Mediterranean Mini-Trip

After leaving Istanbul Noel and I headed to the seaside town of Çanakkale. The trip took 6.5 hours by bus, but the scenery was gorgeous. We traveled through ancient Thrace, very close to the Grecian border and passed field upon field of sunflowers. We met a native from Çanakkale on the bus named Sinan. He was returning home from a trip to see Mayan ruins the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. We talked about 12/21/2012, which he believed wouldbe the beginning of the next ice age, noting the ridiculously hot weather Istanbul andmany other cities in the world have been experiencing. I changed the subject to Mexican food, a much more enjoyable one in my opinion!

Çanakkale is an important historical region in Turkey. It is the port town at the mouth of the Dardanelles straight opening into the Mediterranean. The WWI Battle of Gallipoli was fought here, where the Turks sank an allied ship and successfully prevented them from entering

the Marmara Sea and thus attacking Istanbul. The forces that landed there were mostly from

Australia and New Zealand. There is a holiday commemorating the battle each April 25 in

Australia called ANZAC Day to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli, (also celebrated in Çanakkale), remembering the soldiers that died there. Now there is a Peace Park there, where in 1938 Ataturk delivered a speech, part of which said:

"Those heroes that shed their blood And lost their lives. You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies And the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side Here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, Who sent their sons from far away countries Wipe away your tears, Your sons are now lying in our bosom And are in peace After having lost their lives on this land they have Become our sons as well."

We checked into a nice hostel called the Yellow Rose. There we met two women from Barcelona, Sonia and Cristina, who joined us for dinner. We

ate some delicious fresh fish and then walked along the boardwalk, stopping to smoke some Nargile (hookah) and drink some Efes.

On Saturday, 8/21/2010, Noel and I headed to see the ruins of the city of Troy. We took a dolmuş (mini-bus) with some Turks and a British family to the site, about 30 min. south of Çanakkale. As we had heard, there wasn't too much to see at Troy but just being at the site was interest enough to the both of us. Plus, we got to take the classic tourist photo with the giant wooden horse replica. :P

It was Saturday so the dolmuşes were running less often, so we didn't get back until around 5pm.

We met Cristina and Sonia at their hotel at 8pm for dinner. We found a super-cheap buffet style restaurant right by their hotel and ate our fill. We then headed to a Nargile/hangout spot that Noel and I had scoped out earlier, called "Han" where we again enjoyed some Efes and Nargile and also met some local Çanakkale youth. At the table next to us was a woman and two men, and the woman greeted us in English and invited us to join them to have a drink on the boardwalk. We bought some "island wine" from a corner store and sat on the boardwalk next to some other groups of high school/college aged groups of kids and got to know each other late into the night.

On Sunday, 8/22/2010, the two Spaniards, Noel and I headed to the island of Bozcaada (pronounced Boz-jada). Unfortunately the wind was too strong from Çanakkale to take the ferry direct, so we first had to take a 1.5 hour bus ride to Geyikli and take a ferry from there. The island was absolutely gorgeous. Just what you'd expect from a Mediterranean island: small white-washed houses, vineyards, quaint shops, friendly people, delicious seafood, and knock-out beaches. We spent the WHOLE DAY at the beach, swimming, relaxing, eating fish, etc. The water was a little chilly, so I spend most of my time dozing, marinating in the salt, sand and sun.

I met back up with Canan and Serkan and Canan's boyfriend Cank back in Çanakkale. They took me to their friend's house where are few people were drinking and hanging out. It was as it would be in the states, people just chillin' with cigarettes and booze, listening to Bob Marley, Janis Joplin and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. They asked me about my life in America, and talked about sex, drugs, and rock n' roll…what else?!

Monday, 8/23/2010, Noel and I headed eastward to Ankara to visit our friend Pelin who was a Fulbright Scholar who taught Turkish at the UA in 2009-10.

More on Ankara soon...and for a little preview of what's happening in "real time", I end up in the capital of Republic of Georgia, Tbilisi! But more on that later…keep checking the blog! :P

XOXO,

AMS