On to Asia...

Today we left Istanbul via bus and we headed down the coast of the Aegean toward the Soutwest. We had lunch at Gallipoli, which many of you will recall was the site of a major WWI battle, wherein the Turks held off the British against amazing odds. From this battle arose "AtaTurk" who would establish modern Turkey. This site is basically like Normandy, as they have the graves of thousands who died, very somber. After lunch we continued to drive to the Dardanelles, which is the southern crossing from Europe to Asia (the Bosporus is the northern one, in Istanbul). This is the narrowest crossing, and thus has been the site of major military conflicts. It is here that Alexander the Great crossed into Asia in the late 4th century BCE, conquering the Persians and taking control of almost all of the known world. We crossed via ferry, with cold blustering winds in our face. We have arrived in Canakkale, which is a neat little Turkish town. In the morning we will visit Troia, which is believed by many to be the ancient site of Troy, which is the site of Homer's Iliad, the beginning of the Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid, and Brad Pitt's fantastic movie. There is much controversy surrounding the site, so it will be interesting to see it firsthand.

The trip is going well, lots of sites, lot of discussion, but all very interesting. I even caught the last minute of the Rose Bowl this morning, live!

Hope everyone is doing well. We are having a great time!