classics and aussies

so, i covered the istanbul stuff beforehand, and all i can say is that 360 was a great restaurant and atmosphere/we had a fun night, but we ended up not going to the bob dylan movie so i went to church.
nicole came over for tea monday morning, and then i set about getting a bus (since i was too late to make the bandırma ferry/train to izmir and i still would have had to take a bus) direct to selçuk in the most inconvenient fashion, namely going all the way out to the otogar (bus station), buying a ticket, coming back, resting, going back for my night bus. but i saved a night's hotel and all would have been good if i hadn't left the illiad on the bus (and achilles was just about to join the fight!).

i got off the bus with my backpack and started walking straight to ephesus (about 2 km). so, okay wow. i know, im not a classicist, yes, i prefer armenian and even old anatolian sites, but ephesus was great. there are lots and lots of standing structures, statues, reliefs, etc. the church of St. Mary, where the council of ephesus was held is there. and i absolutely loved the greek theater that seats about 25,000. a really, really enjoyable site, classicist or not, archaeologist or not.
what made this part of the trip really cool were all the things around ephesus and selçuk (the modern town where i stayed). the temple of artemis (one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world), although left with only a column standing, is still very green and foundations remain. the ephesus museum houses a lot of great stuff, including a famous statue of priapus, the phallic god of fertility (it was also fun to see the 60 year old americans making jokes about it) as well as a giant statue of artemis from the nearby temple. but the Christian sites were a real gem, because i wasn't expecting them. namely, the basilica of St. John, built by the emperor justinian where St. John the gospel writer is supposed to be buried. the ruins of the basilica are pretty impressive. finally, after a stay in a very friendly pension where i ate dinner there and chatted with some of the other guests, on wednesday morning i went to the house of St. Mary, where the mother of Jesus is said to have lived out her days. a very legitimate pilgrimage site visited by each of the last three popes, there was a mass going on as i slipped into the house, lit a candle outside, drank from the sacred well, and tied some string to the wall to make a wish. after making it back down the hill, i moved on.

after my bus ride from selçuk to izmir and izmir to bergama (ancient pergamon) i set up shop in another great pension, a converted ottoman house, called odyssey (i had just come from homeros). i was the only person there most of the day, except for a frenchman convinced of the worthlessness of formal education whom i talked with in the evening. the real draw was the books. i wish i had some to trade. in addition to the great selection of greek tragedy and travel books, there was even a copy of susan sontag's on photography. way cool.
anyhow, i trekked up the hill to visit the acropolis that afternoon. while not as extensive or extant as at ephesus, the setting way up the hill made the acropolis of pergamon incredible. additionally, the red poppies and the grass with the wind just made it a wonderful experience. and finally, pergammon's library (very little left standing) is said to have rivaled the famous library of alexandria (ah, if only...) and in fact the town's name is related to the latin word for parchment, which was invented there.
on thursday, i went to the red basilica, a huge structure singled out by St. John in Revelations. it was formerly a temple to egyptian gods and goddesses before being converted into a church. then, i went to the ascplepeion, the medical center. notable things include the snakes carved into a column, other medical imagery and temples to medical gods, and the healing fountain. the ascplepeion's most famous resident is the ancient galen the physician.

phew, no rest for the weary. by noon i was on my way to çannakale, the main city on the south dardanelles, and the jumping off point for both troy and gallipoli. i decided to make the anzac day dawn ceremony, so i bought a blanket, ferried over to ecebat, took a shared taxi to kabatepe, and laid my blanket out on a picnic table at the campgrounds before watching a gorgeous sunset. i was up by 3:30 and at anzac cove by the 4:30 dawn service friday.
so, anzac day. april 25 (1915) is the day the allied (mainly australian and new zealand) forces landed on the gallipoli peninsula. as you may know, gallipoli was a disaster for the allies, and helped pave the way for atatürk's unrivaled command of turkey. for some reason (supposedly a unifying event in the histories of the young, newly independent countries of australia and new zealand), aussies and whatever you call people from new zealand flock here every year. the place was packed! the new zealand foreign minister was there, the australian cultural minister too. its like a really big deal. it was a very nice service that allowed me to reflect on 'the follies of war' as my guidebook puts it. after the dawn service, i hiked up the hill to conk bayır, the famous hill that atatürk held. it was a fairly intense hike, but the views and my love of following the cult of atatürk made it worth it. after hiking all the way back to kabatepe (i put in at least 8 miles on friday) i got back to çannakale and took a bus to troy.

ah, troy. a great story, a very confusing archaeological site (at least 9 levels corresponding to different times and settlements, overlapping and built over everywhere), and very few actual exciting ruins. compared to ephesus or pergamon, the ruins at troy are a letdown. mostly just walls and foundations. with that said, the boards and organization of the site did a pretty good j0b entertaining me. that, and the giant trojan horse replica. plus, as it was a nice windy day, i couldn't help but think 'these were the winds that screwed odysseus over.' after almost completing the illiad, it was a great site to be at, even if there wasn't a whole lot going on.

and that concludes my classics/aegean trip. i got stuck in çannakale for awhile, took a night bus back to istanbul, managed to miss my stop in istanbul, wandered around the asian side for a bit (despite being exhausted it was nice since i never do this), and made it to the internet cafe to tell my tale. now, plans include buying another copy of the illiad, pondering my plans for the rest of my time in turkey (including my long trip out east and if i can see a football match before the season ends), a taksim burger, and a long afternoon nap.