Istanbul
Trip Start
Oct 31, 2008
1
9
19
Trip End
Dec 14, 2008
Istanbul,
Turkey
Monday, November 17, 2008
Well we arrived safe and sound in Istanbul and it was love at first sight. There is a great vibe in Itanbul that you just cant help but notice, as well as it being a beautiful and interesting city.
We stayed in the Sultanahmet area, just around the corner from the Blue Mosque and Aya Sophia (looks like a big red mosque). We were still a bit keyed up for Egypt I think and were a little taken back by the friendly people here, always willing to help you out. We felt a bit bad and have been working on melting our hardened Egytian Travellers facade.
The Gardens in between the two mosques are so pretty at night with a big fountain in front of aya sophia and seagulls circling white against the night sky. I even say a bat the first night!
Inside the Blue Mosque is just as amazing as the outside, huge and every surface decorated with beautiful arabic patterns. While we were there an old boy was vacuming the acres of carpet, I felt for the poor guy and hoped he didnt have to do it after every prayer!
On our first evening in the Hostel we met a Kiwi gal 'Rebecca' from Hawkes bay, and she agreed to show us around the grand bazzar the next day. We had a good old time wandering around the bazzar, it truely is shopping paradise, so many beautiful things! and also the spice bazzar, or Egyptian market as it is sometimes called, where we bought all kinds of baklava, nuts dried fruit and we saw Turkish Viagra! boasting results of 5 times a night!!! it was basically a dried fig split with what looked like a walnut inside, we didnt eat one but im sure it probably had some other ingredient, I think we shall have to sample it when we get back to Istanbul, so we will let you know ;) hehe. So we did manage to part with a bit of cash in the bazzar but mainly in the areas surrounding it as the further away you get from the actual grand bazzar the better the prices seem to get.
Aya Sophia has been through many incarnations and there are the most amazing mosaics under the plaster of the latest look. WE worked out eventually that the plastered areas which are painted and covered in patterns, actually mirror the intricate mosaics underneath, and considering the massive size of the place is a huge feat!
We had one rainy day in Istanbul, so we tried to stay indoors that day so aside from aya sophia we visited the basillica cistern, is the old water source to the palace, which was only found like 40 years ago, by people who were reporting miracles like when they dropped a bucket down through a hole in their basement it came up filled with water, or fish! It is a caverous space made up of recycled Roman and Greek Pillars from various, mismatched temples and buildings, and carp swim in the water amongst the pillars. It is all lit up down there now giving it a ghostly ambience. Later that day we decided to go over to ther Bergolu district, but after a tram and a long walk around the houses in the rain trying to find the famous Street 'Istiklal Caddesi'to walk down, I was very grumpy and wet, so as soon as we found the cinema the the top of Istiklal Caddesi (istanbuls more modern shopping St) we pounced on the opportunity to dry out a bit, and caught the new bond flick. After that I was in much higher spirits, as the rain had stopped FINALLY and i was spurred on by the purchase of a particularly groovy pair of leather boots. then we carried on down the street taking in Istanbuls cosmopolitian vibe and grabbing a delish kind of pretzel shaped honey soaked pastry for the tram ride home mmmmm.
As a lot of you will know Kris isnt the biggest fan of tea and coffee, so is a big fan of hot chocolate, well now it has been surpassed by apple tea, and the two of us have been drinking loads of the stuff since arriving in Turkey.
On our last day in Istanbul before heading off to Goreme in Cappadocia, we decided to explore the Topkapi Palace, its pretty huge and a very impredessive complex, with a harem, many religious relics,a treasurey full of jewells and precious objects, an armoury of historic weapons and robes of Sultans of times gone by, as well as many beautifully decorated buildings in the ottoman style. I saw an 86 carat tear drop shaped diamond with 49 other diamonds about 1-2 carats each surrounding it!!! and many jewell encrusted cups, jugs, mirrors, swords, rings necklaces, thrones, turban decorators and sooo much more bling! Annthalina you would have loved it darling!
Our last challenge was to find the famous Baklava shop, which claims to make the BEST baklava in the land, well they're not wrong we found it and sampled it and yeeeeuuuum! I have decided walnut if my fav and the chocolate baklava also went down rather well :P
So we had to leave istanbul for an overnight bus to Gorome, but we have made sure we have a days shopping time here when we return for our flight back to the UK :D
