Canakkale

Day 5
We began our day very early with a hearty turkish breakfast - spinach/cheese/humus/fruit for melissa and traditional turkish spicy tomatoe omelette called meneme for peter before a three hour bus ride to Gallipolli (Gallipoli) located in the south west of Türkiye. Our guide, Ikud, is very knowledgeable and we are so lucky - he has studied history, economics and architecture - so we are sponges. Gallipoli is so sad, not least because wars continue with senseless loss of the like. the monuments to ANZAC and Turkish soldiers are beautiful with meaning behind all decisions in planting (pine, rosemary ,poppy etc), prayer, aspects and testimonials/poems. The trenches that our ANZACs dug, lived in and fought and died in remain - very very sad.
We then visited the archeological site of Troy. wow wow wow! Located in Hisarlik, and first settled in 3600 bc but due to a number of events over the years was destroyed and rebuilt. Now, thanks to archeology digs there are nine layers which have been uncovered, each reflecting a specific time, wealth, skills and life of the Trojans (probably of greek descent but not turkish) who lived there. The site is unesco world heritage listed. Troy is linked with greek mythology and the story of the trojan horse, archilles and other mythology gods/goddesses.
we arrived at our beautiful hotel located on the dardenalles strait in cannakale and went for a lovely walk on the wharf around sunset (830 pm ish) watching many local families picnic near the water and tourist exploring. All seems very laid back. We will sleep well tonight!Read more