Istanbul - can‘t get enough of the shopping!

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Location: Istanbul
Weather: Sunny, windy. 27 °C

Istanbul is an exciting and busy city where East meets West. We stayed at Grand Yavuz Hotel in the Old City - Sultanahmet and when we arrived it was the first day of Ramadan. The Old City is quite beautiful, the medieval city walls are still present and the streets are all paved with cobblestones, Kathy found them difficult to walk on with her walking cast and so we either caught a taxi or she walked without the boot. Traffic in the old city is quite hectic, people just park their car in the middle of the narrow streets and so the streets are often blocked, it was quite an experience negotiating the way back to the hotel. We had one taxi driver who was not happy at all to drive into Sultanahmet and get making walking movements with his fingers, we kept pointing to Mum’s cast and saying broken - needless to say we were over charged for the fare.

The view from our Hotel room was of the Sultanahmet Mosque Minaret’s and we heard the calls to prayers each time, it only woke us at 5.30am once!

We arrived in the afternoon and decided after an iced tea (no espresso frappe in Istanbul) to head over to the Grand Bazaar to check it out. Oh my God - the shopping in the Bazaar is amazing, I particularly like the signs that say genuine fake! As you walk through people try and entice you into their shop, as I tended to walk faster than Kathy every now and then I would stop to look for her. Very often I would have to walk back to find her, someone would always ask if I was looking for my Mum and point to some shop. If you spoke to a merchant or made eye contact with them you would find yourself whisked off to their shop with the door closed behind you. Kathy was terrible, she kept talking to the Merchants when they spoke to her! Another funny thing about Istanbul is that they loved to haggle, part of the experience is the negotiations! Tea is also essential in the buying process, you can’t just go in and buy and then leave, you have to talk, have tea (Trish - I love the apple tea and have some to have at home!), examine the goods and then start negotiations.

Lets see what exactly did I buy? A leather coat for one - I had no intention of buying one but Kathy said before we left Australia that she wanted one, Dad had brought one for her years ago in Istanbul and she always said that it was a beautiful coat. Anyway we were looking around the Grand Bazaar found ourselves in the shop of an Australian Turk (there are lots trust me). The coats were just beautiful and I couldn’t resist - I will have to wear it everyday for the next year to justify the purchase! The bags are also gorgeous, needless to say I brought a few! I would have loved to have purchased more but I am limited as to how much I can fit into the suitcase!

On the Saturday we had a wonderful tour of Istanbul with our guide Meri, what made it so great that it was just us two. As a result we moved through each location without having to wait in the long lines! The tour covered the Hippodrome, the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar. The highlight for me was Aya Sofya - it is a beautiful Church and the icons inside are just magnificent, the Islamic features are also beautiful. I love how they tried to cover up the Christian elements of the Church when it was converted into a Mosque and how over time the crosses started to appear through the Islamic art work. Much of the ceiling of the Church is being restored, the restoration is interesting as they are trying to preserve both stages of the Church’s history as the Islamic elements of the Church are also very beautiful in their design. Before our last stop to the Grand Bazaar we stopped at a Rug shop and had a demonstration and lecture on how the rugs are made. I have to say that I have never seen more beautiful and intricate patterns, the workmanship was outstanding. I resisted but Kathy did not - she will have the most beautiful front door rug ever! (Artemis, you must come and visit to see it!)

We didn’t have much time in Istanbul on Sunday as were had to join the ship earlier than expected so didn‘t get a chance to go to a Turkish bath- however that night we went out to a dinner and Traditional Show that included belly dancing, local folk dancing and music - it was very entertaining. We sat with some Canadians from the ship, the Guys fell asleep during the belly dancing! To give the belly dancers some credit, the Guys were not bored, they had just flown straight from Canada and had been awake over 20 hours!

Anyway we both loved Istanbul and there was no way we could have seen everything we wanted to see, so we have decided that we must come back to check out some of the other sites! (And do some more shopping!)

Cruise details on next post.

Amy

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Photos

Sultanahmet Mosque
This is the view from our Hotel window - the calls to prayers were not that loud - only woke us up everyday!

Grand Bazaar
Shopping, let me spend money!

Aya Sofya
Can you see the crucifix through the Islamic Motif?

Outside Aya Sofya
Here we are at the Islamic fountain outside Aya Sofya

Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque
Here is the view of Aya Sofya and The Blue Mosque at the Gates to Topkapi Palace