Istanbul and Gallipoli

Kia Ora Koutou!

(A reminder that there's more photos at the bottom, after the first blog).

This is coming to you from Olympia Beach, near a Greek town called Katerini, just west of Thessalonica. About half-way between Gallipoli and our next stop, Gjirocaster, Albania! We’re hoping for our first swim tomorrow in about a week!

We were pretty exhausted by the time we got to Istanbul, so didn’t do all the required tourist things. We did get to the Grand Bazaar (where Phil replaced his wedding ring, lost in the surf at Oludeniz, the day after our 30th anniversary), did a morning cruise on the Bosphorous, visited a mosque, climbed the old fortress that enabled the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, and Mary Clare alone had the stamina to add Topaki Palace. We flagged the Blue Mosque and the Spice Bazaar!

But the highlight without doubt was Aya Sophia. For 1000 years the grandest church in Christendom and the spiritual centre of Constantinople. For 500 years then a mosque and converted into a secular space, technically a ‘museum’ by Ataturk in 1935. Nothing to look at from the outside but absolutely stunning in.

Some mixed feelings to see the Islamic motifs, and register a strong suspicion that many more frescoes await re-discovery under replastered walls. But the sheer scale of the place, the magnificent dome, apparently unsupported, the frescoes that were on show, the magnificent galleries, one host to synods of the Eastern church over centuries – awesome.

Getting into Istanbul had its moments, but getti8ng out was a breeze, assisted no doubt by the fact we were still the middle of Bayrami, the end-of-Ramadan holiday.

The roads were mainly good to Gallipoli so we made it in good time. We took the time Saturday morning to visit the southern end of the peninsular where we discovered Phil’s great-uncle Justin Francis had died. His grave is “known only to God” but he is honoured on the ‘Twelve-tree Copse” memorial. He was killed on 8 May 1915, a couple of weeks after the Anzac landings, but not in the are where the battles most famous to Aussies and Kiwis (Chunuk Bair, The Nek, Lone Pine, Anzac cove etc) took place. Rather, a group of Kiwis had been pulled down to support the British at Cape Helles in the south. Incredible British bungling and short-sighted predictable strategies led to slaughter!

We then paid for an official tour of the main battlefield sites in the afternoon – an extremely passionate and informed young Turkish guide. Time doesn’t allow too much detail but I was reminded of the incredible role played by Col Malone, who led the Wellington regiment. Almost accidently taking Chunuk Bair with 1000 men, he barely held on till the Brits arrived – losing all but 48 of his men, including his own life in the process. Sadly the Brits were subsequently driven off, and that was the beginning of the end of the Gallipoli campaign, which had been designed to take the Dardanelles, therefore Istanbul, and knock Turkey out of the war. Instead, we created not only Aus/NZ identity, but a Turkish national hero – the young officer who led the Turkish defence went on to become Ataturk, founder of the modern Turkish state. As I said, here’s lots more, but no time.

Hopefully there will some photos below, both of Istanbul and Gallipoli.

In Albania, we plan to meet up with some old US friends, with who we completed out YWAM DTS in Hawaii back in 1992, before heading thru Montenegro to Croatia.

Till next time

Phil & MC

PS - Some hair-raising driving in the rain yesterday. Saw one car sitting on its roof about 30 metres off the highway - occupants sitting around aparently unscathed, and another with front stoved in, straddling the culvert along the middle of the road. Very slow traffic for wile - with Turks heading back to Istanbul at the end of the holiday. Then I think an hour and a half to get across the border - so what should have been a four hour drive turned into 6! On the other hand, 130kph plus on the Greek motorway!

Nice to be in Greece though, and have pork for dinner! Much more varied menu than we've been used to seeing in Turkey. And the wine much cheaper. No wine on a restaurant menu in turkey under TL 25 - about the same as the NZD - but last night, a 500ml carafe of house wine for 3 Euro! Someone told us the Turkish government taxes the pants off wine because they associate it with Christianity and want to discourage its consumption! Some of the red was pretty good, but the whites much more dubious.

Reflecting on our time in Turkey - we really enjoyed it. Capadoccia for us the highlight, but Side and Gumusulk also lovely. Great value-for-money boat trip out of Oludeniz for the day - only cost 15 Lira with lunch included - six stops - plenty of swimming and snorkeling, incl at a freezing cold natural pring that welled into the sea. But, for future reference, ignore "Butterfly valley" - on all the brochures but you pay 5 lira once off the boat to slog 30 minutes straight uphll in searing dusty heat amidst ordinary scenery to see nothing, alongside 5 million other tourists, most in jandals (flip flops) sliding all over the rocks, banging into eachother, amidst hazards that would see OSH close them in a flash in New Zealand. MC says there was a waterfall at the top but a trickle! Definitely wins the prize for rip-off of the trip!

The people generally though were lovely, at least outside the bazaars. I was quite surprised how prayerful it felt in the mosque, but the Islamic undercurrent did cause a bit of spiritual discomfort now and again. On the other hand, as we've said earlier, many Turks are secular and a couple told us that 'the educated leave that behind".

Caused me (Phil) to reflect a bit on the real current danger that the same may be becoming true of Christianity as some branches place Christianity in conflict with sciene. What a wonderful antidote therefore is the book "The Language of God" by Francis Collins - just finished reading it. An American evangelical Christian and a prominent scientist (he led the project to map the human genome) the book is a wonderful statement of credible, intelligent faith. It is the best rejoinder I think to the nonsene of Dawkins ('the God Delusion') - perhaps mostly because he does not set out particularly to attack Dawkins - but also to the Creationist and Intelligent Design positions that he (and I) believe pose a real threat to the credibility of the gospel.