Author: simon

And so to a mini-adventure of getting to St Saviour in Chora.  It is a little way out of the centre and away from the tram line, so we splashed out £3 on a taxi.

– showed the driver the guidebook and he had never heard of it

– he stops at the next hotel and has an animated conversation with the staff

– google maps comes into play and we go on a magical mystery tour

– he stops, waves his arms and indicates it is around here somewhere

– we find it (or think we do) but we are wandering around the local mosque

– conclude we are miles away and hail another taxi who says we’re daft (in Turkish) and it is right there

– no signposts so ask in a local cafe

– at this stage even thinking of extending the mortgage and turning on data roaming …😂

But success!  Others more scholarly than l probably wouldn’t define it as 14th Century bling (mosaics and frescos) but you get the idea.

And dinner at TurkArt Hotel roof terrace.  Simply a feast (visually at least; food OK not as good as the views).

Dinner in a pot which has to be broken open.

Another multiple blog – it is a feast for the senses, and there is so much to share.

Early morning walk – the Blue Mosque looks very fine, and extremely quiet.

Booked another tour this morning.  Part of it was to look at the Spice Market which we had seen yesterday.  The Guide suggested we look at the station.  Fabulous – and this is where the Orient Express started from.

Then on a boat up the Bosphorus – connected to the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmaris which I now understand.  Mosque Sultanahmet – the largest in Istanbul.

The Asian side.  Including in the distance the brand new biggest Mosque to be completed in a couple of months.

Lunch is the famous fish sandwich (no, me neither).  But loads of cafes doing a fresh fish sandwich for about £1.50.

Then the 3 Turkish things you have to do all in one go:

– Turkish Coffee

– Turkish Delight

– Baklava

Eileen’s birthday present – dinner at what is allegedly Istanbul’s best restaurant which was booked ages ago.  Happy Birthday – cheers!

Went for the Tasting Menu – note the 7 courses, although they slipped in 3 more.

Together with (we think – it was getting hard to keep count later on 😃) 7 different Turkish wines.  Some of which were excellent, and without exception all much better than expected.

Oh, and it is on the 18th floor of a hotel on a hill, so the views weren’t bad.

Oh no – missed the Royal Wedding because we were down in a Cistern.  I think about 1,500 years old and massive.

Random building – no idea what it was but liked its style.

This time the Spice Market.  All colour and bling which was fantastic.

And so to the evening.

Normal service resumed, with many thanks to IT Support on Sunday.

This is when the serious sightseeing and acclimatisation get’s going.  As before, this isn’t a history lesson nor a travel guide, and the amount of “stuff” is phenomenal.  So a brief overview of our day interspersed with some fabulous photos (in my opinion, anyway).

Started with Ayasofya (or Hagia Sophia) which is now a museum rather than a church or mosque.

Large is a description that immediately comes to mind …

We’re on a tour with Eileen deep in conversation with Ikler our guide.

It’s hard to get a picture that really shows off the scale, so snaps taken whenever half a chance beckoned.

Then on to the Blue Mosque right next door.   Aren’t they sweet!

Really not sure about this – all it represents etc. but no choice if you want to go in.  Removing shoes seems fair enough as everyone has to do that.

My first time ever in a Mosque.  Apparently given the name Blue by visitors who saw the 20,000 blue tiles.

Thought we’d given up on selfies – here’s the Grand Bazaar. Described in guide books as colourful and chaotic, it seemed to us more like homogeneous tourist Fabre (although it was colourful).

Turkish coffee – described as strong and sweet.  In reality very strong and very sweet.

And that gets us to lunchtime.

Istanbul is living up to, and exceeding, all expectations – which were pretty high in the first place.  So this is the first of 4 today, simply because there is so much to say.

To begin with an early morning walk down to the port.  Not very pre-possessing, and clearly opportunities for redevelopment.

But I did get the first sight of the Blue Mosque, albeit not from its best angle!

And here’s our hotel – just right and, as we were to find out later, perfectly situated for sightseeing.

We’ve only been here a few hours, haven’t yet seen any of the famous sights, but are already loving it.  Atmosphere is vibrant, liberal and safe.  So high hopes for the next few days.

The requisite early start just in case of delays on M25 – there weren’t so at Gatwick about 3 hours early!

Nearly there – not sure if the pilot missed his turning ….

Bit of a mix up being collected from airport, and so negotiated with 3 or 4 taxis before setting off (the long way round to avoid a massive pro-Palestinian demo.  But made it to the hotel and the rooftop bar – cheers!

View of the Bosphorus.

And this is a small designer handbag (fake) factory.

Not far for dinner – its Ramadan so many were absolutely ravenous by sundown so it was buzzing.

Walking tour early tomorrow, when the sightseeing really begins.