My Troy tour picked me up at 6:30 a.m. from my hotel in Istanbul. We followed the route marked by arrows on the picture. It took 5 hours to reach the Dardenelles Strait.

View of the Sea of Marmara.

The Turkish countryside was beautiful. The bright yellow canola (rapeseed) fields were in bloom.

We took a break at this cafe in Tekirdag, the city from where "tekirdag koftesi," a sausage-shaped meatball, could have gotten its name. I had coffee: I learned that if you ask for "coffee" in Turkey, you will get Turkish coffee. Regular coffee is Nescafe.

More beautiful landscape.

Cow strolling on common land. Cows, sheep, etc. are allowed to graze on common land even when they are not fenced; hence, the cows strolling right near the roadway.

Hundreds if not thousands of modern vacation homes along the Sea of Marmara.

Canola along the Sea of Marmara.

A lonely house.

A lonely tree.

We arrived at Eceabat on the Gallipoli Peninsula at lunch time.

We ate at this restaurant. My tour group consisted of two couples, one from the U.K. and one from India, and a man and his son from LA.

We had a choice of either fish or meat balls. I had meat balls--very tasty. I think that was eggplant on the left.

My tour was split up after lunch. Everyone else but me were going to the nearby war cemeteries at Gallipoli. I was to hook-up with a tour going to Troy. That tour only just arrived for lunch so I had time to walk around Eceabat. Statue on the waterfront of Seyit Onbasi..

Legend under the statue: "While the Sea War was very severe, he had lifted up a 275-kg-cannon ball and put into cannon, which has a broken crane, and was able to shoot with his friend and hit the battle ship-OCEAN's helm."

Road sign and man in front of his cafe.

The Gursoy Cafe with a portrait of Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. "Koftesi" is meatballs; "kokorec" is a dish made of lamb intestines.

More dishes of the Gursoy Cafe.

Deli and grocery store.

Another deli.

Available items in the deli. The pictures on the left are of cheese.

Some of the deli's items advertised on the sidewalk.

Sidewalk dining at another cafe.

A bakery.

You see many tractors pulling wagons in this area.

What I didn't see were many of this type of old Turkish houses.

Another view. Maybe you'll see more of them in other areas of Turkey.

The gypsies started to bring in their wagons to meet the ferry. The man is carrying items in the bags that he will hang from the cart.

A gypsy woman.

Another gypsy woman.

And another.

The gypsy wagons on the waterfront. One of the gypsy women came over and said something to me. I thought she might be angry that I had taken her photo. No, someone told me, she just came to say hello, but she said it in Turkish so I didn't understand her. There are many stray dogs in Turkey.

A Turkish military man on a banner. This is the area where a major battle was fought during World War I--one that the Turks won against France, Britain, and Russia.

A statue probably commenorating that battle. Between 1915 and 1916, the naval Gallipoli Campaign was conducted to gain control of the Dardanelles Strait which connects the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara to the Bosphorus Strait to the Black Sea, a strategic water route.

Another view of the statue.

With my Troy tour, we took a car ferry similar to this one across the Dardenelles Strait to Canakkale.

Leaving Eceabat.

Crossing the Dardanelles. My new tour group had four Australians and another American on it. Two of the Australians had trained with Los Angeles Police Department helicopter pilots and the American had been in my new hometown of Pasadena, CA, to see the Rose Parade this very year--it's a small world.

The Gallipoli Peninsula, where the war cemeteries are located. Kilitbahir Castle, a fort, is in the foreground. There are 31 war cemeteries here with 22,000 graves. The cemeteries are of great importance to the British, Australians, and New Zealanders.

The Dur Yolcu Memorial commemorating the March 18, 1915, Turkish victory under the Ottomans against the Allies.

Arriving in Canakkale across the Dardanelles Strait.

Canakkale.

The Trojan Horse in Canakkale. Actually, it is the Trojan Horse used in the 2004 movie "Troy" starring Brad Pitt. It is entirely made from plastic.

A fun photo.

Replication of what Troia VII (Troy VII--the city of Troy was rebuilt many times; there is Troy I-IX, from about 3000-700 BC--Troy began in the Bronze Age, which was roughly between 3000 and 2500 BC looked like.

Troy was about a 20-minute drive from Canakkale.

We have arrived at Troy. The Trojan Horse here is made from wood.

The Trojan Horse.

You could have your photo taken with this "hunk."

Our Troy guide led us around the ruins of Troy. Here a storage jar and some kind of pipe.

More jars and pipe.

Columns, etc.

This is what is mainly left of Troy--brick ruins. The buildings, etc., were destroyed in earthquakes. The site is very confusing. You really need to spend a good deal of time here to figure it all out.

You also need to use your imagination to see the last photo as in this picture.

Also, you need imagination to see this walkway as the next picture.

What Troy is believed to have looked like. Troy was excavated in 1865 by Frank Calvert and in 1868 by Heinrich Schliemann.

Many ruins such as this one. The look like rooms.

More of the ruins.

More of the ruins.

On the left, are the "legendary" walls of Troy VII. The wall on the right is Roman.

The Romans under Augustus were the last to come to Troy (Troy IX). They called it Ilium. Photo: part of the Roman wall.

The Trojan Wall.

Corners were built into the walls for stability.

Walking around the top of the site.

I think this scene is what made a visit to Troy very worthwhile as it shows where Troy was located in relation to the Aegean Sea from where the invaders came from and the fields where the peasants lived and worked.

This is Roman marble.

Close up of the design in it.

The wall of the citadel.

Walls of the acropolis, where the Trojan War took place about 1200 BC. Homer's Iliad chronicled the Trojan War and there are other sources indicating that the war did take place between Troy and Sparta and the Achaeans. The war was fought for control of the Dardenelles, the same reason as in World War I. There probably was no Helen of Troy or the Trojan Horse.

Here two layers of Troy are indicated--new cities of Troy were built on top of the old cities. On top, Troila IX; on bottom, Troila III.

Close up.

More of the ruins.

More of the ruins.

More of the ruins.

Pretty wildflowers here.

Wildflower in front of the Graeco-Roman Troy IX Temple of Athena.

More of the Temple of Athena.

More of the Temple of Athena.

More of the Temple of Athena.

Different layers of Troy.

More of the ruins.

The Roman Odeon where concerts were held.

You can see the ancient lettering on these pieces.

I rejoined my original tour back in Eceabat and went back to Istanbul with them. We stopped at a cafe for dinner which was only serving soup and more meatballs. Sunset heading back to Istabul.

Arriving in Istanbul and at my hotel about 10:30 p.m.