17 May 2011

The Trojan Horse. Brad Pitt. Orlando Bloom. What could be more exciting?
After a quick and simple European breakfast…we boarded the buses for the site of Homer’s Iliad, the site of Achilles’ death, the site of the infamous Trojan War: Troy. However, before we got there, we had to drive six hours on a stuffy bus. If we hadn’t stopped for lunch and to ride a ferry across the Dardanelles, then I may have gone insane. Six hours on a hot bus – yum. I sat by Jenny. She is an absolute delight. She probably didn’t enjoy sitting by me though. I kept falling asleep every five minutes or so. And she’s one of those peoples who likes car rides and doesn’t fall asleep during them; she enjoys looking out the window and watching the scenery pass by. I was just so tired that I couldn’t keep my eyes open – especially when our delightful guide turned on a National Geographic movie. I was asleep within the first five minutes of that movie. As much as I love the Iliad and I love history, this movie didn’t do the site or the story justice. It was awful.

Troy was….Troy. There isn’t much to say about it. The coolest part, in my opinion, was the reconstructed Trojan Horse. I climbed up and inside of it. I was definitely ready to attack! The ruins weren’t the best that I have seen, but I wonder if that was just my attitude now. I went onto the site after being told that this might not have been the actual site of Troy; it was just a logical guess and the best explanation from ancient text. We were also given very little information about each area of the site from our tour guide. He would say a few things here and there, but he would never connect the thoughts nor would he explain the full-purpose and reasoning behind each area. I ended up asking my professors questions because I knew they would give me a full answer. The theater was small, but it set the perfect stage for us to act out a scene from the Iliad. It only seemed right. The remains of the city were excavated by Heinrich Schliemann, a pioneer in the field of archaeology, who used Homer’s Iliad to locate the site. Homer had immortalized Troy with his immortal narration of the stories of King Priam, Hector, Paris and the beautiful Helen. Excavations revealed nine separate periods of settlements. The ruins include a temple, theater, and foundations.

We spent the night in Canakkale, a small seaport and home to Hollywood’s version of the Trojan Horse, as seen in the film Troy. I enjoyed walking up and down the pier with a few friends. I got a soccer ball for a little girl I know back home while wandering around. I wouldn’t mind giving it to her now, though! I look forward to playing with it in a few months. I miss that kid more than I thought possible! We watched the sunset set from the pier with ice cream and cameras in hand. It was beautiful. However, the water was heavily polluted and had an awful smell. It wasn’t something I would ever go swimming in. Ever.

Hopefully I will be able to sleep. Turkish hotels don’t seem to believe in air conditions. My room is boiling hot. Joy.