Looking for Helen

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Woolly says – We started with breakfast on the terrace overlooking the sea, so peaceful and beautiful. I enjoyed my boiled egg and cheese pastry though I’m not sure about cucumber, tomato and olives for breakfast. It was just what we needed after a long and sweaty night with no air con. Ollie was ready to go and we set off with the sun shining, following the road alongside the med. With rolling hills turning to small mountains every corner gave a different view, it was lovely.



As we were half a day in front of ourselves we didn’t feel in a rush and as we cruised down the tarmac we looked forward to the day to come. First stop was Gallipoli, well it should have been!



Woolly says – we had been driving for an hour when Ian pointed out that we were only 10km from our cross over point and seemed to have missed Gallipoli somewhere along the line. Back we went and found ourselves caught up in the city traffic of Geribolu, with Jo craning her neck every which way to find a memorial or museum we didn’t seem to make much progress. Stopping to ask one of the Turkish military didn’t really help so Ian set Ollie onto the coast road to see if we could spot anything further. From afar we saw what appeared to be a large memorial so skidding to the right we followed the road and found a large submarine sticking out of the ground.



It was quite unusual and well worth a photo, the memorial was for three different tradigies involving submarine personnel who had been lost at sea, one who collided with a Swedish ship, one who sank on the way to England and one who sunk in 1941 protecting the border. Alongside the memorial were a variety of anchors, armoury and torpedo’s, Woolly tried to pull the anchor but with no success.



Woolly says – I couldn’t even lift a link let alone move the anchor! Jumping back into Ollie we headed off again deciding that since we would be visiting this coast line again we would find out more about WHERE Gallipoli is and what is there for that adventure. I had a sense of de ja vous as we sailed back down the roads again to the port town of Eceabat. Apparently we were going to cross the Marmite! I don’t like marmite and it makes my fur sticky so I wasn’t too keen on this idea, then Ian told me it was the Marmaris Sea, Oh now I get it, does that come with toast like marmite?



Leaving Woolly to work things out I hurried over to the ticket office and paid the 29 Lira (approximately £12.30 GBP) to carry us over and as I sped back to Ollie (passing some of the very monuments we’d been looking for all along) they started to load. Straight on and up on deck for the short thirty minute journey over to Canakkale.



Woolly says – I think I had it sorted and enjoyed the all too brief sailing, before I could sunbathe or play coits on deck we were there and unloading. Through the city traffic we went, now on a mission to find Helen. I wondered if she was a friend but I was quite sure I hadn’t met her yet. Once out of the traffic the open road lay in front of us, Ollie was having a great time as the kilometres ticked away.



We found the signs easily and the journey passed very quickly with Woolly thinking of every Helen he had heard of…..



Woolly says – there’s Helen Miram, Helen Keller (Jo did a lesson once about her) hmmmm…..



Ian put Woolly out of his misery and told him about Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships.



Woolly says - …..ohhhhh that Helen. In Greek mythology, Helen of Troy also known as Helen of Sparta, was the daughter of Zeus and either Leda or Nemesis, and was a sister of Castor, Pollux, and Clytemnestra. In Greek myths she was considered to be the most beautiful woman in the world. Her abduction by Paris brought about the Trojan War. Now I was excited as I had heard of the Wooden Horse, would there be one there?



To make Woolly’s day the first thing we saw at the site of Troy was indeed a wooden horse, we didn’t have the heart to tell him that the horse probably hadn’t existed in real life, he could hardly wait to go up the steps and see what it was like. While I paid our 15 Lira each (approximately £6.40 GBP) Ian took Woolly to have a look.



Woolly says – it was great and I was able to peer out and see Jo in what seemed miles away. Unfortunalty we had to carry on and with a few regretful looks we went to look at the city itself. Excavations started in 1868 by Heinrich Schliemann whose friends thought he was mad as it was known that Troy was on the coast and became rich due to the high winds that blew all the ships into the bay. They couldn’t understand why he was digging so far inland. Ian being very clever told me that the coastline had changed over the centuries and the land had gradually been reclaimed. Excavations still continue today and there is still an immense amount to do there. We climbed round the route that took us past the Eastern Wall and the area where Athena’s Temple would have stood. All the information was translated so we got a really good idea of how the city would have looked. We saw a burnt mud brick house preserved under a huge sail, the foundations of other houses and most impressive of all a small Amphitheatre which was in really good condition. I even came across my old friend Hadrian, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen him! It brought back some memories, all hail Emperor Woolly!!!



It was a most impressive site and with so much still beneath grass and soil one can only imagination what else might be found and with the first and second parts of the city still undiscovered it would be incredible to come back and see more in about fifty years’ time! Stopping for some cold drinks and ice creams we climbed back into Ollie and since it was still early decided to put some kilometers under our belt. We passed as couple of campsites but thought to keep going, a note of caution camping is signed as Camping, the blue triangles on signs are for the police which could mean pitching in the cells if follwed.



Woolly says – the drive was great we could see the sea for lots of it and some of the views across the bays were spectacular. On Ollie roared having the time of his life as we sat back and let the journey unwind. It got to five o’clock when we decided to stop and we started to see lots of very full camping sites so Jo and Ian being quite wise (sometimes), thought a motel would be better. Twelve stops later with Jo bouncing in and out of Ollie we kept getting the same answer, no room at the inn. On we drove feeling confident that we would find somewhere soon but as Jo got slower and slower at each enquiry we got less and less confident. The sun started to set and my tummy started to rumble and all I had to content myself with were more views. Ollie suggested going off road but unsure of the laws on that we didn’t want to get into trouble so on we went. With darkness now upon us and the noise of three rumbly tummies I was getting desperate and had my paws crossed. After fifty kilometers of nothing but trees we spotted lights in the distance, the second building was a hotel and Jo moved rather quickly to see if we could secure a room for the weary travelers.



At last we had success and for 100 Lira (approximately £42.50 GBP) we had a lovely room with working air con and breakfast. We took our very tired Mammoth across the road for Kofta’s and with a real feeling of having achieved something after a very long day it was definitely time for bed.

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