Turkey
weekly photo challenge: object
We’ve chosen the Trojan Horse from Canakkale, Turkey as our object for this week’s Daily Post Photo Challenge.
The horse here is only poking its head in, quite fitting as the Year of the Horse has only just begun.
**Happy Chinese New Year**
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7 ancient ruins of turkey (part 1)
Today’s Daily Prompt is : SEVEN – so we are taking the opportunity to visually introduce you to 7 different ancient ruins that we visited in Turkey.
In tomorrow’s post, we will write about our experiences with the “seven” of them.
- Ancient ruin number 2: Pergamum
- Ancient ruin number 3: Ephesus
- Ancient ruin number 4: Temple of Artemis
Ancient ruin number 5: Aphrodisias 
Ancient ruin number 6: Perge
Ancient ruin number 7: Aspendos
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gallipoli: lest we forget
As Australians, visiting Gallipoli carried a lot of significance for us. Before going to Turkey, if there was ONLY one place in Turkey that we were able to go to, we would’ve chosen Gallipoli without a second thought. Having studied the Battle of Gallipoli in school and learning of all those soldiers losing their lives, we needed to see where it all happened, the place that marked such a dark day in Australian history (April 25 1915).
The size of ANZAC Cove is small to say the least, to expect a campaign of 4000 men to land. Admittedly, it was soon learnt that the troops were meant to arrive at Brighton Beach which is much bigger and a little further a south. It was no wonder that so many died on that fateful day.
Standing on the cove with the gorgeous sunshine on our faces, we tried to picture what it would be like to be here of a night, approaching the shore to face an “enemy” in the dead of the night. And we couldn’t imagine it, it’s impossible for us to fathom what would have been going through the minds of the troops. In one direction, the sea appears to goes on forever and in the other direction, the mountains stretch the length of the coast with Turkish soldiers up top or on the other side.
Now, the scenery is so very peaceful and serene and all we can hear is the tide as it hits the shore.
The memorial at ANZAC Cove by Ataturk was so touching – it was the first that we had ever heard or seen these words. We would hope that it had provided a little comfort to all the families that lost loved ones during this war from both sides. The words are really worth sharing (click on the picture & it will enlarge to be legible).
The remainder of our time in Gallipoli we saw Beach Cemetery, Lone Pine and the Turkish Memorial. It is at Lone Pine where the name of one of the youngest known solders to have died is inscribed. He was 14 years and 9 months. To think back to when we were that old, would we have lied about our age so that we could enlist into the army and fight for our country?
We can imagine how being in Gallipoli on ANZAC day would be emotional and surreal because being there on any given Monday like we were, it still felt pretty special!
If there is anything anyone should take away is that war destroys lives and causes loss of life. However we cannot change the way things are but what we can do is pay our respect and remember those who have lost their lives in battle. And to also support those servicemen and women who serve our countries: in the past, present and future. LEST WE FORGET.
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historical areas of istanbul: unesco world heritage site
With a population of 14 million, the traffic in Istanbul was brutal. We arrived on a Saturday afternoon and it took us almost 3 hours to get from the airport to our hotel. Amazingly though, the mood of the drivers were calm and cooperative. There were no horns blaring or road rage – everyone navigated the tight streets and occasionally the one-lane two-way streets with ease. We reversed several times down narrow roads to let oncoming traffic pass before we could proceed. It was all very civilised.
We were staying only a minute walk away from Taksim Square, which was heavily patrolled by riot police most evenings (following the protests back in June). Istiklal Caddesi (Independence Ave) is the main pedestrian street that people funnel down from Taksim Square. It is filled with shops and restaurants and dessert places…. YUM… teeming with people of an evening. It definitely is worth a visit even just to people watch!
One of our “things” when travelling is to visit UNESCO World Heritage sites when and where we can. Its kind of our unofficial bucket list. So a visit to the historical area of Istanbul was on the cards. We didn’t get to see everything considered to be part of the historical areas but we did see several very incredible things.
Istanbul, although is the largest city in Turkey, is not the capital. It is a city that is steeped in history. It once was the capital of Eastern Roman Empire (it was known then as Byzantium) and then subsequently the Ottoman Empire (to which it was then known as Constantinople). Ankara became the capital of Turkey, post World War I.
Topkapi Palace:
It is from the grounds of this palace that we saw Istanbul straddling Europe and Asia. Simply being in Turkey meant that we were going to be visiting two continents 🙂
The main entrance fee (approximately 25 Turkish Lira) to the palace allows you to visit the exhibits of the museum which are divided into the different buildings throughout. There are sections for the treasury, Sacred Relics, portraits, armoury and clocks. The collection of armoury and clocks were exceptionally fascinating. To visit the Harem was an additional fee which we didn’t care to visit.
One thing we can say we have seen is one of the largest diamonds in the world. The 86-carat pear-shaped Spoonmaker’s Diamond. The tale of its discovery was that a fisherman found the diamond amongst some rubbish and was traded 3 spoons for it. Somehow, that doesn’t seem like a fair trade!
Hagia Sophia:
This is definitely an ancient wonder of the world although, maybe not one of the 7, it still is an amazing piece of architecture. Also known as St Sophia or Aya Sophia, it was built in 6th Century. It started as a Greek Orthodox church before later becoming an imperial mosque and now a museum. There are still representation of both religions throughout the building.
The dome is probably what is most impressive for something that was built so long ago. Words and photos cannot do this place justice, a case of you just got to see it to feel it and be wow-ed.
Entrance Fee: Yes – approximately 25 Turkish Lira
Blue Mosque:
Known to the locals as Sultanahmet Mosque, it was built in the mid 1500s. It is referred to as the Blue Mosque due to the blue tiles in its interior and around the dome.
Looking around and up once inside is simply magnificent. We could only look around in complete awe at the large pillars, arches and dome.
In the main dome, there is a triangular frame housing 3 ostrich eggs which is said to repel spiders. We thought this to be a very handy natural solution to the spiders in summer back home however didn’t think we would manage to track any down to bring back.
There is no fee to enter however dress appropriately. We know this sounds REALLY obvious but if not dressed appropriately, there are blue garments and shawls that they hand out at the entrance which is to be worn before you can proceed. This advice is directed at both men and women as anyone in shorts will be given the blue garment (worn like a sarong). Women need to ensure their head/hair is covered. Shoes will also need to be removed and plastic bags are provided to carry shoes through the mosque.
Hippodrome:
The Hippodrome was probably the least compelling of the ancient sites we saw in Istanbul and possibly in Turkey. There was not much to see except a couple of obelisks (without trying to downplay it) but probably because it had been a long day for us, we were also getting weary. Good ole jet-lag rearing its ugly head!
So our first day in Turkey was jam-packed and a few additional highlights that were not UNESCO related would have been that we ate our first kebab (in a shop called Pudding House that Bill Clinton also ate in) and visited the Spice Market where we got to try the real-deal Turkish Delight. Sadly the Grand Bazaar was closed on Sundays and we would not get an opportunity to visit it.
Due to our limited time in Turkey, we were moving on the following day, so we will one day have to go back to explore Istanbul some more!
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