Aegean Road Trip

8/17/2013 - Çanakkale, Turkey

We drove about 6 hours today along Turkey's Aegean coast, from ancient Ephesus to ancient Troy. We saw a lot of Turkey along the way.

First, we saw Izmir (Smyrna) from the bus. I was curious about the city, having read about it in the Bible, Middlesex, and Giles Milton's Paradise Lost (the other Paradise Lost, by the other Milton). Our Turkish guide was fair about presenting both sides of Izmir's recent history, telling both the Turkish and Greek versions of the events.

Later, we passed by the island of Lesbos, and our eager tour guide asked us, "Do you know what the word 'lesbian' means?" We heard the story of Sappho.

Last, we stopped at the alleged site of Troy. We were skeptical; I didn't think the evidence was overwhelming that we were at Troy. But as one of us on the tour said, "SOMETHING was here." It was an impressive old city, with altars for both Augustus and Alexander still in tact.

Pictured: Roman and earlier ruins at the site of Troy.