By: Brennan Higgins Merhaba from the road!
The group happily began the day with another Turkish Breakfast, though a bit groggy today as we headed out a bit earlier for the day than the first 3… Departing from our ‘home base’ in Istanbul for the past few days at 8 AM from the Avicenna Hotel, we immediately set out westward in our quest to Gallipoli. I think just about everyone spent some time asleep on the bus today, at least in the morning portion, with intermittent precipitation scattered amongst the drive. After about 2 hours of driving, and a slight delay on the highway due to an unexpected wreck, we stopped at a gas station to stretch our feet, grab a snack, and use the restroom. After the short stop at the gas station and resumed heading toward the Gallipoli Peninsula, Saba capitalized on a moment we were all awake to walk us through the history of World War I and the Gallipoli Campaign, in particular, about how in 1915 the British fleet, with French escort support, was in an attempt to try and force their way through the Dardanelles but only to strike Ottoman landmines that were strategically hidden a slight depth beneath the water as to not be visible. When the fleet attempted to pull back and retreat to the Aegean sea, the ships had to turn, however they were restricted in maneuverability, and ended up placing themselves directly in range of the Ottoman canons, a mistake that quickly turned deadly as every ship of the fleet was sunk. The way that Saba highlighted the relation to the sites we were en route to provide a depth of immersion, seeing the monuments and war sites the group wouldn't have otherwise had.
We arrived to the AZNAC bay, on the western side of the Gallipoli peninsula coastal to the Aegean Sea, around 2 PM, starting at the base of the hill, where we were able to view the memorial monument and Ari Burnu cemetery, where Mike took a moment, amidst raging winds, to describe what the scene may have looked like in battle, ~110 years ago when the Turks had the high ground with machine guns, and the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand) troops were stuck below expected to advance uphill, which I think hit the group, must have been terrifying for those men.
On the bus afterward, on the way to the Lone Pine Cemetery, Saba educated the group that rosemary was used to mask the smell of dead bodies during the campaign, and caused many of the men to find rosemary intolerable when they returned home, as it reminded them of the war and loses they experienced. About a 10 minute ascent later we arrived at Lone Pine, honoring the Australian troops that died at battle.
The final stop we made before safely making it to our hotel in Canakkale was the Atatürk ün gozetleme yeri, a statue of Ataturk in the battles of 1915.
The bus made its final destination of the day at Buyuk Truva Otel, located within the continent of Asia, where we promptly unloaded the bus and settled into our rooms, not to do too much unpacking as our check out was scheduled for 14 hours later... The group went out to explore the town, making sure to snap some pics in front of the massive Trojan Horse. It’s actually the movie prop from the film Troy with Brad Pitt.
Following some local exploration and grub, we all tucked in for a good nights rest, hoping to catch as many "zzz's" as possible before another early departure!
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