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Published: April 18th 2014
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This blog is the end of an era. It is not the end of my ramblings, but the last of the photos with the trusty Sony Minolta beer can 300 mm lense. The week in Istanbul was very full on. Busy, busy, busy! People everywhere. Cars everywhere. After the initial cautious few hours, you get used to the lack of personal space and eventually you let your guard go. The last time that happended was in Portugal in 2004. It was early evening, the day before we were due to come home. We broke with tradition and alighted at a different ferry stop. Kasimpasa. We set off to walk across the road, up the hill and back to base. The traffic was stationery, but we opted to wait for the lights to change before proceeding across the road. A moped took the opportunity of the pedestrian crossing to head over the lines of traffic and then at the final moment ..................... veered straight towards us. There was a driver and 2 pillion passengers. A hand made a grab for my camera. It held the lense and the bike accelerated away. The nylon strap ripped across my arm. The lense was fully
withdrawn at 70 mm. It was soon at 300 mm, before the lense hood snapped and the would be assailants made their way off with a worthless piece of plastic. The lense was rendered useless, but the camera remained securely round my neck and operational. It was slow motion moment. The occupants of the stationery traffic stayed unmoved by events a few metres in front of them. The mope completed it's getaway. It could have been worse. Camera intact. Memory card intact and just a small cut on my arm. The memories of the week and all the help and kindness from various people - the offer of the free Galatasaray season tickets, the brothers in the Artists Bar, the helpful soldiers at the Florence Nightingale Museum, the staff at Haider Pasha Cemetery for taking the trouble of returning my map - all soured in 30 seconds.
The prospect of a couple of hours in a Police Station didn't fill us with excitement, so we opted not to bother reporting the incident. It has been a good day up to that point and Miranda, after much deliberation, had finally made her Turkish Delight purchase. It was ironic that the
haul was occupying the space in my day pack that the camera would have normally been nestled. The Turkish Delight also escaped unscathed. We'd started the day at the Topkapi Palace. The original palace of the Sultans before the departure to the more European influenced Dolmabahce, it is very much secondary on the list for the bus and cruise groups after the Hagia Sophia. We were on the case early, despite our long day out at Galliopli and therefore it wasn't too congested. A number of the rooms were converted into galleries, where some of the spoils of war and conquest were on display. A passion for emeralds over other valuable stones was clear with some serious gems in the cases. Photographs were off limits. The grounds of the Palace offer a panorama across the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus.
We walked down through Gulhane Park at the base of the Palace bound for Asia. Refreshment was provided by a vendor, who squeezed his display of fresh oranges into to a beaker for the princely sum of 1TL. He looked happy with his endeavours and the product was first class. We headed to Asia. Miranda had selected Uskudar for
her Turkish Delight purchases. Better value. Less hassle. The sun was shining on the Maiden's Tower, so we walked down from the ferry to take a couple of photographs. An army of gypsys patrolled up and down offering their crop of roses to those enjoying the sunshine. We retreated for a fish sandwich lunch away from the pestering.
We set off in pursuit of the Turkish Delight. The purchase completed, we headed back to the water. The election party was in full swing by the ferry port. A girl led the cheerleading. A portly chap waved his flag with great enthusiasm. Bunting flags were everywhere. These efforts were on behalf of the MHP Party....... other political parties are available. The ferries in Istanbul are a great value way of getting around, especially after you figue out how far you can travel for one fare. The Istanbul card deducted te readies and we settled down to travel all the way from Ukudar to Eyup. After crossing the Bosphorus, it crosses the Golden Horn back and forth until Eyup. It was prayer time, so I settled down near the mosque for some final snaps before us and the lense set off
on the final journey back to Kasimpasa!
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