Horsin' Around

This past weekend I went on my first real Turkish excursion. Where? To the Aegean, of course! More specifically, Ayvalık, Çanakkale, and Truva, the latter known to the rest of the world as Troy.

In other words, I went from this:


To this:


Ayvalık is a really neat little town. I think it would be an amazing weekend destination in warmer weather (it was incredibly windy and chilly when we were there) and has some of the best beaches in Turkey, so I'm told. Since swimming was not a possibility, my two cohorts (one was a Fulbrighter from Balıkesir) climbed Şeytan Sofrası, or Satan's Table, for some incredible views of the surrounding waters.

After this we headed to Cunda aka Alibey Island, famous for its restaurants with seafood mezes (Turkish small plates you are supposed to eat while draining a bottle of rakı over the course of several hours). My cohorts and I completely forgot to take pictures of this meal because we were so hungry. We had delicious fresh raw fish, grilled octopus, perfect olive oil, a beautiful salad, and a mouthwatering melon (and other fruits) for dessert. The food in Ayvalık and environs was my favorite part of the whole weekend.

The Turkish kahvaltı, a wondrous meal on an average day, was downright swoon-worthy at our "Butik Otel", Antikhan.


The next day we headed north to Çanakkale, famous for...

being close to Troy (it is also near Gallipoli, but that did not interest us so much). That is the horse used in the movie, which was donated to the town after filming.


This is pretty much what the site of Troy looks like. In certain areas you can see Troy I-IX, and the strata are labeled as such. One follows a roped path and reads signs in Turkish, German, or English about what you are seeing- namely, that which early would-be "archeologists" didn't accidentally ruin or purposefully steal when they were excavating.

So, even though Troy was not my favorite part of an all-too-brief coastal jaunt, I still was glad to have seen it. What kind of legendary heroes actually made their lives here? We may never truly know...


Eventually, my time came to an end in Çanakkale and I embarked on a long bus ride to my current home. I hope to visit the Aegean many more times.


ADDENDUM:
They totally let you climb inside the other fake Trojan Horse on the actual site of Troy.