We started the GradyBunch blog in 2011 on our trip through US & Canada as a way to keep family updated on our travels. When we got home, we realised that the real value was having a decent record of our trip when we try and pull the photos together 6 months later. This will be our 4th blogged trip after US & Canada in 2011, Vietnam 2012, Europe 2013.
And so begins the next GradyBunch adventure – Turkey 2015!
While we’ve been interested in Turkey for a while, and have always said that it would be great to be here for ANZAC day, we didn’t expect that we’d be here in 2015. ANZAC Day holds a very special place in Australia’s history, and 2015 marks the 100th Anniversary of the ANZAC landing at Gallipoli. In the past up to 50 000 people have made the trip to the commemoration service, but this year it has been limited to 10 000 tickets by ballot. When Andrew got drawn from the ballot, we figured that this was a privilege we couldn’t pass up.
Meanwhile, Emma entered the ‘Queensland Premier’s ANZAC Prize’ creating a 5 minute presentation on the ANZAC tradition, focusing on the theme that ANZAC Day unites cultures and generations. After a lot of hard work, she was lucky enough to be awarded a spot on a tour through Turkey, Belgium and France to visit the battlefields of Gallipoli and the Western Front. This means that we’re actually ‘GradyBunchMinusOne’ – will be quite strange!
Like any trip to Europe, Day 1 comes at the end of a very long flight. We arrived in Istanbul this morning, farewelled Emma (who was on the same flight) and were collected for our drive to Eceabat on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The drive here was along the Turkish coastline – seaside towns and open fields – very pretty.
Eceabat is a small town, but today it’s filled with tour groups, media and police, while the waters are dotted with war ships. We spent an hour with our host, TJ and his family, catching up over a Turkish coffee and learning about life split between Corowa NSW, and Eceabat. They’ve put an incredible amount of work into this event – bolstering the Internet, booking out hotels, and generally ensuring every media whim is catered to!
The most striking initial observation is the volume of Turkish flags. I’ve never seen so many flags so big, on so many buildings! Apparently this is to celebrate ‘Children’s Day’ declared by Ataturk on 23 April, but I suspect that the focus of ANZAC Day has probably taken it to another level.
Eceabat is the main access point to the peninsula via ferry so they’ve recently invested in reflecting the Gallipoli story. This section that shows the Turkish and Australian’s in battle, 8m apart really brings home the futility of the war.
So, this promises to be quite an adventure… an amazing country at a time that’s so important to all Australians. Bring it on!!!
Love M & theBunch xxxx
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