We spent a whole day in Ephesus, walking around and seeing ruins, it was an amazing day. When we got back to Selcuk, Margeux made good on her promise to get us into a traditional Turkish Bath. The experience was one of the most wonderful times I’ve had travelling. I only wish that I could have this experience Stateside!
The tour group was scheduled to spend the day on the Med, hanging around on a boat and swimming. Since the air temps were in the mid to high 70s, we figured the water would be pretty cold! Also, we had enough lazy days so we decided to embark on our own adventure to Bergama.
Notable structures to see at the Ruins in Bergama are: The Hellenistic Theater with a seating capacity of 10,000. This had the steepest seating of any known theater in the ancient world! The Sanctuary of Trajan (also known as the Trajaneum). The Sanctuary of Athena. The Library, second largest greek library at the time. The Royal palaces. The Heroön - a shrine where the kings of Pergamon, particularly, Attalus I and Eumenes II, were worshipped. The Temple of Dionysus. The Upper Agora (marketplace). And, The Roman baths complex. (more…)
We got up early and boarded a bus. This time it would only be an hour ride-whew! It was mostly on bumpy country roads, so I was soon rocked to sleep. When we arrived in Troy, we were greeted by a large wooden horse. The fitting monument was leftovers from a 1970s Hollywood production. We couldn’t resist clambering on up the interiors for the photo opportunity!
Our tour guide came and walked us around the ruins (a pile of rubble more or less). It would have been incomprehesible without the guide. There are a lot of researchers & interns out digging at the site all summer long-but they had long since taken off. Troy itself is still being revived, and there is only a little infrastructure for self guided tours. After about an hour, we stopped off at the gift shop and that was the end of the tour. (more…)
We had a long day of bus travel ahead of us (3.5 hours from Istanbul to the village across the way from Cannakale, and about 4 hours on the bus touring Gallipoli). Normally I have trouble with long days in the car-sitting still that long is bad for my back. I was pretty tired from bumming around Istanbul in the rain, so I slept for much of the bus ride!
The first part of the day, driving from Istanbul to Cannakale was uneventful. The geography reminds me of the rolling hills around San Jose (mostly brown colored). Finally, we stopped over in a small village, where we were all shovelled into a large mess hall. Apparently, the busride came with a luncheon. We were all hungry, so we sat down to dine.
For lunch, we had a cold salad (artichoke & beets); chicken cooked (bland & salty), and french fries (really oily). It was okay food, nourishing but not very delectable. During lunch, another bus came and grabbed our bags. It would hold onto them until our tour of Gallipoli was over. This created mass confusion, but eventually we figured it out.
Gallipoli was a major battle, and it was the battle in which the leader Attaturk first proved himself. The Anzac’s tried to overtake the Turks, but there was a mix-up and they landed on the wrong beach. Confronted with very steep headwalls, and very little knowledge about the area-Alas, they tried their darndest. (more…)
We got up to breakfast just at the end of the serving time. There was no coffee, so I had tea instead. We ended up having a long conversation with Sheryn & Barry & Margeux about US policy and capitalization. I suspect the world’s view on us Americans is very different from how many of us actually think, feel, and act; so I hope it was insightful for them…On the flipside, it was fun for us to learn about Australian politics and the way their governments deal with health & policy issues.
We decided to see Topkapi Palace & the Archeological Museums. It cost total 60 Lira to see and do it all. It would have been a bit more if you rent two sets of headsets, we only rented one and shared. By the way, the headsets aren’t entirely needed because they have english signs everywhere in English, and the information on the headsets don’t explain much more than the signs. (more…)