My life in ruins- Gallipoli and Troy

Day 3

Today began the week of loooong bus rides. Since we traveled all over the Turkish West Coast we were bound to have some long rides in order to get us from place to place. We began the day with a ride to Gallipoli which is where a major WWI battle took place between the Turks and the Australians/New Zealanders. A lot of people died, (about 250,000 on each side) but not much came of it. My favorite part of this site was to read all the gravestones. All of the engravings were faith based and showed the families belief in God. My professor talked a lot about why God lets bad things happen to good people. It is so easy to get consumed in the thought of why but we can't see what God sees and so we will never fully understand. But as we keep the faith and continue strong we will overcome whatever is thrown our way. 

"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours... you, the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well." - Ataturk



After Gallipoli we took a ferry ride across the Dardanelles :) in order to get to the legendary TROY!!!  We saw lots of ruins of 9 different layers of settlements! As well as the original Trojan horse.... okay it's not the original but it was still fun to take cheesy, tourist pictures in!

Our hotel was right on the Aegean Sea :) So even after a long and exhausting day of touring we all some how had the energy to party at the beach and go swimming in the freezing water.