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Published: June 26th 2017
It is 286 nautical miles from Izmir, technically in Asia, and Istanbul, technically in Asia AND Europe. Our route took us north across the Aegean Sea to the Dardanelli straight. This 39 mile canal is only 4.5 miles at its widest and is as narrow as 0.7 miles. The canal joins the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara which in the past has been the site of numerous wars. The fight for control of this stretch was the original motive for the start of the cold war in 1946 with Turkey leaning on the USA to help them against the USSR.
Istanbul is one of the most fascinating and unique cities in the world with some most extra ordinary monuments. It was once the capital of three great empires. It is the only city in the world that is built over 2 continents. The MSC Magnifica docked just past the stretch of water known as the Golden Horn on the Bosphorus, near the area of Tophane.
We had been given precise instructions by Philip, a like-minded cruiser we met on a previous trip (that probably sounds seedier than was meant!!) We crossed through what passed for a transit
shed, passed the '
friendly' cordon of Taxi drivers who were all so interested to learn where we were from!!! We turned left on to Necatibey and after a few hundred metres, as promised, was a tram stop. Tickets in the form of tokens from the 'Jelon' machine were provided at 2TL (70p) for a single journey.
We took the tram from Karakőy just before the Galata Bridge to Sultanamet where we, like most other tourists, alighted for the Blue Mosque. The six minarets dominate the Istanbul skyline so using this as a landmark it is very difficult to get lost, as although there are many minarets dominating the Istanbul skyline, so as long as you can count up to six, you're OK!!! This mosque was built between 1609 and 1616 for the Sultan Ahmed I and soon became the city's principle mosque due to its close proximity of Topkapi Palace.
The mosque gets its name from the 20,000 turquoise tiles that glow gently in the light from the mosques 260 windows. The guidebook states that the very air inside seems to be blue although I put this down to my comments regarding the miniature bag they give you
to put your footwear in before entering the prayer room. Size 9 trainers into a size 5 bag just doesn't go!!!
Up until now we hadn't heard, let alone seem another Brit. However, a lady further up the queue, didn't have to say anything. What she did next said it all!. Her shoes came off and out came the Asda carrier bag. I have to lift my hat to her for such forward planning!! I'll give her extra brownie points because not only was it an ample size, it was recyclable as well!!
‘You want to buy a Carpet lady??' It had started. I'll give them their due. All the carpet touts are very well presented in jackets and open neck shirts. Not like the postcards and guidebook sellers.
‘Where are you from?' If someone asks us that once more…!!
We had just left the Blue Mosque and were heading for the Aya Sofia.
‘You want to look at a carpet? Where are you from?' ‘
Saturn!!' I snapped
‘Ah! Sweden?? Svenska!!' I asked him where we could find the Turkish baths. I knew this building was on the way to Aya Sofia.
He
led us in to the gardens of the Topkapi Palace whilst still muttering on about his damn carpets.
‘
Here'…' as he pointed down to the ground. ‘…'
and very tame they are too!!!' 'Turkish Baths, BATHS!!'. I shouted in to his ear ‘
Not Turkish Cats!!!' as we all stood looking at 3 cute looking strays.
We started walking away. Our carpet man did not follow us.
Due to the crowds within the Palace Grounds and the proximity of armed guards, Roisin and I decided not to hang around so we finally headed for Aya Sofia a few hundred yards away.
Although mosque like in appearance Aya Sofia (sometimes called Hagia Sofia) was the grandest and largest church in all of Christendom for almost 1,000 years. Originally built in AD325 by Constantine, it has been destroyed many times. The final Christian service was held on 28
th May 1453, the day before Constantinople fell to the Turks. Mehmet the conqueror immediately carried out the conversions and built the minarets. There is nothing written in the records of Mehmet ever receiving planning permission from the Local Council for this conversion so all it would take is one letter…!!!
There is one feature in Aya Sofia that we had to experience. It is known as the ‘weeping column'. It has a thumb size hole covered by a brass plate. When you insert a finger it comes out damp – the moisture is said to have healing powers especially for eye diseases. Roisin waited patiently in line and finally it was her turn. I asked her about her experience. Could she feel the healing powers at work?
‘Not really!' she exclaimed.
‘You would expect a little bit of moisture coming off all the thousands of sweaty thumbs that had gone before mine!!' The grand bazaar, in Istanbul is an understatement. It is the worlds largest covered market with over 4,000 stalls crammed in to a grid of 66 narrow streets that total 5miles (8km) in length. We decided against a visit as I believe it's a bit like Hampton Court maze. As this was another 2 tram stops in the ‘wrong' direction, we decided to take a pleasant stroll downhill toward the Galata Bridge.
We stopped at several souvenir shops looking for the legendary Turkish delight. None of these shops stocked it. Maybe we were looking for
the wrong thing. What is Turkish delight called in Turkey?? Maybe its just called ‘Delight'??!!
One thing we did notice that was in every shop. Glass discs with a distinct pattern of blue, white and black concentric circles. They were on key rings, fridge magnets, paper weights, ear rings – almost everything. These are to avert the evil eye. Its as if they're looking back at you and exclaiming: ‘
Yes, I've got my eye on you. I can see what you're doing'. I don't need an all seeing 3rd eye to see what I'm up to – I married one!!!
We passed the Spice Market and the Sűleymaniye mosque with its distinct 4 minarets (not to be confused with the distinct 6 minarets of the Blue mosque).
It was at this point I looked up and there it was. It was like something from the Da Vinci code. It had been under the very noses of millions of people from all over the world for millennia and none of them had even given this sign a second glance. It was a road sign that said: ‘Eyup Sultan'. For yes, dear Reader, let it be known that Istanbul
was, indeed founded by a Yorkshire man!!!
Eyup was actually the standard bearer to the Prophet Mohamed. He died in battle whilst carrying the banner of Islam during the Arab siege of Constantinople between AD674-678.
After crossing the Galata Bridge, the plan had been to take the Tűnel up the hill and then to the Galata Tower. This is the second oldest and probably the shortest train line in the world, taking a full 90 seconds to reach its destination. The usual Jelon tram tokens aren't valid for this journey and as we were running a bit short on the Turkish Lira front and we hadn't yet had our dinner, we decided to save this trip for another time and head back to the ship.
We had missed lunch so waited until 4 for afternoon tea. We managed to get our Turkish delight from a stall just outside the dock perimeter fence.
During afternoon tea, we bumped in to Sergio from Brazil. You remember him. He was one of the animation team on the Lirica during our Arabian Gulf adventure and now was a member of the tiny tots club. It turns out that the rest
of the Lirica entertainments crew are still there cruising Northern Europe. He fancied a change and got transferred. He confirmed that the DJ Marco onboard this ship is different from the Harpo Marx look-alike.
It is over 850 nautical miles to our next port of call so tomorrow is a day at sea. Time to chill and relax. The weather is forecast to be around 78F (24C) It's a hard life sometimes…!!!
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Carla
non-member comment
:-) love Istanbul.Hope you are having a great time x