Turkey 7 - Istanbul - the Archaelogical Museum /two out of three were closed / 1000 lira entrance fee/ Ataturks vision for Turkey

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We seemed to be moving at a frenetic pace to catch everything we wanted to see in the city in our few days away. We did not want to come home and say we missed something we had desperately wanted to see . So our time was packed with as many things as we could pack in. I wondered if we would have done things differently if our van had been parked on Kennedy Cadesi and we had lived in the city rather than been in a hotel . Or would we have found a campsite outside the city and got the train in, stayed at a hotel for a few days and packed the sites in over a couple of days . We did that in Athens and it worked . I am sure it would have worked here too.

Breakfast first . The spread was laid out . All the cooked items , scrambled eggs and tomatoes in a long row of silver shiny dishes . Muesli and cereals . I tried the pink concoction . A bowl full of something like a blancmange texture with various toppings , a bowl of muesli, a good cup of coffee, bread and orange juice . I nipped down to check out the hotel spa . It looked impressive but I never did try it out . The gym was functional but small . I had expected that from the blogs and reviews I had read before we arrived . It was good enough for a work out for a few people . We still felt it a shame that the restaurant appeared closed . The staff were extremely helpful . Yes they would let me use their facilities to book us in for the flight back and print off the boarding card . Did we want to book a city trip ? They issued us with leaflets but there was no push to use any of them .

Glenn had purchased an e-sim from Holafly a spanish company and had downloaded it onto his phone . Only criticism was that even though we asked for English instructions we got them in Spanish which made using it slightly more difficult than it could have been . We used it for data only as our sims would not work outside the EU or at least would be extremely expensive to use . We wanted data only so that we could use it to navigate the myriad of back streets . In the end it would save us miles of extra walking by following its directions which worked perfectly .

We headed out for the Archaelogical Museum . We knew in advance that two out of three of the buildings in the complex were closed for renovation . Sadly they were the two I most wanted to see . This was to be an overarching thread through the trip . Renovations . Good to see them being done but the Galeta Tower was shut , the museum only a third open .

The queues for the museum were long but not excessive . Only two desks were open . An ice cream helped to pass the time away. At the gate the language caused a bit of confusion . It seemed that although the signs suggested the entrance fee was 30 euros the desk only accepted Lira. Many walked to the desk and many walked away . The price too was different depending on if you were a tourist or a local . A Turkish passport holder gained entry cheaper than a foreign visitor and there was no reduction for the lack of buildings open . We were asked for what sounded like 5000 lira. It did not take much to realise that 30 euros was not 5000 so I asked again . I misheard again and was on the point of walking away thinking it extortionate when it dawned on us . 1000 each not 5000 . The cost to enter was around £24 each with no reduction of the lack of exhibits . The conversion rate at that point was 24 lira to the £1 and was dropping like a stone by the day . No wonder everyone wanted to be paid in euros , US dollars or pounds .

As we walked we pondered on why the government who seem to run the museums chose to close two buildings. Surely they could have renovated one at a time . We sat over an orange drink in a small cafe outside the main complex amidst roman columns and tombs. We felt in an odd corner of the world . Part Europe and longing at one time to be part of the EU. The other side of the Bosphorous Asia. The father of Turkey Ataturk had a vision of Turkey allying itself to modernity and the West rather than looking East. He certainly was well loved as everywher we looked banners flew and all were emblazoned with his picture . He was forward thinking , modern and wanted a more secular state . The state was gradually changed over time, the infrastructure impressive , the road quality good , the services excellent . 38 million tourists came to Turkey in 2014 and that was the vision that Ataturk must have had . Well time had passed by , the EU entry never happened and Turkey changed to a more religious state . But it was evident looking round that change was again beginning to happen as the recent elections have shown .

The collection we were going to see was only put together in the mid 19th century when provincial governments began to send their precious artifacts to Istanbul . Items from the length and breadth of the country were shipped out to the city . It felt a bit like the UK where in the past everything was sent to the British Museum . Great if you live near London . Poor if you are out in the sticks . The desire to send things back to their origins is growing .

The museum is said to house one million objects in the main building , the Museum of the Ancient Orient and the Museum of Islamic Art . To our right as we walked were placed four gigantic porphyry sarcophagi. Said to have been found buried in the Topkapi palace they may have been moved from their original home for reuse as building material . The early emperors were buried in tomb such as these . These for me were probably one of the most interesting things in the museum . Many though walked past them without a backward glance .
The main building open as erected under the directorship of Osman Hamdi Bey who wished to find a home for his collection of artifacts . He was the archaelogist who had discovered the Royal Necropolis of Sidon in Lebanon . The building was very European in style . Inside it was well laid out over a number of floors . Spacious light interior with everything well displayed . Descriptions in both English and Turkish which meant it easy to follow the timelines of the artifacts . It was similar to many museums around the capitols of Europe and we really could have been in the Louvre or the British Museum . I believe the different culture would have been better seen if the closed parts had been open as they housed the Assyrian collections . However it was clear to see that the idea of design had been taken from the European versions hence the feeling of being anywhere but Istanbul .

The first room we entered on the ground floor was full of sarcophogi . It was a dimly lit room with items set out around the edges but the main features in the middle where you could not miss them . The Alexander Scarcophagus found in the necropolis of Sidon . Once believed to be prepared for Alexander the Great , is among the most famous pieces of ancient art in the museum. I don't believe that now it is thought to be the last resting place of the great man but just a homage to him . The classical tombs were magnificent and spent most of our time wandering round them looking at them from all sides. There were examples of Lycian tombs which were probably more fascinating to view than the classical ones . Luckily we had time to wander round as the museum ground floor was not packed . Perhaps the cost had put people off coming in .

Rooms were full of roman busts , pottery and gold crowns . Display cases packed with the findings from Troy . A whole wall built into one floor depicting the different levels found at Troy and pointers to where the finds were located . Egyptian artifacts and Turkish Cypriot items were all displayed in glass cases in low lighted rooms.

We had no guided route so just wandered at will over five floors . Having reached the top floors it was time to descend and sit outside again enjoying the spring sunshine . A quick sit down to talk about the visit we had just completed. Istanbul was delivering in more ways than one . We were enjoying the visit and we so glad that we bit the bullet and made the trip .

We were both looking to our next visit which would be to the Bazaars. No visit to Istanbul could be complete without a visit to the two Bazaars . We had to do that quickly as Eid was just around the corner and a three day holiday was planned with closures of tourist venues .

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