Digging deep

A fairly busy day.  We left the hotel we've been at for the last two nights and headed for an ancient granite quarry.  I think we all wondered at the attraction of an old quarry but it was quite something to see.  In situ were nine granite columns that had been almost completed; two of them are shown in my main picture.  The workmanship was amazing; seven of them were lying where they had been hewn from the cliff face and worked, whilst these two had clearly started their journey away.  Why they were never used is unknown, perhaps as simple as a cancelled order or maybe the downfall of a regime; we'll never know.  One of our group turned out to be a retired Geologist; I think he would have been happy spending all day there!

We carried on to the ruins of Alexandria Troas.  The site covers a large area but only a small amount has been excavated.  The archaeologist on site showed us around including areas not normally open to the public.  My first extra shows one of the areas that has been opened up, and which shows evidence of Hellenic, Roman and Byzantine construction all in this one area of excavation.  It's a bit off the beaten track and whilst open to the public there are no facilities so once again, we were the only people on site.

We then had a fairly long drive to our next hotel in Ayvalik, where we stay for one night.  On the way we stopped for a very good fish lunch overlooking the sea, and made a brief visit to an Olive Oil Museum which was interesting; see my second extra.  On arrival we had the option of a visit into the town to see the harbour area but having seen our room which is lovely and is right on the sea front with great views, we decided to stay put.