That's a Bloody Big Horse!

Tuesday we woke up and had breakfast in Cannakale before taking a short trip to the ancient ruins of Troy. Troy is of course famous for the tale of the Trojan horse, in which the Greeks take Troy by hiding in a large wooden horse and then emerging to attack once the horse had been brought inside the supposedly impermeable fortress walls by the curious Trojans. Exactly how the Greeks were able to conquer Troy is unknown, but the incredibly tacky yet fun replica wooden horse tourists can climb inside aside, Troy is a fascinating ancient site.

While unique, Troy is not one of the better preserved of the 2000 ancient city ruins in Turkey. There are many reasons for this, earthquakes, the Greek/Troy war, bugs/botanicals, and most interestingly, German Schliemann, who began excavations in the 19th century was interested in one thing, and it wasn’t preserving the city, it was treasure. Schliemann signed an agreement with the Ottomans before beginning excavations that any treasure he found would be split 50/50 with the Sultan. However, when he finally found the treasure he cleverly gave his workers the day off stating it was his wife’s birthday and wrapped off the treasure and left. The treasure was taken to Russia, but Schliemann had written an agreement with them that one day the treasure would go to his homeland, Germany. Unfortunately in the process of finding his treasure, Schliemann damaged man of the ruins.

Troy was a wealthy city in its day, which may explain why it thrived for so many centuries. Troy was wealthy because of its location. From the top of Troy one can see the Dardanelles, the South of the peninsula, and the Aegean Sea. The Aegean Sea, although now quite far from the ruins of Troy was once right at its door, and in these ancient times Troy collected taxes from boats waiting to pass through the Dardanelles. Throughout history civilizations would have to leave Troy for various reasons, such as war, and others would come along and find the existing structures and decide to build upon it, which is why in the ruins at Troy you can find various structures dating from 9 different centuries.

From Troy we had a couple hours on the bus before we arrived at Pergamum. Pergamum civilization dates back to 3000 B.C., but early civilization was not on the hilltop where the ruins still stand, but in the valley closer to where the ocean used to lie. One of Pergamum’s most famous ruins is the Great Alter which was dedicated to Zeus and Athena by Eumenes II in the 2nd century B.C. The Great Alter was built on the edge of the upper city so that all those inhabiting the lower city could see it as well. Unfortunately the Great Alter ruins can no longer be seen in Pergamum as they were taken by the Germans and reconstructed and the Great Alter is now on display in the Berlin Museum. Pergamum is also unique for a few other reasons. First, Pergamum was home to the first hospital in Roman times. Secondly, Pergamum produced the first parchment paper for the Roman Empire. Thirdly, Pergamum had the 2nd biggest library. Finally, this ancient city is home to the steepest amphitheatre of the ancient cities. Pergamum’s amphitheatre dates back to the 3rd century B.C. and could accommodate some 10,000 people.

After leaving Pergamum we had another couple of hours on the bus before we arrived in Kusadasi for our final overnight stay in Turkey.

A little bit of Aussie history in Gallipoli

Monday we left Istanbul at around seven in the morning to head for the Gallipoli Peninsula, it was about a five or six hour drive. We arrived at Eceabat (correct pronunciation sounds an awful lot like "itchy butt" which gave our guide a good laugh when I explained this) around midday and had lunch at a little restaurant right on the coast of the Dardanelles. After lunch we headed for the first of many stops on our tour of Gallipoli, the Gallipoli Museum, where we got a brief history lesson on all the sites we were about to see.

The first world war for Turkey started on March 18th, 1915. Modern Turkey did not yet exist, it was still ruled by the Ottomans and the Ottomans did not get along with the Brittish or the Russians for various political reasons, so the Ottomans had no choice but to join the Germans and the Hungarians in the first world war. When the war was headed to what is now Turkey, Winston Churchill had said that it would be easy to beat the Ottomans, but he was wrong. The Ottomans had put mine lines across the narrows of the Dardanelles to protect against enemy ships which might try to sail up the Dardanelles to try to take Kilitbair. If the Brittish could take Kilitbair it would be very easy for them to continue up the Dardanelles and take Constantinople the capital of the Ottoman empire. Fortunately for the Ottomans mine lines worked and the 103 ships that entered the Dardanelles were unsuccessful, several of them sunk, and hundreds of lives were lost. This is when the campaign to take Gallipoli by land began.

On the 25th of April, 1915 ANZACs (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) landed at North Beach and a little further South at Ari Burnu, which is now called Anzac Cove. This was the first mistake, the ANZACs were supposed to have landed at Brighton Beach which was a bit further South and was relatively flat and an easy crossing to Kilitbair. Instead they faced steep cliffs and the difficult task of taking Chunuk Bair, the highest point on the Peninsula. By April 27th the two groups of ANZAC troops met at the Nek. The Ottomans had only one division present and tricked the ANZAC troops by ceasing fire and lying down in their trenches. The ANZAC troops thought Ottoman reinforcements were about to arrive so they did not proceed. If the ANZACs had pressed onwards at that point, they would have easily taken the Ottoman forces, but instead the Ottomans bought time for reinforcements to arrive. Then on May 8th, the ANZAC troops were ordered forward and 1800 ANZACs lost their lives. The Turks then advanced, defending their homeland on the 19th of May, but were driven back in a battle that took 160 ANZACs and some 3000 Turks. With both sides lying down in their trenches and bodies rotting around them, the two sides called a truce on the 24th of May to bury their dead. Then a couple months later Brittish troops landed at Sulva Bay along with additional ANZAC troops just to the South of that to attempt to take Chinuk Bair once again. ANZAC troops took Chunuk Bair around shortly thereafter but it was soon regained by the Ottomans and the Gallipoli campaign was considered a failure and the following December and January troops embarked from Sulva Bay.

Every year Australians, New Zealanders, and many others visit Gallipoli to visit this historic site and pay their respects to those that gave their lives for a battle that wasn't even their own. On our tour of Gallipoli we visited the North Beach and saw where the troops landed and the difficult route that was laid before them. We also saw Ataturk's "Monument to the Mothers" where Ataturk, father of modern Turkey, offers his condolances to the mothers whose sons gave their lives and were buried on this land they did not know and assure them that this land now holds them to its bosom as if they were its own. From there we visit ANZAC cove and saw the location where additional ANZAC troops landed and paid our respects at the memorial honoring many of those who gave their lives, including Australian John Simpson. John Simpson carried more than 200 wounded out of the battlefields to receive medical attention giving them at least a chance of life between the 25th of April and the 19th of May before he gave his own life to the cause. I find it amazing that two groups of people with no history of conflict between them found themselves in such a brutal battle. It is evident in the historical stories as well as today that there is and was no hard feelings between these people. A monument stands in Gallipoli called "Respect the Soldier" which illustrates an Ottoman soldier holding a wounded Brittish soldier. The story goes that both sides put up their white flags and that the Ottoman soldier came out of his trench and carried the Brittish soldier to his own trench so that he could receive medical treatment. We visit these trenches, which were the only place that offered any refuge to the soldiers. We also visited the Turkish memorial honoring all those on the Ottoman front lines that gave their lives defending their home country. Finally, we visited Chunuk Bari itself, which both sides fought so hard to take and defend.

It was amazing to be in Gallipoli with so many Australians and New Zealanders, many of whom may have had ancestors who fought or gave their lives on the very ground we stood on.

"...Istanbul, not Constantinople..."

We arrived in Istanbul yesterday mid afternoon. We were picked up After a hectic couple days of travel, we were pretty tired and weren't up for much site seeing. We were picked up from the airport by a representative of our tour company who dropped us at our Istanbul accommodation. Sue and Granddad were waiting for us when we arrived, so after dropping our bags we went for a short stroll and grabbed a bite to eat at a place called "Kofte" which means "meatball" in Turkish. Dinner was good and we finished it with some Turkish tea, which we later learned is often offered as a sign of friendship, and we have had a lot of it since. The tea is served in a small handle-less glass, which is very hard to hold when it contains hot tea, so that in and of itself was quite the adventure. After dinner we stopped into a corner store to buy a couple of bottles of water, which cost one Turkish Lira, or about 65 cents American. Wee then went back to the hotel, and after an exhausting trip, collapsed into bed.

Today was a jam packed day full of sight seeing. After a quick breakfast at the hotel we left on our tour bus for the sultan ahmed area of Istanbul which is home to many of Istanbul's greatest attractions. The first stop was the Blue Mosque. The Blue Mosque was built by the 16th Sultan and is called the Blue Mosque because of the blue colored tiles that plaster the inner walls of the mosque. The color turquoise originated when the color featured on these tiles began to be referred to as the "color of the Turks". The Blue Mosque is surrounded by 6 minarets. The Sultan had originally asked for a minaret made entirely of gold, or "altin" but mistakenly the constructors thought he had said "altu" or six, hence the six minarets. The Blue Mosque is still a fully functional mosque and can accommodate up to 10,000 people praying at once.

After the Blue Mosque, we headed to the Basilica Cistern. The Basilica Cistern dates back to 532 A.D. and is the largest such cistern. There are more that 360 columns. The water in the cistern was brought into the cistern by aqua ducts from a forest approximately 20 kilometers away. The cistern took more than 2000 slaves to build and 76 of those slaves lost their lives during its construction. The water from the cistern was piped out and used for a variety of purposes throughout the city.

Next we went to the Hagia Sofia. The Hagia Sofia was completed in 537 AD and was originally constructed as a church and was operated as such for over 900 years. Then after the 15th century when the Ottomans conquered the region, the Hagia Sofia was converted to a mosque and the Christian frescoes which date back as far as the 9th, 10th, and 11th centuries, and which depicted Jesus, the virgin Mary, and various other Christian icons and symbols were covered as according to the Muslim faith these types depictions were considered to be distractions from prayer and thus they were covered with the more traditional geometric tiles. The Hagia Sofia was operated as a mosque for some 600 years before Ataturk turned the facility into a museum in 1934. Because of its Christian roots, the Hagia Sofia is very different from other mosques such as the Blue Mosque. For example, unlike the Blue Mosque which had more than 200 windows, the Hagia Sofia has very few windows. The Hagia Sofia however has more than 116 columns which have been brought in from various areas and from various famous structures via the Aegean Sea. The marble on the floors and walls came from Marmara Island, where marble got its name. The dome of the mosque itself has actually collapsed three times.

Finally, we went to the Topkapi Palace, the Sultan's domain. Topkapi Palace was established in 1478. The Ottoman Empire was in its prime from 1299 to 1699 and modern Turkey was established in 1923. The second courtyard was only entered by the Sultan during festivals, while the third courtyard is where the Sultan greeted his guests. The Topkapi Palace has an excellent collection of the Sultan's clothing and prize possessions, most of which are richly adorned in diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. The most interesting piece was a diamond, 86 Karats to be exact. The diamond was found in a trash dumpster and purchased by a peddler for 3 spoons. Later upon the discovery that the gem was indeed a diamond, it was turned into a ring and worn by the Sultan. Some people have all the luck! I have never found a diamond digging through the trash! In addition to the Sultan's possessions, Topkapi Palace is also home to some very important Islamic articles, some of which are also of importance to those of the Christian faith. The Topkapi Palace is allegedly home to such articles as the Prophet David's sword, the Prophet Moses staff, the turbin of the Prophet Joseph, and the arm and scull of the Prophet John the Baptist. While in the rooms feature the Islamic artifacts we were quickly rushed out of the room as some VERY important looking people were coming in from behind us. When we returned to our guide, we were informed that the gentleman was a famous politician and Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani.

After a busy day of touring we had a rest before walking to find some place to have dinner. One of my favorite things about traveling is when you come across a place where no one speaks a word of English and you obviously don't speak a word of their language and some how having to work it out. Granddad was trying to find out what kind of soup their soup was and they had no idea what he was asking, finally they just brought him some to taste. Then Granddad wanted some bread and they brought us everything but bread including a bottle of what looked like vegetable oil (what they thought we wanted that for was beyond me), but finally we got some pida bread. It wasn't the best food, but it was just the type of adventure I enjoy so much.

Tomorrow morning we leave bright and early for Gallipoli!

Almost there!

Well after a rocky start we made it to Europe. Both flights so far have been pretty decent. One downside of having to rebook our Toronto to London flight to the morning of the 4th was that I was planning on sleeping through the entire flight, but instead I was up the entire flight. But there is always a silver lining, the nice thing about long international flights is that you usually have your own personal T.V. and I finally caught up on some "chick flicks" that a certain husband of mine refuses to watch with me! We had only a short layover in London, so we didn't make it into town to sight-see as we had planned, but I think perhaps that was for the best, there is always next time!

The flight to Cairo was only about 5 hours but since we were in business class for this flight we were both able to get a solid 2-3 hours of sleep, not much, but I'll take it. International travel is such a bizarre thing. I don't know whether to be tired or awake and I don't know whether I should be eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner, so I just try to sleep when its dark and eat what they bring me and trust that my body will catch up with me.

We are looking forward to reaching our final destination and meeting up with Sue and Grandad to commence our tour of Turkey and Greece, but first a few hours to kill in the Cairo airport....thank goodness for our Presidents Club membership!

Here we go.....again.....

We had a bit of stress at the Indianapolis Airport checking in as we heard the desk clerks telling individuals with the same connection to London from Toronto as us that they would have to rebook for the morning as they would not make their connection. However, to our great relief when we arrived at the check-in desk our check-in went through...pretty sure the only reason we were allowed to check-in is because we didn't check any bags. We were still pretty nervous though but we finally boarded our flight to Toronto and took off around 9:30pm. Our connecting flight was to leave Toronto at 11:15pm, it was going to be close.

Aboard the plane the flight attendant, Daniel was unbelievably kind when he heard our dilemma and kindly arranged for us to switch seats (of course we were in the very back row) with a gentleman in the first row. So we landed in Toronto at 10:50pm but after taxing to the gate and opening the door we had only 10 minutes to clear immigration and make our way to the gate....it was too late. Luckily for us the delay was due to mechanical problems, so we had a nice night at the Crowne Plaza Toronto Airport, compliments of Air Canada.

Attempt # 2 will be this morning at 8:50. Wish us luck!

Friends with Benefits

It's great to have friends with benefits, well, more like jobs with benefits. Working in the hospitality industry and specifically at hotels has definitely had its perks, the biggest of those perks being employee rates. Having traveled on employee rates with both Hilton and Intercontinental Hotels since college, I can't remember the last time I paid full price for a hotel room, so I figured why start now! I am fortunate enough to have a great relationship with my employer/boss and even though my last day is just two days away, they are allowing me to travel on employee rates on my upcoming trip. Now employee rates are unfortunately not as easy to come by as one might think. Internationally they can only be booked 90 days in advance and in prime tourist destinations they are extremely hard to come by. With that being said I did have pretty good luck and was able to book employee rates at six different cities on our European itinerary. While it was our intention to "rough it" at hostels, spending as little as possible throughout our trip, I'm certain people won't think we are roughing it the first three cities on our itinerary after the Turkey/Greece tours. Our first stop on our own will be Budapest, Hungary where I was able to book the Intercontinental Budapest at an employee rate of 44 Euros a night. After that we will head to Vienna, Austria where we will again utilize an employee rate of 44 Euros a night at the Intercontinental Vienna. Then on to Salzburg where we will stay at the Holiday Inn Salzburg City for 29 Euros a night. From Austria we will move on through Switzerland and into the French Alps "roughing it" at hostels until we head South to the French Riviera where we will have two nights at the Holiday Inn Garden Court Cannes-Le Cannet at an employee rate of 36 Euros a night. After a couple days soaking up the sun in Southern France we will head to Spain and Portugal with stops in Pamplona, Barcelona, Mallorca, Ibiza, Seville, Lisbon, and our final stop in Madrid where we will finish our Spanish holiday in style at the Intercontinental Madrid for 44 Euros a night. From Madrid we head towards Paris via the Loire Valley. We will end our trip at the Holiday Inn Paris-Gar de L'est where I was able to secure an employee rate of 44 Euros a night. These accommodations in these six cities will give us a break from the hostel life without costing us a dime. In many of these cities hostels started around 23 Euros a night PER PERSON, so many of these hotels will actually cost us less than if we stayed in a hostel, it's a whole different kind of "roughing it". With a little under half of our accommodations booked we still need to arrange accommodation for the other nine or so cities we will visit during our journey, but we will likely book these along the way or find accommodation when we arrive in each of these remaining cities. Employee rates....a benefit I will definitely miss.