On our second full day, at Çanakkale, I headed for the waterfront at sunrise to make this image at the harbor.
Sunrise, Canakkale Harbor
There are a lot of cats in Turkey. On this morning, two cats were prowling around the harbor walls. I made this image just as the lead cat came into the sunlight.
Cats, Canakkale Harbor
Back at the hotel, sun was streaming down the fire escape. The spiral staircase made some interesting patterns.
Hotel Fire Escape, Canakkale
After breakfast, we headed out to the ancient city of Troy. This is the city that was described in Homer’s “The Illiad”, the classic Greek epic poem. This tells the story of the Trojan Wars and culminated when the Greeks built the Trojan Horse to gain access to the city and win the war. This occurred about 1250BCE. The city was re-discovered in 1865 during archaeological excavations. The following image shows the city walls near the acropolis.
Troy, Fortress Walls
Inside the city walls are some more archaeological excavations.
Troy, Archaeological Excavations
Here is one of the entrance ramps to the ancient city.
Troy, Entrance Ramp
Excavations revealed the cistern, shown in the following image.
Troy, Cistern
The city was originally established in 3000BCE. After the Trojan War, the city continued to be occupied for several hundred years. During Roman times, the city became known as Illium.
Following our visit to Troy, we continued towards Ayvalik, a town on the Aegean Sea. Here we visited the old town. This town has several Greek and Ottoman style houses along twisting alleys.
Ayvalik, Old Town
In the market, I found this vendor, behind his display of melons.
Melon Vendor, Ayvalik
After meandering through the streets, we stopped for some tea at one of the cafes. Tea is a very popular beverage in Turkey, where is it served in small tulip shaped glasses. Here are some of the ladies that were part of the tour group.
Tour Group, Vicky, Angela, Catherine, Ingrid
Across the alley, this guy was busy looking at something down the side alley.
Window Watcher And Bike, Ayvalik
Heading back for our next destination, we passed through an umbrella covered alley. This appear to be very popular in Turkey, where colorful umbrellas are suspended above the street.
Umbrella Alley, Ayvalik
Towards the end of the day, we headed up to hill that offered a view over the Aegean at sunset. On the way there we encountered several wedding couples, having their photographs made. I made this image of one of the couples while their photographer was making their photographs.
Wedding Couple, Ayvalik
Finally, from the top of the hill, I made this image that shows some of the houses and a bay on the Aegean coast.
Aegean Sea, Ayvalik
We headed back to the hotel after the sun set.