Photos and Videos

Travel Weekly contributor Nadine Godwin recently sailed aboard Louis Cruises' Louis Cristal, visiting the destinations featured on the ship's 2012 eight-day Greece & Turkey cruise, which will operate weekly through October. The photos follow the itinerary, which is a circle of sorts departing from and returning to Athens. Pictured here, the Acropolis as seen from Athens' Electra Palace Hotel. Photos by Nadine Godwin; posted June 25, 2012

Photos & Videos

Cruising the Aegean

Travel Weekly contributor Nadine Godwin recently sailed aboard Louis Cruises' Louis Cristal, visiting the destinations featured on the ship's 2012 eight-day Greece & Turkey cruise, which will operate weekly through October. The photos follow the itinerary, which is a circle of sorts departing from and returning to Athens. Pictured here, the Acropolis as seen from Athens' Electra Palace Hotel. Photos by Nadine Godwin; posted June 25, 2012

Travel Weekly contributor Nadine Godwin recently sailed aboard Louis Cruises' Louis Cristal, visiting the destinations featured on the ship's 2012 eight-day Greece & Turkey cruise, which will operate weekly through October. The photos follow the itinerary, which is a circle of sorts departing from and returning to Athens. Pictured here, the Acropolis as seen from Athens' Electra Palace Hotel. Photos by Nadine Godwin; posted June 25, 2012

Outdoor cafes attract Greek and foreign customers, but Greeks are less likely to be seen in the cafes during the country's current economic crisis.

Istanbul's Blue Mosque, seen from the bridge during the Louis Cristal's morning arrival into Turkey's largest city.

Harem pants for sale at a shop just outside Hagia Sophia, once the world's largest church, in Istanbul.

Visitors relax in a courtyard of the former Ottoman sultans' residence, Topkapi Palace. The Pavilion of the Holy Mantle in the background houses relics linked to the Prophet Mohammed and other religious relics.

An outdoor cafe in the outermost courtyard at Topkapi Palace, with the Hagia Sophia visible in the background. This courtyard is open at no charge to the public and functions much like a park.

The Library of Celsus, at the center of the photo, was built in the second century as a tomb. It is the most photographed attraction at Ephesus, a Greco-Roman city in Turkey that was inhabited at least until the 14th century.

Visitors, at upper right, sample the seating at the Odeon, a theater accommodating about 1,500, built by the Romans in 150 AD, in Ephesus. This archaeological site is accessed from Izmir on the Louis Cristal's weeklong cruises.

The fortified Patmos Monastery, which dates from 1088, surrounded by the houses of Chora, the capital of the Greek island of Patmos.

Windmills seen on the island of Patmos. While Mykonos is famous for its windmills, the mills are scattered throughout many Greek islands.

A house with a shop on the ground level, in Chora, capital of Patmos island.

A church in Mykonos Town. The island of Mykonos is said to have more than 400 churches and chapels.

View of Mykonos houses and bay. The Greek island manages to preserve its charms despite the fact it sometimes fills up with very large numbers of tourists.

A cafe on the island of Mykonos. Its proprietor stepped into the square to pitch for business.

An early morning view of the 14th century walls -- built by crusading knights -- that surround Rhodes, the capital city of the island of Rhodes. The Palace of the Grand Masters is visible slightly to the right of center.

One of numerous shopping streets, now targeting tourists, in the old city of Rhodes.

Medieval fortifications, built by Rhodes-based crusaders. They protect the much older Lindos acropolis, which dates from ancient times. Tourists pausing for photos, barely visible on the open-air access stairway, indicate the huge scale of the walls.

Temple of Athena Lindia, or what is left of it, at the top of the acropolis at Lindos on Rhodes.

Pottery in the making on the island of Rhodes, which is noted for the hand-painted product.

One of several reconstructed frescoes seen at the site of Crete's Knossos Palace, which was destroyed in 1350 BC. "Prince of Lilies," shown here, combines fresco painting with plaster bas-relief features. The original remains of frescoes from Knossos are in a museum in Heraklion, Crete.

The most photographed reconstruction at Knossos Palace on Crete. The structure is called the West Bastion, one of two such porches that flanked the palace's north entrance. The fresco/bas-relief shows a red bull, an important animal in the Minoan religion.

The iconic view of houses cascading down the side of a Santorini cliff in Oia, a small village at the tip of the crescent-shaped island.

Santorini church bells seen against the backdrop of the deep blue Aegean Sea. Like Mykonos, Santorini counts more than 400 churches.

The cathedral in Fira, Santorini's capital city.

A city view that makes clear where Fira, Santorini's capital, is situated -- at the top of a steep bluff. The city overlooks the water-filled caldera left by a colossal volcanic eruption in antiquity.