TURKEY: CANAKKALE AND TROY

 June 25, 2026

It isn't very far from Istanbul to Çanakkale, a seaport city in northwestern Turkey on the Dardanelles Strait where it connects to the Aegean Sea. Çanakkale is the main base for visits to the ruins of the ancient city of Troy.

Visitors arriving via the marina are greeted by this impossible-to-miss version of the Trojan horse, a key figure in the epic poem the Aeneid by the Roman poet Virgil. There is no archaeological evidence that a giant wooden horse was ever built and/or used to trick the Trojans during wars that occurred around the late 13th or early 12th century BC. However, Virgil's story about a giant wooden horse, written more than 1,000 years after the war, has been passed down for over 2,000 years and has helped preserve the memory the Trojan War.

According to legend, the war was started by the abduction of a beautiful woman, Helen of Troy. But the Greeks were also interested in Troy's wealth, and after fighting for ten years and failing to conquer the city, they came up with a devious plan of hiding soldiers inside a large wooden horse and leaving the horse in front of the city gates, then supposedly sailing away in their ships. The next morning, the Trojans wheeled the horse inside the city walls and began celebrating their victory. After everyone got drunk and felll asleep, the Greeks climbed out of the horse, opened the city gates, and let in their army, which had not sailed away after all. The Greeks plundered the city and set it on fire. The story is retold in the American movie Troy (2004), starring Brad Pitt as the Greek hero Achilles. This model horse was used in that movie and has been on display in the marina since 2004.

Çanakkale has certainly figured out how to capitalize on Virgil's Trojan horse story. Without it, the city might not be quite as popular a tourist destination as it is now.

TURKEY 2026: ISTANBUL PART III -- FOOD TOUR

 June 24, 2026

One of the things we love to do when we travel is a food tour. Even if you think you know a lot about a country's cuisine, nothing beats walking around with a local and visiting some of their favorite places. 

We booked a food tour with an Istanbul native named Alp who works with a group called WithLocals. He was the perfect guide as he had a culinary arts background and a deep love for his hometown.  You can find him here. 

Our two remaining sisters and spouses were taking a day to recover from travel, so it was just Dave and Bonnie, Chris and Stan, and Bob and I again. Alp suggested we meet in Taksim Square, which was about a mile from our ship, and when we ventured out in the morning, we decided it was the perfect day for a walk. We located Taksim Square on our phones, set the GPS, and started out.

We'd walked a few blocks away from the docks and came upon an area full of fancy shops. This zebra outfit is especially lovely, don't you think? I wonder if the mask comes with the dress?

We enjoyed the walk and sea breeze for a few more blocks, but then our GPA led us away from the waterfront, and suddenly the terrain changed.

The ensuing route was full of steep flights of as many as 40 to 50 stairs, and since our group included our sister-in-law in a wheelchair, we looked for ways to bypass the stairs. We soon understood why there were stairs when the streets we took instead seemed to be going straight up. In a few places, Bonnie got out of the chair and managed a flight of stairs, but it was difficult for her, and so the  men banded together to help with the challenging ascent.

After about an hour of strenuous climbing, we finally reached Taksim Square--the highest point in Instanbul, which we had accessed from sea level. We were a little bit late, but Alp was waiting patiently for us.

TURKEY 2026: WALKING AROUND ISTANBUL PART II -- HAGIA SOPHIA MOSQUE AND THEODOSIUS CISTERN

 June 23, 2026

The Hagia Sophia (Greek for "holy wisdom") was built between 532 and 537 by order of Justinian the Great as the cathedral of Constantinople. For more than 500 years, it was the largest church in the world. It was rebuilt after an earthquake in 994 and used as an Eastern Orthodox or a Catholic cathedral until 1453. In 1453 after the Ottoman's conquered Constantinople, Sultan Mehmed turned Hagia Sophia into a mosque and added minarets. It became known as the Aya Sofya. 

The secularist government led by Kemal Ataturk turned the mosque into a museum in 1935. During World War II, the minarets housed machine guns. Over the succeeding decades, the building fell into serious disrepair, but preservationists worked to restore it from 1997 to 2006

This is my photo of the Hagia Sophia taken when we visited Istanbul in 2010 when it was still a museum. I think there were still minarets, but they are outside the boundaries of this photo.

By 2010 they had uncovered many of the early Christian mosaics on the wall that had been stuccoed over during the years the structure was a mosque. We were very excited to see them.

In 2020, Turkish President Erdogan announced that the museum would once again revert to being a mosque. This controversial decision brought on global criticism. Even UNESCO was upset. However, the government dcreed that it would be a "working mosque," open to anyone, and the Christian icons and mosaics on the walls would be protected.

In 2025, an extensive restoration project began, and a year later, we showed up in Istanbul. Here is what the Hagia Sophia looked like:

Not quite the gorgeous structure we had seen 16 years before, but I'm sure all this renovation will be worth it in the end.

The interior is cavernous and lacks the elegance of the Blue Mosque, which was built much later and basically replaced this one for centuries.

TURKEY 2026: WALKING AROUND ISTANBUL, PART I -- THE OBELISK OF THEODOSIUS AND THE BLUE MOSQUE

 June 22-23, 2026

We had a full day before we had to board our ship, so the Joneses, Kenisons, and I (Bob was away for the day on a birding trip with a guide) planned a walking tour of Istanbul. Bob and I had previously visited Istanbul  in 2010 (those blog posts begin here), and 16 years is a long time. The city felt different--in some ways more modernized, in other ways more restored to its ancient past.

We walked from our hotel to Topkapi Palace, built in 1459, six years after the Ottoman Empire captured Constantinople, then the capital of the Byzantine Empire. In its heyday, the Sultan's harem lived here, along with state officials. However, it was basically abaondoned as a residence in the 17th century, although it did retain government-related uses. In the mid-19th century, the sultan moved the court out as well, but the palace continued to serve as a treasury, library, and mint. After the end of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, Topkapi Palace became a museum, which it has continued to be to the present day.

Unfortunately, the palace itself is NOT wheelchair friendly. (Hooray for the Americans with Disabilities Act that requires ramps and elevators in public places. I really notice the lack of equal access in foreign countries.) We enjoyed a walk around the grounds anyway.

This is the Hagia Irine, originally built in the 4th century during the riegn of Emperor Constantine, making it one of the earliest Christian churches in Constantinople/Istanbul. It was one of only two churches never converted into a mosque. These days it is a museum and concert hall.

The Imperial Gate, one of three ceremonial gates at Topkapi Palace, was commissioned in 1478 and reconstructed in 1867.