Turkiye 2023: A Visit to Troy

This morning we left the hotel for the classical city of Troy. Today's tour starts with a visit to this 400-year-old city and legendary center of the Trojan War, made immortal by Homer's epic poem Iliad.

This is what I wrote on my journal: The entrance to Troy wasn't impressive, unlike some of the archeological sites I've seen before. Even the entire city of Troy of what remains of Troy did not impress me at all. Still it was nice to say I've been to Troy.

Honestly, I was surprised by what I had written. I didn't realize that I felt that way about it. Perhaps the fact that we did not catch a glimpse of the Trojan Horse was the culprit; it was being restored when we visited.

Stray cats are kings in Istanbul, but we encountered many stray dogs everywhere else in Turkey.

Ramp to the Citadel.

When the visit was over, we got back on the bus and drove about 2 hours to our next destination, which is a small village called Gobeller where we will be eating with the locals.

When we arrived at the village, we were met by the head of the village called governor. We were then split into groups of 6 and were ushered to different houses. The family assigned to us were well off, nice house and car. The woman of the house and her mother were the ones who welcomed us.

With our hosts.

Soup, a tad salty to my taste, took a spoonful just to avoid being rude.

Eggplant, cracked bulgur wheat, dolma and borek.

But the star of the meal was dessert (isn't it always?). A baklava made from scratch. It's not the same one you see on stores. It's probably the regional version of baklava.

Turkish tea accompanies the meal.

The lady in blue is our TM and came to check on us.

View from the balcony.

Saying goodbye to the locals/our hosts.

I always enjoy this cultural immersion where we get to socialize with locals. I hope more tours include this.