Turkey, Florence & Rome - 3rd-9th March 2012

Dear Everyone, I would greet you in Turkish, but we are totally unable to get our tongues around this language. Fortunately everyone speaks English & no-one seems offended. We had a very long trip to get here, but it has been worth it, as Turkey is wonderful & Istanbul is just beautiful and was exciting to be in. We stayed for the first 4 nights at a small hotel right in the heart of the historic sites, within easy walking distance of the Hippodrome, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, the Basilica Cistern etc and a longer walk to the Grand Bazaar & Spice Markets. We went to visit everything we could and used audio guides each time as we find they give us a more rounded picture. We are thrilled with the way in which the Turkish people treasure their historic sites and preserve their antiquities. This is such a contrast to the Egyptians, who are not looking after their marvellous treasures anywhere near as well.

Views from our room in Istanbul

We weren’t sure how my chronic fatigue would cope with this travel, but it is OK after a slow start. We left Daylesford on Saturday afternoon at 3pm and arrived at our hotel in Istanbul at the equivalent of 1am Monday morning! During that time, we were looked after very well on three Emirates flights, saw umpteen films, got some sleep, had a shower at Dubai and experienced no problems at all except jetlag. I slept for 15 hours the first night, and have been going to sleep later & later each day. We didn’t get out to dinner in Istanbul, but did lunch two days instead. The first lunch was at a lovely little restaurant just across the road from our hotel, and it rates 9^th out of all Istanbul restaurants. We sat in front of the fire & enjoyed traditional Turkish food served very well indeed. The second lunch was at the Orient Express Restaurant at the Istanbul Railway Station, which is decorated with large photos of Agatha Christie and the cast of the Albert Finney version of ‘Murder on the Orient Express’. Wes had thin slices of veal cooked in paper & I enjoyed mushrooms baked in an oven & served piping hot.

Karen in the Blue Mosque, then outside the kitchens at Topkapi Palace & the view from the Terrace Restaurant at our hotel in Istanbul

We were sorry to leave Istanbul, but excited about travelling around. We were picked up at our lovely little hotel at 11am for a 5 hour drive to Canakkale, which involved very good roads, but driving rain and cold. We stayed in a delightful little hotel, called ‘L’Etrangers’, which is fairly newly opened and the couple are very welcoming and charming, with sufficient English for us all to get by. They directed us to the best fish restaurant and we enjoyed an early dinner of grilled squid, octopus & shrimp, followed by grilled sea bass for me & fried red mullet for Wes. We had a bottle of local merlot, which was excellent & perfect for our Australian palates.

Karen outside railway museum, platform Orient Express would have used & Wes outside the restaurant

The next morning after a special, early breakfast, we met our guide, a distinguished Turk, who has been given the Order of Australia for his knowledge of the Gallipoli campaign. Kenen has been to Australia several times and is recognised as a world authority on the war. He was the perfect guide for us, especially for Wes, who always has so many questions. It poured with rain the whole morning, and the rain was so heavy that it had entered the hallway of the Gallipoli Museum. We spent time there having the campaign explained to us, looking at photos and getting ourselves ready to see the actual spots. We were both quite moved by the simple and effective gravesites and by the wonderful healing words of Ataturk which are inscribed in English for visitors to read. The futility of war is so apparent when you think about the atrocious, unnecessary loss of life – we were invading another country, and yet they treat us so honourably. We were pleased at the end of our tour to see a magnificent memorial to some of the Turkish dead and understand there will be more memorials.

That afternoon, after lunch at a roadside cafe, where we were fed beautifully cooked sea bass & found another bottle of merlot, we drove to Troy to see the archaeological digs. Kenen spent some time explaining the myths & truths of Troy before guiding us around the site and showing us some of all nine cities. Fortunately the rain had stopped and the sun was shining weakly down. There were perhaps 15 others at the site; at Gallipoli we had it all to ourselves – how lucky was that!

We then drove to Assos, where we stayed at a magic hotel right on the water’s edge, where everyone bent over backwards to help us with ice, hot water, bath plugs & even a bottle opener so I could enjoy a G&T as I sat on the bed typing this. Wes had dinner with Kenan & our driver, but after the big lunch today, I decided to rest and do some hand-washing. I had planned on warming up by having a bath, but our room is so well heated that I abandoned that idea!

(I will include Gallipoli photos in my next Blog.)