Fri Oct 4, 2024
Hi Gang! Today we were anchored off the island of Bozcaada, Turkey. That means we used their tender boats to get to the island. Bozcaada (also called Tenedos) has a population of 3,120 but swells to 30,000 during the summer when lots of people from Istanbul vacation here. The main industries are tourism, wine production and fishing. The island has been famous for its grapes, wines and red poppies for centuries.
It’s the site where the Greeks hid their fleet near the end of the Trojan War in order to trick the Trojans into believing the war was over and into taking the Trojan Horse within their city walls. Despite its small size, the island was important throughout classical antiquity due to its strategic location at the entrance of the Dardanelles. Bozcaada also means “Yellow island” since northern winds cause most of island to have no vegetation and look yellow.
Our tour today took us all across the island. We first went to the Polente (which means west wind) lighthouse. It was built in 1861 and is on the west side of the island. There were also many wind turbines there as well.
After that we stopped at Ayazma (which means holy water) beach, which as mentioned above, is the place the Greek navy hid during the Trojan War. The tour guide said in general anywhere on the island where there is drinkable water it’s considered holy water since you need it to survive. They also need water for fires here since it’s so dry and they get little rain. From June to August of this year they’ve had 60 wildfires across the region. That’s crazy!
After that we went to the Aya Paraskevi monastery which used to have the fountain with holy water that the locals said if you drink it you live a very long life. Bummer it was gone! I need a long life for all these travels!
After that we went into the main town and walked thru both the Greek and Turkish sections. There used to be many Greeks living here but now there are only about 60. But we saw many little Greek shops and restaurants so those 60 are doing OK! We loved all the quaint little side streets with ivy growing above and many restaurants with outdoor seating. It had a cool vibe to it.
Our last stop was to the Bozcaada Fortress that sits right on the water where our tender landed. In 1915, during World War I, both British and French troops were at this fort to protect the Dardanelles.
After our tour we got back on the boat and had lunch and chilled. They’re mixing it up tonight and doing the main show early at 6 PM. Then we’ll have dinner. Then around 9 PM we’ll be sailing thru the Dardanelles Strait from the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara and the cruise director will provide narration as we all watch on the upper decks. That should be interesting! I’ll do another update later tonight!
The Wandering Italian 