A Forest of Bunny Ears

Istanbul, then on to Marmaris, Turkey

Kaiser Wilhelm's Fountain 1901 only recently restored

Back to cosmopolitan Istanbul with just enough time to visit the remnants of this once Byzantine city, eastern capital of the Roman Empire and capital of the Christian world for over a thousand years.  We started with Hagia Sophia (again, GS is besotted), strolled around the Hippodrome taking in the recently restored Kaiser Wilhelm’s fountain (1901), noted that the Palace of Ibrahim Pasa (housing the Turkish & Islamic Arts Museum) was still under renovation and then took a Big Bus Tour round town to see what we’d missed. 

Afternoon crowds gather to see Hagia Sophia

After our short Istanbul stop-over we jetted back to Marmaris to the lovely Windjammer.  Of course, she’d been moved in our absence and the key was missing; not the best thing late at night!  But it all worked out in the end, and here we are at Yat Marine even closer to the field of BIG hot water boats sprouting a growing collection of bunny ears (those SAT & TV domes that look like Mickey Mouse caps). 

Inside Hagia Sophia at the balcony where the Empress
would observe formalities

We’re working at setting WJ3 up slowly, partly due to a dose of the flu (yes, both of us!) and having a little bit of work done professionally to tart her up for the coming season.  Our splash is scheduled for the 2^nd June and only yesterday it was blowing 37km per hour over Paros (in the Cyclades, mid Aegean Sea).  Yep, another bumpy ride coming up; we wondered if sitting on the hard all season in Marmaris wouldn't be so bad after all…

The Cap'n pretends he's not being watched...
Breakfast at the Ambassador Hotel in Istanbul

(For anyone interested, the WJ3 Map & Tracker is updated now and will be more current than the blog for our whereabouts.  And photos to come - we're back to internet access basics again!)

Walking in History

Gallipoli, Turkey

Night view of the Memorial at Eceabat

Our RSL Tour (a local company & no relation to the RSL in Australia), allowed us a half day at Troy and a very full day at Gallipoli.  A smart move indeed.  Having overnighted at Eceabat, our morning tour took in the south peninsular.  We stopped at a number of cemeteries and memorials, mostly French, British and Turkish before stopping at a new information centre that dramatically explained the events of the time – with 3D glasses and moving platforms too. 

The Gallipoli campaign lasted 9 months and inflicted some half million casualties.  This small area is now home to 31 war cemeteries and monuments to the Turks, British, French, Aussies and Kiwis.

Main Turkish Monument

The area between battlefields is quite amazing, which covers some 35km over its entirety.  Hasan, our guide was no lightweight in battle facts and was able to explain the events of the period in quite some detail.  Hasan also told us that Aussies & Kiwis (surprisingly) make up the majority of foreign visitors to the Battlefields area.  And yes, we were stopped for a photo op at the request of some local visitors. 

Trenches on 2nd Ridge

After lunch, we picked up those who were taking in the Australian & Kiwi Battlefields (after their 6 hour bus trip down...) and launched into the north end tour. 

Being a Saturday, the place was crowded with tourists, many locals, wanting to understand their own history and pay homage to their hero, General Ataturk.  Hasan took us to the second ridge where we saw trenches of both sides (so close) amid the pines and cemeteries and memorials to ANZAC soldiers. 

Lone Pine Memorial

ANZAC Cove to North Beach walk

Our last stop was the impressive ANZAC Cove and North Beach where we were able to walk along the stretch of coast where so many lives were lost.  The peninsular, green and studded with bright red poppies, is quite eerily beautiful.  Its strategic location however, has made it the site of many a battle over the years of man’s quest for power, wealth and control.  With such a poignant recent history though, it was quite a day.

We all snored our way back to Istanbul (another 6 hours in a bus) arriving at our hotels after midnight – exhausted but reflective and very glad to have taken the time to visit Gelibolu.

Ataturk Memorial

On the Road Again...

Fabled Troy, Turkey

Having spent some 24 hours travelling to Istanbul, what better thing to do than hop on a bus for a 6 hour ride to Eceabat (in Europe), then follow it with a short ferry ride across the Dardanelles.  We were following in the footsteps of ancient greats (King Xerxes in 481 BC, Alexander the Great, Byzantine Generals, Ottoman Sultans and of course more recently, modern waring nations); this was the place to stake your strategic claim.  Stunning Byzantine citadels on either side of this waterway attest to this.

Byzantine Fortress straddling the Dardanelles
(perhaps inspired architect Le Corbusier)

Having pondered the strategic value of controlling the Dardanelles, we continued on our journey to the site of Troy (in Asia). High on a dusty hill, this seeming pile of rocks and bits of marble tells a story that stretches some (five) thousands of years to the Bronze Ages. 

People (tourists?) had complained that there was nothing
much to see at Troy, hence this imaginative reproduction

Troy itself has had at least 9 iterations and to make sense of it all you need a guide who borders on being a Troy tragic.  Luckily for us, we did!  Burak led us on a merry dance through the various ages, all the while making jabs at Australians.  He is, you understand, in the process of mastering the art of Aussie slang; dare I say it but Turks & Aussies share the same wit.  This did not hinder the story of Troy; the myth & legend fused with truths unearthed over the years. 

Famous for finding treasure at Troy, Schliemann (in 1871), cut a swathe through various centuries to unearth this wealth.  His amateur methods were overlooked, perhaps due to his access to funds, but the fame was certainly all his.  Later during WWII his treasure disappeared to surface in a Russian Museum.  Perhaps they borrowed a previously-loved wooden horse to move the loot?

It's OK. They only sacrifice virgins here, darl!

Schliemann was looking for Homeric Troy (Troy VI), and the legendary treasure of King Priam.  It is now thought that he found treasures from Troy II. 

Now I won’t go on but suffice to say that legend and truth are mixed in fair portions and there is quite likely some truth in the existence of our hero, Ulysses.  In Homer’s “Iliad”, Troy was called Ilium and it was at this very spot that the ten year Trojan War took place. 

We know that because a giant wooden horse guards the entrance to these digs.  If that won’t fit in your handbag, souvenir sellers have a vast variety of others to choose from.  

Perhaps the best information we found about the site, with a modest selection of artefacts from all Troys (part of Frank Calvert’s collection; the actual site discoverer) was at the Istanbul Archaeological Museum.  There is still much work to do to reveal more secrets of Troy, and our lucky guide has signed up to help with a future dig.  We’ll take the easy option though and just settle back to see Eric Bana & Brad Pitt sort it all out, yet again.

This pile of rocks is thought to have once looked like the drawing below.
Just use your imagination!