Istanbul, (not Constantinopol)....

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Istanbul

We caught a bus from Bulgaria to Istanbul and were pleasantly surprised at the luxury this entailed - not only did we have business class-worthy leg room but every hour or so we were given a glass of coke, a cup of tea or water and a bun to keep our strength up over the long journey (7 hours including a 2 hour border crossing) - all for free! It was a very pleasant journey apart from the fact that Turkey is digging up almost every road in the country and so most of the time we were travelling 20 mph on a dirt track. We got to the hostel at about 9pm and were very excited, after 3 weeks on a sleepy complex in the middle of Bulgarian nowhere, to find ourselves right in the middle of the old town, Sultanahmet, amid a variety of cool cafes, bars and restaurants. We dumped our bags and headed straight out to the roof terrace for a well deserved beer and to admire the skyline of Istanbul which, from our vantage point, included the beautifully lit Blue Mosque.

The next day was spent getting a feel for Istanbul and seeing the various sights of Sultanahmet - starting at the Blue Mosque and including Aya Sofya and Topkapi Palace. Istanbul is a really exciting city - it feels so alive and vibrant and we loved it immediately. The Blue Mosque is stunning inside and out and is located on a street that has obelisks dating from 3500 years ago, everywhere you turn in Istanbul there is an ancient building or monument. That evening we played chess on the roof terrace looking out over the sea of Marmara - until the wind became so strong that the pieces blew over.

The next day we jumped on a tram and headed across the Galata Bridge to Beyoglu - described as the heart of modern Istanbul. The Lonely Planet advised a visit to this area to see cosmopolitan Turkey at its best but to be honest, apart from a plethora of small independent cinemas down every alley, it was like any other European city centre with all the same brands being well represented. Colin was very impressed by one of the brands though - there is a denim brand called “Colins” which he got very excited about whenever he saw a billboard or shopfront. Bless. It was in Beyoglu that we first noticed a strange phenomenon that we have called “Turkey Magic” - we had a list of things that we needed to do (Internet, find a bookshop, toilet for Jenny etc etc) and were hoping to find everything we needed in the city centre. Literally as soon as we said the name of what we were looking for it appeared in front of us -by the end of the day we were almost scared but over the next few weeks we came to love Turkey Magic - it made life so easy, Turkey really is a special place! The real highlight of visiting Beyoglu for me was that we got to go in 2 funiculars - both of which were underground which was a new experience for us. Compared to Innsbruck they were a bit boring but I will never pass up an opportunity to go on one. We walked across the Galata bridge, passed all the fishermen including 2 strange alien beings, then caught the tram up to the Grand Bazaar - a market comprising 4,500 shops where you are pretty much guaranteed to get lost. We did pretty well - managing to find our way out quite easily but then ending up in what could only be described as the supplier district where the grand bazaar stalls got their stock from. There were some wierd and wonderful shops - from those that sold only curtain rings to those stocking guns and and army apparel. We were the only westerners there and we had no idea how to get out so we just kept walking straight down the hill and eventually came out back at the Galata Bridge - miles from where we wanted to be.

The forecast for the next day wasn’t brilliant so we decided to do a Bosphorus Cruise - zigzagging between European and Asian continental Istanbul. It was much more interesting than the Danube cruise (Thank God) and we got some very interesting photos. When we got to the final stop (on the Asian continent) we walked up a massive hill to a ruined castle and took photos of Europe and Asia - it was the most fun I’d had since collecting Carrie and Debbie from the train station in Nova Gorica (behind which is the border between Slovenia and Italy) where I had passed the time going backwards and forwards between the two countries, announcing proudly when the girls arrived that I had been to Italy 4 times already that day. We got home and packed our bags - the next day we were starting our big Turkey adventure aboard the Fez Bus...

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