This is where the ill-fated WWI battle took place, and is now an international peace park. We were not here on the 25th of April (ANZAC day), but we did go there, and had a look at the peninsula, and the graveyards and monuments that are all over the landscape.

It is a sad story of piss-poor planning, dismal leadership and admiral determination by the troops of both sides that lead to a stalemate that lasted for over 9 months.

It is hard to describe what it feels like to be on the ANZAC battle fields. None of our ancestors were here during WW1, but still, there is a feeling of sadness, of loss. Reading the list of the soldiers buried in the different grave yards was quite strange. For each name that I read, there was someone I know who shares the same last name. The names were all so New Zealand.
It was well worth going to Gallipoli, and doing the tour of the battle fields. I would have liked to bike around the area too, but the lack of shade, the heat, and the lack of the local knowledge all combined to make a tour well worth it.

After Gallipoli, we headed to the former capital of western world and the only city in the world that is on two continents, Istanbul.
This is a great city, and well worth a visit. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Turkey is a great country, and the people are great. Even in the big cities, we were impressed with the friendliness of everyone. We spent almost a week here, and hardly took any photos; and the ones we took weren't that great, so you can't see our photos of the Topkapi palace (seat of the Ottoman Empire) or the Blue Mosque (a very holy place; second only to the mosque in Mecca).

OK, let's head north to Bulgaria

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