6:30 A on the bus and off to Aphrodisias, a place that was inhabited up to 1962. Meli told the first story of the day about a passenger from a previous trip who was hard to approach who had a birthday on the trip. She had mistakenly understood that he was a key collector so she gave him an antique key and he thought it was just a bad joke.

It is a clear morning after the rains, nice light on the mountains, It was explained that the sarcophagi of Aphrodisias have carving on their side- each face is different and unique. The stadium of Aphrodisias which dates from the 3rd Century BC had an astounding capacity for 33,000 people. We arrived at Aprhodisias for a truly great morning for photography- with red poppies, great light and no tourists. Everyone seemed happy, though a bit sleepy. After a morning of intense photography we feasted on fish, mushrooms and cheese, or beef or chicken kebap. Meli says she wants ?red earth? for her farm. She did not explain, but knowing Meli?s enterprising abilities, she probably could pull it off trucking red earth to her farm in Kusadasi. She explained that the pottery is unique to this area and it certainly did have a different design than anything we have seen on the trip?it had a delicate structure.

We gathered in the museum after the morning shoot when the sun was high in the sky and certainly the highlight of this experience was the status of Priapus where everyone took at least one photograph. But as usual, Gene got the best with Julia, our 82 year old active tour participant, crouched forward with camera taking a close up of the erect member.

The rest of the day fades into dim memory as we had a long drive to Selcuk. I indulged myself in a big long nap while Gloria and Steve and many of the group went to the market for some more photography.