Canakkale excursion

Canakkale is a region of the country that is really a testament to how historical Turkey is on a number of levels. Unlike last weekend, this trip was part of the CLS program so the group included all 20 students, the program director, the travel coordinator, a guide, (it starts to get ridiculous here), all 4 of our teachers, the manager of the school, the assistant program director, and two of the travel director's assistants who we've never even met and didn't make an effort to talk to us. But that's actually the Turkish way.

What generally is not the Turkish way is staying in a 5-star hotel (so I heard) right on the Dardanelles (aka Hellespont and Canakkale Bosphorous). It was nice but would have been nicer had I been a person predisposed to gaining utility from resorts. Thanks State Department!

Anyway, we left for Canakkale on Friday afternoon. To get there you hug the coast for 4-5 hours as you move west and then SW. First stop of Saturday was the Gallipoli campaign Peace Park (equivalent of Gettysburg nat'l historical site). To get there we took a ferry from near our hotel (in Asia) to the other side (Thrace, Europe). Along the Dardanelles, some points in Asia are actually west of points in Europe with equivalent longitude. We stopped first the Gallipoli campaign museum, of course learning quite a bit about then-military officer Mustafa Kemal who stymied the Australian/New Zealand (ANZAC) land invasion, thus saving the OE and the future Turkish Republic...is how the story goes. The day involved visits to many cemeteries and memorials. It turns out the best time to be there is around April 25 which is when Aussies/Kiwis flock here to pay tribute to their fallen soldiers and recognize the battle that they believed launched their respective pushes for independence from Britain (whole other story). I should mention that the Dardanelles water was incredibly clear and the landscape a pretty tundra.

Sunday we stuck around the Asian side as we headed to ancient Troy. I'd say unless you went to Niles East HS, USC, or some other school with said mascot, it would be hard to get particularly excited with the place. I think the most interesting thing was that there was not just 1 Troy, there were in face 9 Troys. Despite war, earthquakes, and whatever else left the city in ruins, the strategically and economically critical city was rebuilt 8 times. As they say, "Rüzgâr Truva'ya zenginliği getirmiş" (wind brought wealth to Troy); given that shore space and wind were a-plenty it was rather believable. In the afternoon we headed a bit south past the tip of the Thracian peninsula and swam in the Aegean Sea along the beach in Assos (Aristotle opened an academy there). From our side could be seen the Greek island of Lesbos. Would have swum there but that would result in CLS issuing my ticket back to the US.

Heading to Ankara this weekend to hang out with former host parents.

Me showing who's the boss in front of the Trojan Horse...built on 1975

Standing at the beach in Assos; Greek island Lesbos in background

From this week, ebru (paper marbling)

View from the Dardanelles ferry; Canakkale castle in the center

Teachers at the ANZAC memorial in Gallipoli

Cemetery at Gallipoli

Emotional appeal; street animals are ubiquitous in Turkey, even small ones

Buddy Frankie at an Mustafa Kemal memorial at Gallipoli

Thought this was a funny sign

Ruins of Troy

Probably the most complete structure in Troy; for such a historic civilization (actually 9 civilizations), ironically there's not much left

On the boat headed for Gallipoli sites in across the Dardanelles in Thrace