Gallipoli, Turkey Where A WWI Battle Took Place

Gallipoli, Turkey - Where A WWI Battle Took Place

At this date and time this beach appears to be a tranquil. But on February 19, 1915, during WWI, the British and French invaded Turkey at The Dardanelles, in hopes of taking possession of the narrow strait connecting Europe and Asia.

Between the loses at The Dardenelles and the Gallipoli campaign, 400,000 were Australians, 100,000 were British and 60,000 were Turks. We arrived at The Dardanelles the day after a commemorative speech that was given by Prince Charles honoring the allied forces lost during this campaign. We were there the next day. The day the Turks mourned their losses.

We were very moved. So many lost!

There was a movie that came out near the time that I was there starring Russell Crowe, called The Water Diviner. It was about an Australian farmer who lost three sons in this battle. Four years after the war, he goes to Gallipoli to bring his, now deceased, sons, home.

We were told a story, by our Turkish tour guide, that the soldiers were camped out in trenches on both sides of the roadway. During the day they were enemies. At night they would come out, exchange cigarettes and play cards.

We were told a story, by our local guide, that during the battle, a Turkish soldier found a wounded allied soldier
and carried him over to his own troops.

This monument is to that soldier.

Ephesus - The City of The Greeks and Romans (In Turkey!)
Ephesus - I can't say enough! This is why I wanted to go to Turkey! It was absolutely incredible!

 

The building to the left is "The Library of Celsus". It is an ancient Roman building built around 114-117 CE. It was built, facing East, for the benefit of early risers. It housed statues similar to that in ancient Greek Theatres. According to Wikipedia, "it was one of the most impressive buildings in the Roman Empire" and housed 12,000 scrolls and served as the mausoleum for Celsus who was buried beneath the library.

Here is the coliseum we viewed upon entrance to the Ephesus site.

Upon leaving the coliseum, you walk through a "gateway" and

down towards the library of Celsus.

This is where the Romans did their shopping, along this walkway. Can you imagine jewelry, food, fabrics, probably music and live entertainment going on all at the same time. Probably similar to our shopping malls.

This was an early "billboard". Our tour guide was pointing out that this was a "woman of the night" advertising her services carved into the sidewalk. You could identify her by the fact that her 2nd toe was longer than her big toe.

Look at the beautiful carvings. An image of

one of the gods at that time.

 

 

 

 

 

This was the men's toilettes. The slaves would go in first and warm the toilet seats before the men entered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love the architecture. Such beautiful buildings!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a dream come true!

 









MSC Cruiseline Venice, Italy to Istanbul, Turkey June, 2015

MSC Cruiseline - Venice, Italy to Istanbul, Turkey, June 2015

I don't know how many of you like to do cruises but I was sitting in my apartment, mind you, Paris does not have air conditioning in their dwellings, and thinking, it's getting pretty hot. I gotta get out of here! So, I took a cruise.

I have not done a lot of cruising but I found this European cruise line MSC and looked at its destinations and pricing and said to myself, why not?? I got a stateroom with a king size bed and my own balcony for 9 days for

around $2100 USD. Pretty cheap! And as you

can see, pretty nice.

So, I signed up for some massages,

Incredible!

I walked the ship my first evening. The pool and deck areas were beautiful and fully equipped to entertain their guests.

They also had games and activities on deck

which many guests participated in. 

Since this was a European cruiseline, there were only 22 americans onboard. Lots of Russians, I think I heard over 200, and many other assorted vacationers were on board.

Europeans LOVE the water so all day long there was disco music playing and every beach chair was full!

 They had ice cream and a wonderful smoothie bar too!

I was in the upgraded dining room where we had more meal choices and the food was delicious!

 

 

I loved how, when we left port, seagulls would fly

along side the boat until we got out to sea!  

  

 

There were many shops onboard, and the shopkeepers spoke English which I don't think a lot of the guests did. I learned that they were trained differently to relate to European customers than American customers.

So I had a lot of interesting people from all around the world to speak with. I met shop keepers from Poland, Serbia, Cuba and Bali. The employees make a contract to do the cruises for 9 months, then 3 months off. We had some very interesting conversations.

 So, I would have to tell you, I loved cruising with

MSC cruiselines. Their service was excellent

and I really enjoyed my time with them!

Brugge, Belgium

I have to say this for Brugge. It is one of the most picturesque cities I have visited. Utterly charming!  

 There are so many charming shops along the main boulevards. Many antiques, lace and of course, they are known for their chocolates!

 

I love the crest above this door.

 

The views are beautiful with green trees, lots of green grass, the architecture and the swans! Lots of them! They have horse drawn carriages if you prefer to ride.

 

Another popular mode of transportation is a river boat tour.

 

I didn't know this, but the cartoon series by Herge (from Belgium) became the blockbuster movie Tin Tin  !

 

The famous Madonna is in one of the local cathedrals here. It was in the movie Monuments Men. It was taken by the Nazis and then the Americans were able to recover it and return it home, where it belongs.

I would highly suggest a visit to this beautiful and enchanting town. You will not be disappointed!

Mexico - Next We Go To San Miguel (March 23 - 26, 2016)

Mexico - Next We Go To San Miguel de Allende (March 23 - 26, 2016)

So leaving Mexico City we head south for 3 hours and arrive at San Miguel de Allende. 

It is a charming town with a cathedral in the center 

of the old part of town. 

We stayed at my niece's home in a nice gated community that was a 5 minute taxi ride into Old Town. 

We spend our first evening in Old Town and seeing the sights. 

There are many "bands" there. They are not mariachi's in the town. These gentlemen dress in their local colored suits. Some are green, some are purple or navy blue. 

We followed a band that walked the streets of San Miguel and sang local songs and the crowd sang along. It was great fun!

There was a center plaza in town with beautiful trees, 

park benches 

and a gazebo. There were many vendors selling everything from a type of creamed corn and herbs, 

a tortilla with meat and sauce and beans. Yum!

I liked the tall man and woman puppets 

near one of the bands. 

They sold "coronas" which is spanish for "crowns" which were made out of flowers. All the girls were wearing them. They represented the crown of thorns that Jesus wore.

I loved this pub sign called "La Sirena Gorda" which translates to "the fat mermaid". Funny, huh? 

There were many colorful shops and booths.

These are actually raw garbanzo beans.

We saw a procession of the last few days of the life of Jesus Christ. Here, young girls in pretty dresses throw flower petals and stems onto the walkway representing the laying down of palm frowns on the roadway before Christ. 

Here are Roman soldiers marching in the parade.

 

Here are representations of a Roman who flogged Christ. Men were carrying heavy crosses in the parade. Some were barefoot. Many were wearing crowns of thorns. They take this very seriously. I brought down Easter candy and bunnies and chocolate eggs and the children had not seen that before. They do not sell Easter candy in the stores. Easter is a religious experience here. 

 

This, I believe, is a representation of Mary, the mother of Jesus but it might be Mary Magdalene. 

 

Home fronts and stores were decorated 

in purple flowers and ribbons.

 

I have to end with this funny picture. It reminds me of Knotts Berry Farm where you can sit next to a gold miner bronze statue. But in this case, it is a bull!

Next, we are on to Guanajuato.