruins and met the horse, which was a big thrill. He was friendly. I also found pottery shards on the ground amidst the ruins, also thrilling.

Wild horse next to an abandoned goat herder’s house

M., who’d been on this boat trip before, told me about the underwater piles of pottery I could expect to see near ruins, essentially trash heaps as many of the amphoras were meant to be disposable. I got my mask and snorkel and there they were! Too deep for me to dive and get but wow. Just wow. I also saw a sea turtle. I didn’t know they lived here. I was/am really ignorant about the Mediterranean in general, stupidly thinking only tropical islands had clear blue water and turtles and colorful fish. Another surprise was to learn there aren’t (noticeable) tides in the Mediterranean Sea. The strait of Gibraltar is too narrow to allow large volumes of water move in and out, so it felt like a big, calm lake.

My fellow traveler was able to dive deep and pick up pottery. Don’t worry we put it back!

Dinner was our first meal together and it was a great spread, many different dishes (fried potatoes, meat stew, salad, veggie in a yogurt sauce, bread). The food was delicious and abundant all week. I’m not used to three, full, sit down meals per day. It was both luxurious and overwhelming…I didn’t think I could skip a meal because of the hard work of the crew and the social aspect. It took me a few days to learn to eat less because another meal was coming soon.

After drinks and happy chatting and seeing the first of many moonrises, I headed to bed. And…yeah. Sleeping was a challenge. Several of the couples made up beds outside on the sun pads in the front of the boat. The crew slept on the couches in the back, and possibly in a dark hole in the front of the boat. I was looking forward to sleeping in my cute cabin but it was boiling hot, and at about 9 p.m. they turned on the diesel engine (to charge up batteries?) and the fumes and noise drifted in through my open portholes.

I had my door slightly propped open to allow for a cross breeze but not fully open as I was scantily attired, but many of my fellow passengers closed their doors completely so the breeze thing didn’t happen. Keep in mind, I’m from San Francisco where it’s always 65 degrees (meaning I’m a wimp), so having it be whatever temperature it was in there felt like boiling water, and the sweet smell of diesel fuel added to the feeling of being cooked. I had a small but powerful fan and that saved me, though I had to keep twirling around to get different parts of me cooled off.

I fully see you rolling your eyes and I agree. It’s pathetic to whine about a warm room in the midst of such an amazing adventure, but sleep is such a nice thing and with jet lag and being in my third bed in less than a week…ai yi yi!!!

Ten Perfect Strangers

August 20-22, 2026. Amsterdam to Rhodes to Marmaris to Sogut

We took an Uber to Schiphol airport, thank god. It was too early to deal with taking a bus to the central station and then taking the train. This was my first experience flying EasyJet and overall it was positive. To get on the plane, we walked out on the tarmac which always amuses me. The seats were comfortable enough for the 3.5 hour flight (longer than I expected!) and the flight attendants were friendly and professional. The seats did not recline which I appreciated as my knees would have been smashed.

I had a window seat and was eager to see territory that was completely new to me–Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece. Unfortunately a heavy haze hung over all these places and I was barely able to make out any details.

Touchdown at Diagoras airport in Rhodes, Greece, and I was struck by the insanely beautiful blue water and the third-world Mexican resort town vibe. I’d expected it to be fancier. During the half hour cab ride to town along the northwest coast (with a very cranky and opinionated cab driver) we passed both upscale and very run-down resorts, charming small houses and abandoned buildings, small roadside businesses, crumbled sidewalks, and overweight sunburned tourists crossing the road to get to the rocky beaches. I had to switch mental gears from Santa Barbara to Tulum.

We got dropped off at one of the gates to Rhodes old town, right across from the ferry terminal where we’d be catching a 3 p.m. ferry to Marmaris, Turkey. We asked the cab driver if there was a luggage locker in the terminal and he said no, but said we could leave our bags at the rental car place–a small building right next to us. The nice woman behind the desk said yes, leave them by the fish tank. I was a little nervous but there was luggage all over the room and I didn’t want to drag my suitcase over cobblestones, so we trusted.

It was noon, and we were starving and went in search of lunch. My first impression of the old town was not good. 100% tourist shops, seemingly the same ones over and over again. Dress shop, jewelry shop, hat shop, shoe shop, souvenirs. Loud hosts entreating us to come in their restaurants. We picked a place on a rooftop with a good view and mediocre food. Afterwards we went in search of a liquor store (to stock up the boat) because we’d heard prices were high in Turkey. (They turned out to be the same or slightly cheaper). I also bought a hat and a coverup (which I love and want to wear all the time. It’s a big cotton shirt with evil eyes all over it. I realize it’s ironic I complained about the place being filled with tourist shops and then I bought things). I should keep mentioning that it was hot. Very hot.

Back at the rental car place we tried to pay the woman for watching our suitcases and she wouldn’t take any money! How nice! Across the street, we picked up our ferry tickets, wound our way through customs (hot), and got on the air conditioned ferry. I took a window seat and stared out at the beautiful blue sea. I thought you only got this color in the tropics.

An hour later we arrived in Marmaris, Turkey, a pretty city with terracotta-tile-roofed houses surrounded by pine forested hills. I liked it. We went through customs again and waited for two of our sailboat party to arrive on a later ferry. The happy surprise at this ferry terminal were the bunnies. Bunnies everywhere!

There are nine bunnies in this photo

The other couple arrived. They’re friends of E. and B. but I’d not previously met them. We got into the car we’d booked to take us to Sogut, where we’d spend two nights before getting on the sailboat. The car turned out to be a luxurious Maybach limo van with cool features like automatic trays that popped out at the touch of a button and a built in coffee maker. The road to Sogut (1.5 hours), up and over a mountain, had the craziest hairpin turns I’d ever experienced. Also, exotic sights, like little towns with goats and mosques.

At this point I was completely agog. The day was blowing my mind in the best way. New experiences every moment. Vistas I could never have imagined.

Turned out there were two parts of Sogut, north and south and not connected. The driver went the wrong way (south) and I was glad about that, as it was a cute town, beachy vibe with lots of little restaurants and hotels, tan global nomad chicks in bikinis and coverups wandering the streets. It looked fun. After some cell phone waving and pointing, we headed back up the hill and over to the north side. Also very cute but less populated.

We bumped down the gravel road to our beachfront hotel, Villa Castelle, just before sun set and I was smitten. It was just like the website photos but better. Two-story, whitewashed, clean modern rooms, small but deep saltwater pool. Everyone threw their bags in their rooms and jumped into the pool. (It was hot).

And this was when it got even better with–KITTENS! Adorable frolicking kittens by the pool and a friendly momma cat who clearly knew that humans provide food.

After we cleaned up we went to dinner at a restaurant down the road. Thankfully E. and B. knew what to do, because before we sat down (tables were outside by the water) we were meant to pick out the meze starters from a case inside the restaurant.

The next morning we had the interesting included (Turkish?) breakfast out on the patio, dreamy except for the wasps. The plan for the day was to visit a beachfront village, Selimiye, just over the hill and I was really torn. I was already at a beachfront village with a pool and cats and had taken every conceivable form of transportation the day before and was tired of moving. That said, what new adventures awaited? I went.

We also got eggs, cooked to order

A woman from the hotel crammed the five of us (six including her) into a four-seater car and drove us the half hour to the town, necessitating lap-sitting by the couples. It was a cute place, 100% a resort town, with restaurants and hotels along the narrow rocky shoreline. I wished I’d worn my swimsuit as it was hot and after I shopped a bit, walked the pedestrian path along the water, and eaten an ice cream cone, there wasn’t much to do outdoors without melting. I spent half an hour in a grocery store to cool off.

It’s hard to see, but this is the cute shoreline path, restaurants and hotels on the right, and the tiny rock beach on the left, only about 8 feet deep. Less in some areas.

Back at the hotel we jumped in the pool, played with the cats, and I took the hotel’s kayak out for a quick paddle before dinner.

Then…everyone else who would be traveling with us on the boat arrived at the hotel and it suddenly felt like a reality TV show. Ten perfect strangers. My friend jokingly told me not to drink the smoothies. (A reference to the Nicole Kidman show, Nine Perfect Strangers, where she doses everyone with mushrooms during a wellness retreat).

I was good friends with E. and B., had been at social functions but not really talked to two of the other couples, and didn’t know three of the people at all. We were all about to spend a week on a boat together. How would this work out?

Amsterdam-Greece-Turkey-Greece-Utrecht

First stop, Amsterdam, August 18-20, 2026

I had a crazy travel schedule in August, like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I love to travel but I’m going to try hard not to repeat this.

I took an art class in Chicago with my mom July 25 through August 2. August 5-9 I was in Las Vegas for Def Con. August 14-16 I was at the Russian river for a chick weekend we’d planned ages ago (so hard to find a weekend when five people are free) and on the 17^th I flew to Amsterdam.

The rental house we stayed in for chick weekend. Lush and beautiful garden!

By this point my head was thoroughly spinning and it didn’t stop spinning until September 3 when I accidentally got on the wrong train to Schiphol airport and found myself taking a leisurely tour of half of the Netherlands. I’d left early so it was fine, and the train wasn’t crowded since it was a local and I had the car mostly to myself. I always feel anxious that someone is going to yell at me loudly in a language I don’t understand that my suitcase is in the way, though there is never anywhere to put it (because that’s happened), so being in an empty car was a dream. The rain started right after I got on and I felt cozy and smug since I’d avoided getting soaked.

I looked out the window at orderly Dutch towns, admiring the occasional windmill, and feeling very at peace and very happy to be in the moment. Travel is so much stressful rushing around it’s often hard to be where you are and not get stuck in your head planning the next steps. I was finally able to take a deep breath and relax. But to back up a few weeks…

Monday, August 17, SFO. They shut the plane doors and told the flight attendants to take their seats and…the two seats next to me were empty. OMG I won the lottery. I would be able to lay down and sleep. I thanked the universe. And then. The woman in the dreaded middle section politely asked if she could move over to the aisle seat. I was in the window. NOOOOO! But what could I say? It wasn’t my seat. I was so sad. I tried to regroup and be happy the seat next to me was empty but I never convinced myself.

I didn’t really sleep but I did see some pale northern lights. Arriving at Schiphol airport, I got my bags and made myself stop and get a coffee and croissant. It was late morning and my friends, at whose house I’d be staying, had just said goodbye to another house guest and I wanted to give them a moment of peace before I burst in.

My friends’ lovely backyard is on a canal and has a view of the only windmill in Amsterdam’s city center

I took a train and then bus to their place and we chatted while they ate lunch. To back up even further–they are the reason I was on this trip.

Every few years they take what looked like an amazing week-long sailing trip in the Aegean, zig-zagging between Greece and Turkey. They’ve invited R. and I to join them, but this trip is R.’s idea of hell. Hot. No internet. No air conditioning. Small bed. Sketchy bathroom. Swimming. Because of this I’ve always declined but thankfully my friends continued to ask and this year I realized I could go on my own. It felt odd to take a major trip without R. but it also felt odd that it felt odd. I worried I was getting too used to couples travel and only having to do half the work and half the thinking. That pushed me over to yes.

Amazing details

I arrived in Amsterdam a few days early to get over jet lag before we got on the boat. That afternoon I wandered groggily around the city until I gave up, went to the nearby supermarket and bought a selection of random beers and went back to the house. For me, having a drink ameliorates some of the feelings of jet lag since that and being tipsy are similar. My dear friends managed to keep me awake until 10 p.m. with a weird movie. Success!

The next morning I was up before them and took a tram to the Stedelijk museum (dodging rain) and saw an exhibit about mid-century modernist designer Kho Liang Ie. He designed a “new” terminal for Schiphol airport in the late ’60s as well as many other buildings and objects.

Pre-fab style kitchen designed by Kho Liang Ie

More wandering after. My friends texted to say that our mutual friend B. (who’d moved to Amsterdam years ago and lives on a houseboat) had time to take us on a canal tour on his smaller non-houseboat.

It was very interesting to set food in one of the ubiquitous Amsterdam houseboats. I wouldn’t want to live in one. Faint motion in a home isn’t for me. The boat ride through the canals was very fun. We drank rosé and waved to people onshore and B. turned up the music every time we went under a bridge.

Back at the house, E. wanted to take me kayaking and I couldn’t refuse. When we visited in February I said they had to get kayaks and now there they were. : ) I was feeling a wave of jet lag, but a rigorous paddle cured that. And also made my physically tired since I’d not kayaked in months.

We had to wake up at 4 a.m. the next day to catch our flight to Rhodes, and this time jet lag worked in my favor as my body didn’t know what the heck time it was at obediently woke at 3:30 with no alarm.