We left Istanbul today. Turns out Istanbul is not the capital city of Turkey, but it is split between the European and Asian continents. Also, part of Turkey is on each continent, and the Bosphorus strait goes between. So we took a ferry and crossed from "Europe" back to the Asian continent. Before we did that, we stopped at the Gallipoli Battlefield Memorial. This was the site of a famous WWI battle. It lasted for a few months and was on this beach shore that we stopped at. Basically, the ANZACs (Australia & New Zealand Army Corps) showed up to fight the Turks and showed up on this shore by accident. The one they were intending to attach had much fewer hills than the one here, and for that reason hundreds of thousands died on each side. Australians and New Zealanders continue to honor the sacrifice of their countrymen at Gallipoli on ANZAC Day. The 100th anniversary was this year in April, and so many people wanted to attend that they used a lottery to determine who could go.
NEXT, we crossed the sea and drove down to TROY!!! This ancient city is HUGE and so well preserved!! Actually a German archaeologist was looking for treasure and excavated a huge chunk in a very poor fashion so some ruins are ruined (hehe). Other than that, we saw the gates, the walls, and the ramp that the Trojan horse was *likely* rolled up (if the story is even true).
We stayed the night in this cute port city called Canakkale. (The Trojan horse that was used in Brad Pitt's movie was right outside out hotel--he donated it to this city). VERY TIRED NIGHT, but fun to walk along the piers.
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