This past weekend we took a trip with Linda and Craig over to Troy and Gallipoli which are located just across the Sea of Marmara. Linda is the deputy principal for the primary school and her and her husband were keen to travel with us to this area.
We ended up hiring a car and driving, for the first time in Istanbul, from our place here in Ortakoy to the sea port. After traveling on the ferry for about two hours we landed in Bandirma and then drove for about three hours down to Troy which is located just below the entrance to the Dardanelles. Troia (Troy) is famous for the Trojan Horse described in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, but was also a well established civilization for hundreds of years. After Troy, we attempted to catch a ferry over to Bozcaada which is a small island just off the coast a little further south of Troia, but we missed the ferry so the girls just spent some time playing with some puppies that were there by the port. We then headed back to our place in Canakkale which is closer to the entrance to the Sea of Marmara. After a wonderful dinner and stroll along the coast, we headed off for bed and an early start the next morning.
The following day we then hired a guide and traveled over to Gallipoli which is the site of a series of battles that took place in 1915. At that time, the Allied forces were attempting to invade Turkey through the Dardanelles which then would allow them to invade Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) and also have control of the Bosporus and access to the Black Sea. The Turkish forces were headed up by Mustafa Kemal who was at the time a 25 year old lieutenant for the military. Despite numerous attempts and a great loss of life by Australian, New Zealand, British, French, Italian and Turkish forces, Gallipoli was never taken over and the Allied ships were not able to travel up the Dardanelles. This victory vaulted Mustafa Kemal into the spotlight in Turkey and eventually resulted in his movement into politics as the future leader of Turkey. It was a full weekend, but we enjoyed the trip and were once again thankful for where we are currently located and how easy it is to access some amazing places in the world.
We ended up hiring a car and driving, for the first time in Istanbul, from our place here in Ortakoy to the sea port. After traveling on the ferry for about two hours we landed in Bandirma and then drove for about three hours down to Troy which is located just below the entrance to the Dardanelles. Troia (Troy) is famous for the Trojan Horse described in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, but was also a well established civilization for hundreds of years. After Troy, we attempted to catch a ferry over to Bozcaada which is a small island just off the coast a little further south of Troia, but we missed the ferry so the girls just spent some time playing with some puppies that were there by the port. We then headed back to our place in Canakkale which is closer to the entrance to the Sea of Marmara. After a wonderful dinner and stroll along the coast, we headed off for bed and an early start the next morning.
The following day we then hired a guide and traveled over to Gallipoli which is the site of a series of battles that took place in 1915. At that time, the Allied forces were attempting to invade Turkey through the Dardanelles which then would allow them to invade Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) and also have control of the Bosporus and access to the Black Sea. The Turkish forces were headed up by Mustafa Kemal who was at the time a 25 year old lieutenant for the military. Despite numerous attempts and a great loss of life by Australian, New Zealand, British, French, Italian and Turkish forces, Gallipoli was never taken over and the Allied ships were not able to travel up the Dardanelles. This victory vaulted Mustafa Kemal into the spotlight in Turkey and eventually resulted in his movement into politics as the future leader of Turkey. It was a full weekend, but we enjoyed the trip and were once again thankful for where we are currently located and how easy it is to access some amazing places in the world.