We wake up early and I once again enjoy the breakfast buffet. Seems that I’ll be eating a whole LOT in Turkey but I cannot help it — they even serve fresh honey off the honey combs.
A typical Turkish breakfast would compose of a multitude of breads that you have to slice yourselves. Then, there’s a wide array of cheeses, olives and spreads you can eat with the bread. Any type of jam? Check, they have it!
On the way, we pass by several sunflower fields and they’re gorgeous so in typical Chinese fashion, we disembark and take a few beautiful photos that blows our minds away. Turkey is indeed beautiful:
Our first destination was Cannakale, where the legendary Troy was situated. Haha, I didn’t even know that Troy was in Turkey! I felt it was more in Greece.
However, Troy is tons better in the stories than the site itself. All that’s left are some rocks, stones., walls and brick houses, and its legends of Paris, the man who destroyed a city for the love of Helen, the world’s most beautiful woman.
Makes you realize just how many wars were fought over women, though geopolitically speaking, Troy’s marine location makes it an easy prey for conquerers.
The Trojan horse at the entrance is a bit garish in display. You can enter by the butt and look out from the horse. No matter, we still have a field day taking photos:
In the afternoon, we visited Pergamon, an ancient city that used to be an intellectual and Hellenistic art center.
At its peak, it held the world’s 2nd largest library with 250,000 books (Alexandria had half a million). Pergamon at its peak had a population of 100,000 men surrounding Acropolis.
A bit of history: on his deathbed, Pergamon’s last king weilded control to Rome, who wanted to add this bustling city to their sprawling empire. The city fought to keep their independence but were no match for the stronger Romans. As a result of Pergamon’s defeat, the Romans tripled the city’s taxes.
The above photo is an impressive ampitheatre which remains today.
Later, the people of Pergamon became Christians after the second century. Unfortunately, paying triple taxes do not make it a favorite living destination so the city was later abandoned. Too bad, huh? But serves them right for going against the Roman empire…
Now, all that’s left are some ruins of a marble and stone temple with marble pillars towering up to the blue sky. The view surrounding the site is spectacular though and the Acropolis (a replica that looks like the Acropolis in Greece) is impressive as it lies along the hills.
We see the Red Basilica on the way but don’t stop. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really part of the tour. 🙁
To end the day, check out where we spent our dinner at the hotel — romantic, no? 🙂
Have a great week everyone!