Istanbul (not Constantinople)

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Istanbul - arrival
Istanbul...was Constantinople and perhaps they should have kept it that way?...Why Constantinople got the works is nobodies business but the Turks! (who knows the song? sing it with me?)
Our introduction to Istanbul was far from 'ideal'.

I believe I could have lapped the airport (walking) before our bags appeared - harsh you say - Wait...! I understand Turkey is a part of the "Middle East" and protects it's borders appropriately but what the... (3 checks for a domestic flight!?)

It continues...transfer bloke is not there.... (not paid yet - so be it!) so we acquire a 'transfer' via several hotels to our destination...Sultanahmet. The dude got lost on the odd occasion dropping our 'European' friends off and finally us!

We enter Sultanahmet, the cobbled streets and scent of "Istanbul" beckons, regardless of our luggage dragging ruggedly across the stones for 10 minutes in 30+ heat. Have I mentioned earlier, a sign signaling our hotel was "LEFT"?, but no, 'right' is the response from 'transfer man' - send him for another transfer involving the frontal lobe, I say - but who is to question an idiot in their home town!?! Harsh??

We finally arrive at out hotel to discover that they are having 'access card issues' (To me this is 'we have overbooked!) as the Turkish F1 was on that day. Anyway, we are taken to their 'sister' hotel which, all things considered, seemed adequate although a little further from where our original destination was to be (a whole 5 mins walk, so no big deal really) The room was nice but not what we had booked - anyway...

Total travel time Kas - our room in Istanbul = 8 hours! 3 of which was from landing in Istanbul to our hotel. We dropped our bags off, changed quickly and headed out to the "Plaka of Sultanahmet" (as we would describe it and had the 'pleasure' of dragging our luggage through earlier) for a well deserved drink/s and a bite to eat. A quick stroll around Sultanahmet Square / Blue Mosque area and we we're stuffed.

Istanbul - Day 1 proper
To wrap up the Hotel 'situation' we relocated the next morning to our booked hotel to nice room though the previous one was better...anyway, the air conditioner didn't work! After much discussion and attempts to fix it we were moved to another room which was the biggest in the hotel and very nice, finally we could unpack again.Apparently my knowledge of AC's was not sufficient...although I reported the error code in the morning, by the evening it still didn't function correctly - the attendant at reception asked the porter to escort me to the room to ensure I was operation it correctly - what the! Anyway, I have since taught the porter how to determine if the AC is actually trying to work...

At first impressions Istanbul is just a big, busy city, it certainly has it's charms and I am very glad we came though after the beauty and serenity of Kas it was hard to get back into the swing of a big city. The Sultanahmet area is charming, cobblestoned, windy streets that are very easy to get lost in. Tourism is taking over though and I fear some of this charm will be gone in the next 10 years.

Our hotel location is brilliant, a very short walking distance to many of the main sites of Istanbul. We spent our fist day taking in the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar, the Bosphorous and the Spice Market.

The Blue Mosque is HUGE and very beautiful, we even learnt a little about Islam and the Call to Prayer that we have been hearing for the last week. The Mosque dominates the skyline of Sultanahmet and of course has it's name from the blue mosaics inside.

The Grand Bazaar felt bigger than the Mosque. What an amazing place, streets, lanes and alleyways full of people, mosaics, leather, lanterns, gold, silver, clothes and of course, carpets. "You want a carpet", "No thank you", " Why not?!?". The Spice Market had some similarities on items being sold along with an abundance of Spices (of course), cheeses, meat, nuts and fruit. If we were in town longer we could have had some fun here though we did purchase some Turkish Apple tea which we have been drinking and really enjoy.

The Bosphorous is a pretty big river, nothing like the Yarra! Busy with plenty of ships, boats and fishermen. We spent an hour or so sitting on the under level of a bridge where there are multiple fish restaurants watching people nearly get hit in the head with sinkers and lines were cast.

Well, as Julie has explained adjusting to Istanbul after Kas was a little difficult at first - just too many people for my liking and then the Bazaar...What is it about human nature that has a group of people walk through an entrance...and just stop? I understand you need to look around but move to the side...The start of the Bazaar (all 54,400 odd square metres of it!) was ok at first. Julie made a few purchases and the merchants seemed willing enough to offer reasonable prices as opposed to what we had been advised. Lots to see, plenty of banter with the shop keepers etc but after a little while, I had had enough (I hate crowds at the best of times..)

The crowds in general were fine and you could relatively easily navigate your way through but upon any kind of intersection had Tommy Tourist (generally in numbers) just stop and block - a few learnt the hard way that this was not to my liking - elbow in, shoulder dropped, through I came....I think I was holidayed out? - Is there such a thing?

It probably sounds like Istanbul has left a sour taste in my mouth - not the case. I love the place! I think it was just the effort required to achieve the last day and a half's activities had taken their toll - a few cold Efes (the local beer) and a bite to eat in the 'Plaka of Istanbul' as we like to call it and the world was better again..

Tomorrow, the Hagia Sofia and more - the parts I am really looking forward to...until then.

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