good talk

I went back to Tbilisi from Yerevan the way I had come.  Had another hot mineral-bath, wish they had something as good Stateside, they don't.  To Tbilisi's airport at 8 P.M., spent the night there, and flew-out the next morning to Istanbul.  Been all-over Turkey, great place for tourists, and cheap, been there 4 times, this past trip I only count as one time.  Every time I go to Canakkale, 8 hours on the bus from Istanbul, they've got tons of buses goin' all over.  This is where you go to tour the Gallipoli Battlefield, especially popular now as it's the 100th Anniversary, and I did this the first time I was there.  The Germans gave their Turkish Allies big guns to control the Dardanelles (straits), which lead to the Black Sea, so that that Russia couldn't be supplied, they weren't, and is the biggest reason why Russia was knocked-out-of-WW1.  It was during the Gallipoli Campaign that Mustafa Kemal rose from obscure Lt. Col. to the Turks' leader, after WW1 winning the War with Greece, and becoming Turkey's President.  Under Mustafa, Turkey became Westernized, with the Turks using the Latin Alphabet, women no longer had to wear the veil because he thought it was stupid, he greatly reduced the influence of the Moslem Religion.  Mustafa Kemal liberalized and modernized Turkey and is remembered with his picture in every domicile as Ataturk, Father of the Turks.  Anyway, everytime I go to Canakkale I go to the Ruins of Troy, about 20 miles outside of town, local transpo leaves every hour, costs 50 cents.  Frank Calvert began the excavations in 1865 with Heinrich von Schliemann, a German with little formal education but quite intelligent, he made a fortune trading cotton, taking over Calvert's work in 1868.  Where did they look to find Troy (Truva), where Homer said it was.  To be there is very exciting.  There's 9 ruins there, Homer's Troy is Troy VII, 1200 B.C.  And Achilles refused Hector's father's, King Priam', entreaty of ransom, and stripped Hector's body nude, dragging it behind his chariot in view of Troy's Walls, for 9 days.  Until recently, I believed von Schliemann had salted the treasure "he found" at Troy, but now, think maybe he did find it there.  von Schliemann also found the treasure at Mycenae, in Greece, where I've also been.  von Schliemann gave "Priam's Treasure" to be viewed in Berlin, the victorious Russians took it there, they should give it back.  Canakkale is lots of fun with fine museums and delicious food.  Yummy yum yum