Blogs from Turkey, Middle East - page 39

The Orient Express – the name conjures up images of luxury and louche characters. What I hadn’t realized is that Sirkeci Station in Istanbul was the terminus for the Orient Express. While the Orient Express no longer runs from Paris to Istanbul, Sirkeci Station still sees passenger trains stop at its platform, and the station itself still retains its architectural beauty. The station was built in 1890, and in 1892 the Pera Palas Hotel was built on the other side of the Galata Bridge with the express purpose of housing passengers on the Orient Express. It quickly became the favorite place for European visitors to lay their heads. It was the first hotel in Istanbul to have electricity, to have an electric elevator, and to provide hot running water for its guests. I wanted to follow ... read more

Goreme Cappadocia In the middle of Turkey about 1000 klms east of Edirne on the Greek Bulgarian border and 1000 klms west of the Iranian border. Cappadocia has a moonscape appearance. Here in July its hot hot hot and as dry as a muslim wedding. In this area many Christians dwelled in caves, underground cities and had churches and caves carved within the rocks. The 11th Century was when a lot of this activity took place. We camped on the panoramic rim overlooking the valley where the town of Goreme sits. In the mornings balloons would take off from just behind our camp and after rising briefly would descend into the valley below us. Some balloons would be piloted so that the basket would descend between the fairy chimneys and twirl in that space. The fairy ... read more

Friday 31 July: The final day of July was our final full day in Turkey. Zachary woke up a couple of times overnight and had a lot of water. He then got up at 7 and was rather tired so lay on the couch and watched tv. He had a little bit of breakfast (finishing off the marmite) but wasn’t really feeling too great. We decided to delay our departure an hour so that when we got to Ankara we could check in to our room immediately. We got a taxi to the bus station in Beypazari and bought tickets for the 1130 bus. We got the last 2 seats so we were in the back row. It was a bit squashed and extremely hot! Zachary fell asleep after about 10 minutes. Even the locals were ... read more

Tuesday 28 July: A very quiet day today. Heather went and bought herself some new togs and about 1030 we headed to the pool for a swim. It was nice and quiet at that time and the pool looked very clean! After lunch we watched a movie / read / did cross-stitch / rested before going for another swim around 3. It was a bit busier then. Zachary continues to gain confidence in the water and in the big pool (140 cm depth) he happily moves around in his swim ring without us needing to be right by him. He is developing quite a strong kick and has no problem propelling himself the width of the pool. The new thing today was that I was lifting him out of the water (in his ring) and then ... read more

I had visited the big three of Istanbul: the Blue Mosque, the Aya Sofia, and Topkapi Palace, experiences and pictures that I am still processing. But today was to be a day of smaller, quieter experiences. I walk past the Basilica Cistern everyday on my way to the tram. This morning there was hardly any line, so I decided to visit. The Basilica Cistern does not accept the Istanbul Museum Pass, nor does it take credit cards. The entrance fee is TYL 20, and if there are big cruise ships in town the lines can get very long. I was rather let down. I’m not sure what, exactly, I was expecting, but the Basilica Cistern is basically just an underground storage tank. Yes, to my eyes it is a marvel of engineering, and yes, the Medusa ... read more