TURKEY – ÇANAKKALE

DECEMBER 4 – 8, 2024

On a hill opposite Çanakkale there is a huge mural of a soldier and a torch. An inscription reads “Stop, Traveler, This Land You Came Without Knowing and Treaded, Is Where an Era Sunk.” It is the first two lines of a poem commemorating the Canakkale Victory in WW1.

On one of our ferry rides, a truck boarded carrying a load of olives.

The fisherman were selling their their catch on the dock. The fish were still flopping. Now that is fresh fish!

In a square along the harbour is famous Trojan Horse Statue. After being used in the movie “Troy”, a request was make by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to keep the horse as a tourist attraction. It has been exhibited in the square since 13th of September, 2004.

It is hard to miss. It weighs approximately 12 tons, is made of steel body and covered by fiberglass, that looks like burnt ship beams. It is 12.4 meters (40.6 ft) tall, 6 meters (19.6 ft) wide and 10 metres (33 ft) long (horizontal).

We came to the submarine too late in the day. Even my Canada flag pin could not convince him to let me in. I was told they opened again at 9:00 am. Our bus was at 10:30 am. Did I have time? I was assured by the ticket booth that a tour only takes about a half hour. I was there before opening the next day.

The ticket man remembered me. In fact EVERYONE knew who I was. “Oh, the Canadian lady!” I got a personal, one-on-one tour of the interior of the submarine. There really not much to see in a submarine, other than lots of pipes, wires and machines cramped into a VERY tiny space.

I got to see the torpedo room.

I saw the sleeping quarters, which were ridiculously cramped. The space under the skinny mattress opened up as a space to store clothes and personal items.

The only place that seemed to have decent space was the dining room.

I am surprised it was not set up like an airline with a flip down tray. The sinks were.

The tour was indeed short. We had plenty of time to take a taxi to the bus station for our return to Istanbul and our flight to Abu Dhabi.

SIDE NOTE: I bought a new over the shoulder purse. My old one was over 10 years old and getting thread-bare. It was time to say goodbye to my faithful travel purse.