Turkish Halloween Weekend Trip

During the weekend of Halloween in the US, here in Turkey it was also a holiday, called Republic Day, very similar to our 4th of July. Anyway we had a 4 day weekend and some of the guys here in Izmir decided to take a trip up to the Northwest section of Turkey, namely to see Assos, Galipolli (site where New Zealand and Australia was born) and Troy. It was a pretty fun trip as the guys and I all got along and had some good laughs. The first stop on the agenda was Assos. It is another ancient pile of rocks but at one time housed the temple of Athena. There isn't much left of the temple but the site that the city lays on is pretty impressive. It is on top of a big cliff overlooking the Greek island of Lesvos. In some of the pictures you will be able to see the island. Anyway it was extremely cold and super windy that day. We stayed in a small little hotel at the bottom of the hill that overlooked the city of Assos. Right next to the hotel was a super old bridge that was used back in the day.

The next day had us traveling to Cannakale Turkey where we took a ferry across to the European side of Turkey. Izmir is located in the Asian side of the world. We spent the day taking a guided tour of Gallipoli where during WWI several battles were fought, namely from the British, French and ANZACs (Australia and New Zealand Army Corp). This is considered a huge pilgrimage place for the Auzzies and Kiwi's because many consider this place the birthplace of those 2 countries. It was very interesting to see many of the battlefields that are located here. It was amazing to find out that over 500,000 people died in just a many of a year there. It was a pretty costly war, and in the end had the allies pullout. This is also the place where Kemal Mustafa Ataturk got his name. This dude is seriously famous here in Turkey. It is the equivalent of George Washington or Abe Lincoln for us.

The last day of the trip had us swing by Troy. Again just another ancient city with lots of rocks. This place was made famous because of the Trojan horse and the battle of Troy, which some scholars think might not have even taken place. Of note not everyone in the world thinks Troy is the actual ancient city of Troy. It is still being debated. Ok enough of the history lesson. Enjoy the pictures. I'll post pictures of the WWI site tomorrow along with Troy.

This is known as Skull rock.

Sorry about this picture. The sun glare was right on my melon or rather my face. All of my pictures had the sun glare right on top of my nugget which made my bald spot even more blinding.

What's left of Athena's Temple. The flag in the background was really whipping as it must have been a steady 30mph winds that day.

The minaret from one of the mosques on Assos.

The Old Stone Bridge.

Old Stone Bridge with some different rendering. It's more of a retro style.

Some rose hips by the Old Stone Bridge.

The Old Stone Bridge with the ancient city of Assos on the hill top in the background. Picture was taken during the sunset that day. On top of the hill towards the left the round dome building is a mosque that has a cross in the doorway. Not very often you will ever see that here in Turkey.