We arrive in Europe and spend a sobering afternoon at Gallipoli

After our morning in Troy, we took a ferry to Europe.

We went to the Gallipoli peninsula. Gallipoli is most famous for the campaign in World War 1 to secure the Dardanelles which cost the lives of so many people. It is also a beautiful place in its own right.

Revealingly, while the campaign is in the west primarily known for the ANZAC casualties, of the 136,000 who lost their lives in the campaign, 80,000 were Turkish. Gallipoli is a very special battle for Turks as it marked the heroic defence of their homeland. It also marked the emergence of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk as a leader of note, a man who would transform Turkey into the secular republic it is today.

The cemeteries are extremely well kept. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission does an amazing job in this respect, as does their Turkish counterpart.

There is no triumphalism here, rather sober reflection on wasted life.

There is a small museum which is simple but poignant. The children preferred the more macabre exhibits, including the skull with the bullet lodged in it. However a photograph of three brothers from New South Wales who were all killed in the war was a most powerful reminder of the waste of young life.