Hotel Bakir Canakkale

... on. There was also a wreath laying ceremony which was over the side. Lunch after taking lots of photos of cemeteries and got one of Lone Pine, but it was a long way off. The Captain had managed to get the boat to within 1 mile of the beach. We went up to Oasis bar at 4pm to have some birthday drinks and I was given some lovely presents from people I hardly even know. 12 of us went for dinner in the ...

... br> <br> <br ...

... br> <br ...

... by Septimius Severus, indicating the importance of the city during both Hellenistic and Roman times. The upper section of 25 rows, added during the restoration, is constructed of stones quarried from the ancient theater to the north of the city rather than of marble, suggesting that the city hit upon financial hardships during this era. Notice the skeleton of the mechanism below the well-preserved stage. The theater comes to life in the late spring for ...

... the nationalistic thing and seeing Gallipoli. There were many Aussies and Kiwis in our group.<br><br>The Gallipoli campaign was waged by the Allies in WWI in order to attempt to take over the Dardenelles, which would have given then the shipping lanes to both cut off the Ottoman Empire from the war (which would have eased pressure in the Middle Eastern theater) and so that they would have easy supply lines to the Russians via the Black Sea. The 250 day campaign ...

... history much better for seeing the area. As it was still light we decided we would drive on and head for the border of Greece. Turkey is a huge country and we would have had to devote weeks to really seeing further south as the distances by car were large. So we set off for Greece. We crossed the border at sunset and drove on for 2 hours more to stop at a little town called Kavala. We found a campsite by the water and crashed for the night.

... at any hotel in the Middle East. One interesting incident, the hotel has very good high speed internet access, something that is sadly lacking in the rest of Syria. I spent Wednesday late pm writing the blog, but could not upload the photos, then the site had a nervous breakdown and I could not access it, any other site was ok. After dinner I tried again and everything worked fine, so I guess the Syrian censors had approved my blog! Thursday ...

... Was it sold though. Ohhhhhhhh was it cold. Sitting right on the ocean to feel the beautiful sea breeze. Each of us ýn a sleeping bag wearing 5-6-7 layers. Alicia had four pairs of leggings and was still cold. All worth it in the end. Hopefully you saw the ceremony on tv. Hard for Chris to fýght back tears singing the anthem. Took a walk down to the beach afterwards w,th a couple of Aussie mates before the 45 minute up hýll walk to Lone Pine, where the ...

... of the 'Gallipoli Symphony&#8217; started, which is an original composition by an Australian composer, followed by a reading of a list of all the Australian soldiers who died there. Many of them were only in their twenties; not much older than me. Next, thirty minutes of reflection; complete silence and darkness, spent listening to the waves and the morning birds. At 5.30am, just as dawn was creeping over the horizon, shimmering and reflecting in the water ...

... known as Anzac Cove. We stopped here and visited some grave sites just to the south of Anzac Cove. It was a truly disturbing and upsetting experience. Tom shadowed me without uttering a word the whole time. Everyone walked in silence amongst the head stones reading the names of the many people, mostly young, who had lost their lives in such tragic circumstances. We saw the headstone for John Simpson, the brave soldier of folklore with the donkey. From there it was on to ...