The Brel Chronicles

Welcome to the crazy and wonderful city of Istanbul. It’s been a long road to get here - nearly 4,000 km in fact.

Istanbul is famous for many things, not the least of which is the great nightlife. Of course, it wouldn’t be Turkey unless there were some great ancient sites: the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya and of course, the Grand Bazaar.

Unfortunately we had to cut our Istanbul trip short, deciding to get surgery in Athens rather than here, so we didn’t get to experience nearly as much of it as we wanted.

But fear not Istanbul… Brel will be back.

Troy

The lost city of Troy was discovered in the late 1800’s, along with nine successive civilizations, one on top of the other, dating back 5,000 years. Classics student Brendan enjoyed walking through the site and debating whether Homer’s Iliad was fact or fiction. Mel remembered her first heart-break, healed to Sinead O’Connor’s song, Troy. “There is no other Troy, for you to burn …”

Ephesus

By far the most impressive of the many (many, many) ancient sites we saw in Turkey was Ephesus. Remarkably well-preserved, Ephesus was an important trading port, and was visited by the likes of Alexander the Great, St. John and quite possibly, the Virgin Mary. How cool is that?

Pergamon

Another impressive Turkish site is Pergamon, one of the ancient world’s major powers. You’ll note Mel is absent from the group shot- claiming to be all “ruined out”.