It is Sunday in Istanbul. I am now back to a land whereby driving is on the right side of the road - I forget to look left again!
I decided to do a city siteseeing tour of Istanbul via red double decker bus - I did it before in Marrakesh and Dublin, a good way to get oriented to the city and you can jump on and off at any time. I did one whole loop of the city, just listening to the audio, and not really taking any photos. We went from the Sultanahmet district (old Istanbul), where I am staying, down to the Golden Horn, across the Galata Bridge to the Northern part of the European side of Turkey (ie west of the Bosphorus), around a section then back over the Golden Horn via Ataturk Bridge, followed the Golden Horn quite a way then south following the city wall to the Sea of Marmara. A short way from the end of the loop, I got off at the Fish Market and then walked back to central Istanbul along the promonade. There weren't many people around at this stage. It is a great day, about 27c.
Back in Istanbul I found myself around the back of Aya Sofya so had a look around.
A quick stop at my hotel then I went off on the citytour again (you can go on it as many times as you want in a day), this time I sat on the other side of the bus and took photos.
I got off at the furtherest stop as I heard and read about the Kariya Museum. It was tucked away out of the way behind the city walls so I had to ask for directions a couple of times. Once I found it, I was blown away. Kariya Museum, as it is now known, was built as a church in the late 11th century, and after repairs and restructuring it was converted to a mosque at a later date. It has the most amazing mosaic frescos! The detail was unbelievable and like it said in Lonely Planet, not as many people venture out to this western side of Istanbul.
After meeting the bus again, I decided to get off at the Fish Market and walk along the promonade again as it was now afternoon and literally hundreds of people were out having bbq's on the grass - it was such a site to see, they had their own bbq, food, hammocks, toys, games etc with food stalls lining the promonade. A number of men were sitting around on the rocks without their shirts on or swimming in the water (no females!), people eating seeds, playing board games, fishing and generally having fun together. A large number of the women were covered - they wear a head scarf, and most have an overcoat on over their clothes that touches their ankles or the ground. Food ranged fom fresh cucumbers, apples, fish sandwiches, seed and nut stalls, beer and water on ice, bread/pretzels, mussels and lemon...anything you could want just about.
Once back at the hotel I had a shower then went downstairs to the restaurant attached to the hotel. I grabbed a table on the street for dinner and a beer. Whilst sitting there and writing notes for my blog, 3 people came over from the carpet shop across the road that I had met a couple of days before, and sat on the table next to me. We all started talking (Halid, Yousef and Julie), and they invited me to their shop for a bbq that they put on every couple of weeks for customers. The plan was to go out for a couple of drinks afterwards but we all ended up in the carpet shop drinking tea, talking and meeting other interesting characters that joined the group at different times, til quite late.
Notes:
- I never really got the opportunity to talk to any Turkish women. Men work in the hospitality trade, the street stalls and shops, with few women to be seen in this employment. There are a lot more women out and about in Turkey compared to Morocco
- Turkish men are generally charming and direct in their manner, but can just as easily be quite dismissive and overly passionate
- people have been tolerant, and some even quite encouraging of my attempts to speak Turkish
- I feel incredibly safe wandering around by myself, but admit I did not do this a lot after dark
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| A little like side-show alley, just set up on the promonade |
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| Huge ships like this are all along the water |
Once back at the hotel I had a shower then went downstairs to the restaurant attached to the hotel. I grabbed a table on the street for dinner and a beer. Whilst sitting there and writing notes for my blog, 3 people came over from the carpet shop across the road that I had met a couple of days before, and sat on the table next to me. We all started talking (Halid, Yousef and Julie), and they invited me to their shop for a bbq that they put on every couple of weeks for customers. The plan was to go out for a couple of drinks afterwards but we all ended up in the carpet shop drinking tea, talking and meeting other interesting characters that joined the group at different times, til quite late.
Notes:
- I never really got the opportunity to talk to any Turkish women. Men work in the hospitality trade, the street stalls and shops, with few women to be seen in this employment. There are a lot more women out and about in Turkey compared to Morocco
- Turkish men are generally charming and direct in their manner, but can just as easily be quite dismissive and overly passionate
- people have been tolerant, and some even quite encouraging of my attempts to speak Turkish
- I feel incredibly safe wandering around by myself, but admit I did not do this a lot after dark
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