War Diaries

A visit to Gallipoli is always a meaningful and moving experience for my groups of New Zealanders. Our Turkish guide, Serdart, brings history to life as he recounts the events from Anzac Cove up to the heights, where brutal trench warfare claimed countless lives on both sides. Hearing about the mistakes, lack of planning, poor communication, and horrific conditions is sobering, and New Zealanders, together with the Turkish people, mourn the day the Allies landed at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915.
Today, the Gallipoli Peninsula remembers the campaign through memorials, war graves, and annual commemorations.

Nearby, the longest suspension bridge in the world now stretches across the Dardanelles, connecting the European and Asian sides of Turkey. Built at enormous cost, it is capable of carrying 45,000 vehicles a day. The crossing time has been reduced from an hour and a half by ferry to just six minutes by bridge. Yet when we crossed, it was surprisingly quiet and clearly still in need of much more traffic. For now, it remains as much a symbol of national pride as a feat of engineering.

We chose instead to take the 15-minute ferry ride to Çanakkale. Although we missed the first ferry, the next one arrived quickly, and most of us stayed on the bus for the short crossing.

Çanakkale itself has a beautiful waterfront and lively promenade. Our hotel faced the Dardanelles, and the glorious sunset over the water was stunning. Best of all, we revisited a famous seafood restaurant that have we’ve enjoyed many times before. It has since moved to our hotel so no walk along the promenade but, sitting in the courtyard, we savoured a selection of local meze, freshly caught calamari grilled over hot coals, and a huge, perfectly cooked seabass. It was a simple overnight stay in a modest hotel, but the combination of food, location, and easy access to the promenade made it perfect.

This region is also the setting for one of the world’s greatest stories: Troy, immortalised in Homer’s Iliad, which tells of the final weeks of the Trojan War. The modern movie starring Brad Pitt revived interest, and the wooden horse from the film now stands proudly on Çanakkale’s promenade. I had been reading a children’s version of the story of Troy to my grandson, Asher, and during a FaceTime call he was thrilled to see his grandad standing beside the famous horse.

Very simply ….the myth begins when Paris, prince of Troy, is asked to judge a beauty contest between the goddesses Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite. He chooses Aphrodite, who promises him the hand of Helen, the queen of Sparta. Paris travels to Greece, falls in love with Helen, and returns to Troy with her. This abduction sparks a massive Greek army to sail for Troy, and the war drags on for ten long years. Finally, the Greeks devise a plan: they build a huge wooden horse and hide soldiers inside. Believing it a gift, the Trojans bring the horse into their city. At night the Greeks emerge, open the gates, and sack the city. Troy was destroyed around 1200 BC, and while accounts of Helen’s fate vary, most agree she was returned to her husband, King Menelaus.

Today, the ruins of Troy are mostly rubble. The German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann began excavations in 1868 and uncovered many treasures, most of which now reside in Germany. We spent an hour in the excellent new museum, which beautifully recreates the story and daily life of ancient Troy.

An hour down the road was time for a pide lunch - long pizza style stuffed breads are delicious and although we loved them and made good effort Hasan obviously thinks we eat far more . Consequently, there was quite bit left. i

We are travelling to the old village of Cunda close to the town of Ayvalek - but stopped at our favourite little olive museum which is so sweet and not only has a unique collection of old Olve press equipment - but olive oil and many accompaining products .

The weather is continuing to be hot with clera blue sky days one after the other.

Judith