May 1 – Gallipoli and a Cruise of the Bosphorus

This morning we left Canakkale early to catch a ferry across the Dardanelles.  

Our schedule today includes the battlefields and cemeteries of Gallipoli before we go to Istanbul. 

Gallipoli was the site of a major military campaign from February 1915 to January 1916 between Turkey and Allied powers during World War I.  There were a huge number of soldiers from Australia and New Zealand participating on behalf of the British.  There was a huge loss of life with almost a quarter of a million men lost on each side. 

The Ottoman Empire won the campaign but shortly after the Turkish War for independence started which led to the founding of the Republic of Turkey.  This campaign was considered a defining moment for modern Turkey as well as the beginning of Australian and New Zealand national consciousness.  Both Australian and New Zealand celebrate April 25^th (the day of the first landings in Gallipoli) as Anzac Day and a day of remembrance.

This Turkish was monument was just after we crossed the bridge to the peninsula where the fighting took place.

This quote, by Ataturk, leader of the Turkish Army, is quit touching.

We visited a small, shoreside cemetery for Australians,

the Lone Pine Cemetery,

the Turkish 57^th Regiment Cemetery,

and a hilltop where Ataturk monitored the battle and took a hit of shrapnel.

View from the hilltop

You could still see the trenches that the soldiers dug during the battle.

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More Gallipoli
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Then we headed off towards Istanbul…a several hour drive.  Along the way we saw lots of barley fields and 

bright yellow canola fields,

and we had a short stop for lunch.  Turkish meatballs are not round like a ball.  They are shaped like sausage links.

We drove by this large bridge that spanned the Dardanelles Strait.  We didn't get any rain but it looked like we should get some at any time.

We arrived in Istanbul midafternoon and the weather was sunny.  So we decided to tick off one of tomorrow’s sightseeing items, a cruise of the Bosphorus.

The cruise took us by many places we had visited during our first four days in Istanbul.  We saw the Dolmabahçe Palace,

Ortakӧy Mosque and neighborhood,

Galata Tower,

and the New Mosque.

These beautiful buildings were on the Asia side of Istanbul.

More sights on the cruise included the Beylereyi Palace (that we had visited much earlier in the trip), 

the Çirağan Palace Hotel,

the Rumelihisari Castle that guarded the Bosphorus Straits

the Maiden’s Tower Lighthouse,

and the Süelymaniye Mosque.

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More Bosphorus Cruise
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It was a great cruise and a nice way of seeing the city from a different perspective.