Turkey and Greece 2013: Kusadasi to Canukkalle

Another early start and we leave Kusadasi. As we drive north I look back over my shoulder to see the port and then Samos in the distance across the Aegean and feel like I am now, for the first time, turning towards home. We are going to Pergamum, where we visit the antiquity of Asclepeion which is what seems to be a wellness centre in which they had meditation rooms, music therapy, dream therapy and therapeutic baths. They even have evidence of cosmetic surgery (a notable surgeon being Galen). There are stories of gladiators having ears and noses repaired … the winners I expect. The losers probably had little need of repair as they were likely killed in the process of doing whatever it is gladiators did. It is thought that Hippocrates got his medical training at an Asclepeion in Kos and

Asclepeion

The snakes on this column may have been the precursor for the familiar medical symbol with a snake and a rod (Caduceus). The snake was considered a symbol of healing as it shed its skin. Also, the venom, albeit poisonous may have had some therapeutic use.

A walk through the incubation rooms used for dream therapy.

The bus takes a mountain road that quickly narrows as we travel to a small village for lunch. Groves of cultivated pine trees look a lot like the miniature trees you would use with a model train set as they are shaped with globular crowns and trunks pruned several feet up. We find out that these are for harvesting pine nuts as well as for producing they honey that we have enjoyed at our many breakfast buffets. Getting off the bus, we are greeted by the town leader and we are arranged in groups of 5 or 6 to be escorted to various homes. Our group of Tim, Marne, Liz, Chuck, Bruce and Vicky was led under a pergola, laden with drying grapes to a private home and are served a beautiful lunch. Our hostess brings bread, warm from the oven, green olives and yogurt. Then stuffed vine leaves (the best EVER), roasted aubergine (eggplant) with okra, and then a fried honey pastry for desert along with the sweetest of grapes. Recep had given us a very quick lesson in speaking Turkish and with the 5 or so words and phrases, we are able to communicate with our hostess enough to discover a little bit more about what we are eating and to express our appreciation for her generosity.

Pine nuts are harvested from these groves

Tim, Marne, Liz, Chuck and Vicky at lunch.

We find out from one of our companions later on that they welcomed us in spite of a sadness that was cast on the town due to the death of one of its inhabitants very recently. How gracious is that!?!

There’s no time to waste and we continue past Izmir, where it is understood that Homer was born (well, Izmir and several other places actually). On to Troy, famous for its wooden horse, and to learn about its pivotal role during the Trojan War. Homer’s account is understood by many to be an amalgamation of several battles, mixed with mythological characters and legend. The city itself is built layer upon layer over time and archeologists have defined 8 distinct sets of architecture or cities through time although each ‘borrows’ structure from the previous settlement. Achilles, Paris, Helen, Alexander the Great, Cyclops, Zeus, Artemis and many others make this tangled tale difficult to track. It doesn’t help that I haven’t read Homer’s Iliad. Recep does a good job sorting it out for us and many of the group have studied history so offer sidebar tutorials for those of us who have trouble keeping the story straight. Below us we see a herd of goats being ushered along by someone with a herd of cows following not too far behind. We all have fun taking pictures of each other within the wooden horse that stands at the gate for the likes of us. The design was taken from a piece of pottery about the fabled Trojan war. We end our day at Canukkale at a hotel overlooking the Dardanelles straight which is the focus of tomorrow’s activity.