Out of the City for a Long Weekend

Since Eyuboglu's opening was delayed one week to Sept. 9, Evie and I used the long weekend created to get away from Istanbul and to the northern Aegean coast. We had our first experience on the Turkish bus lines, which are very nice (ultra-modern touring coaches, excellent service, snacks served on the bus and lemon cologne refreshers), but are not necessarily speedy (Our total trip of about 400 km took about 9 hours). To get to Assos, the bus went west from Istanbul along the North coast of the Sea of Marmara. This area is the small part of Turkey that is in Europe, and it is called Thrace. We were amazed how undeveloped and unpopulated this countryside was; there really wasn't too much to see.

The bus finally got out onto the long and wooded Gelibolu (Gallipoli) Peninsula. Thousands of tourists, especially Australians, New Zealanders and British, come to Gallipoli to tour the battlefields of one of the bloodiest battles in World War I. All over the peninsula for 10 months of 1915, allied troops (under Admiral Winston Churchill) tried to take control of the very important straights from the Ottoman Turks, led successfully by a young general named Mustafa Kemal (who later became the father of the modern Turkish Republic). This battle is very important in the history and memories of the countries on both sides.

When we came to the town of Gelibolu, our bus was first in line for the car ferry across the Dardanelles Straight (see pics below).

Coming onto the Peninsula - unpopulated countryside.

The Little Village of Assos

Although we stayed on the beach a few km away, on Friday we spent the day exploring Assos. Assos, also known in Turkish as Behramkale, is a tiny town with a long history and amazing topography. The Greeks built their acropolis at the top of a craggy hill towering over the Aegean. Far below, where the cliffs meet the water, there is a beautiful, tiny harbor, with fishing boats and outside cafes. We enjoyed lunch here before beginning our climb to the ruins.

The Ruins on the Hill

Our guide books told us that Assos was a ancient Greek center for Platonic learning, where Aristotle lived. The city was complete with fortifications, a gymnasium, baths and a temple to Athena at the top. The craggy hill the Greeks chose to build their fortifications and temple is an amazing site, towering steeply above the water. We set out after lunch on this hike, up a narrow twisting road. About half-way up we found the ruins of the ampitheater. We imagined Greeks watching a tragedy here overlooking the Aegean 2500 years ago.

Further up were a set of ruins including the gymnasium, agora, huge city walls, baths, and the necropolis. All around were piles and piles of stone blocks, including an occasional piece of a column or capitol. The necropolis was remarkable: litterally hundreds of complete stone sarcophagi and their lids, scattered on both sides of a stone path. A donkey amongst the stones seemed to ask us "what's the big deal?" While there were a few signs on the ruins, there was no security or visitor center here, just really old stones in the countryside.

A gate in the city wall	The Necropolis	Looking up to the summit
Looking down to the Sea

We kept climbing to the summit, where the view and the Temple of Athena are really breathtaking. The sign at the temple says "Built in the Doric Order," but I already knew that, thanks to my classical education at Boston Latin School!

What a view at the top! We can see the island of Lesbos.

We spent the rest of the weekend at our friendly hotel on the beach called the Yildiz Saray. We swam in the Aegean, read books and ate the great Turkish mezes and simple fresh fish of the restaurant, which was included in the price of the room. We were so relaxed we forgot to take pictures!

This is a very beautiful part of the earth, with olive groves on rolling hills above crystal clear blue water. We found it remarkable how few people were here! Most of the coast and the countryside is uninhabited. We realized that any coast like this in the US would be overrun with fancy homes or hotels. How refreshingly quiet it was.