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Where does one start when talking about Gallipoli? It is so famous but you may never have heard about it. Or you have heard about it but have no real idea of what went on there and why. That was the case for us.

At the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea lies the gateway to ancient Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul and the Black Sea: the Dardanelles Straight. Roughly 80 km (50 miles) long and and averaging 8 km (5 miles) in width its narrowest point is at what is now Çanakkale, Turkey. In Europe, but just barely, and forming the northern side of the straight, almost a mirror image in which water is replaced by land, is the hilly Gallipoli pennisula, 80 km long by 5-20 km wide.

From ancient times invaders have wanted to pass through the Dardanelles and from ancient times there have been forts in and around Çanakkale to prevent the passage of ships. In World War I the allies, which included Britain and Russia were fighting Germany and its ally, the Ottoman Empire. Winston Churchill, then head of the British Navy planned what he thought was an easy victory: Capture the Dardanelles. When he couldn't do this he decided on a land campaign. On the allied side the troops came primary from Australia and New Zealand, then part of the British Empire. On the Ottoman side the defense was headed by a determined Colonel, Mustaf Kemal, later Ataturk.

After the initial landing by the Allies on the north side of Gallipolli they climbed to the ridge, planning to push forward and capture the entire penninsula. They were very much suprised by the tenacity of Mustaf Kemal. In one of his orders of the day he said to his men, "Your duty is to die here." Many did but the Allies did not pass.

Our visit to Gallipoli began by taking a morning ferry from Çanakkale to the smaller town of Kilidulbahir across the straight on the pennisula proper. At this point the pennisula is about 11 km wide, or by road about 15. Getting off the ferry there was a rush of people to a fleet of waiting buses of various sizes. We made a quick decision and got onto a bus going toward the battlefield park.

Two-thirds of the way across the pennisula, almost at the ridge, we spotted a sign for the battlefield museum and got off. There we found a very modern building with a design we liked. From its rear the general terrain slopes uphill and most of the major battle sites are visible over a range of 4-6 km. Inside the museum there are 3-D maps and plenty of background information, most in English.

After a good tour of the museum we decided to tour the battlefields on foot. Winding our way down from the ridge, and then heading generally north, we came to the original landing place, now the site of a beautiful memorial to Allied soldiers. From there we worked our way north along the Gallipolli Aegean shore. We had assumed that this being a tourist destination there would be plenty of restaurants — but there weren't! We were in a national park! Our map showed a village and we were told that we might find food there.