Istanbul - Asia or Europe?
The question will be answered towards the end of this entry.
After our breakfast buffet not nearly as nice as the ones we had had in Dubai we were ready to start our tour of Istanbul.
Our guide Selçuk Eracun is an authority on Mosaics and the history of these very old Palaces, Mosques and churches.
Our hotel was in the Faith area of Istanbul which meant we were very close to several buildings of significance. We walked to the farthest point The Topkapi Palace. On the way we passed a large Tulip Carpet. As you all know Tulips area a native of Turkey not The Netherlands so the parks and garden areas were full of lovely displays of a Tulips, much better than Simons display at Luxton Place. Near the Tulip display our market was being constructed for Ramadan.
The Topkapi Palace has in its gardens a church built in the 4th century Irene’s Eastern Orthodox church and then rebuilt in 6th century it is one of few churches that were not turned into a Mosque back in ‘53 that is 1453 with the Fall of Constantinople. The Ottoman Turks took power with Sultan Mehmed II as leader.
The Sultan was quite clever as apparently he spoke 7 languages. The church Is now used as a concert hall. Part of the Palace is still a military zone, so armed personnel are on duty. They were obviously quite clever people back then as they Double glazed windows as it the first hill in Istanbul so the wind off the sea would hit it so cold in winter.
The historians and therefore the tour guides know a lot of how the Ottomans lived as they have found papers, like Simon’s notebook where they wrote details down all about food, religion and living costs etc. After the Topkapi Palace and as the Palace was vast we had a drink break. Simon a coffee and Susan had a Sherbet which was a lovely fresh pomegranate juice with spices added to it. It was very refreshing.
We then headed to Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia is a former Greek Orthodox Christian basilica, later an Ottoman imperial mosque and is now a museum. Hagia Sophia means Devine Wisdom. Part of the Hagia was a Harem and harem means the house of happiness. It is a massive building and you could walk up a long stone ramp to get to the upper chambers built when the Hagia Sophia was built in the 530s yes 530 not 1530! The building lived up to its reputation as one of finest buildings in the world.
Selçuk was able to show us some of the old drawings that he had ‘discovered’.
It was now time for lunch pretty much Simons work day lunch time of 2pm.
After lunch at the famous Pudding Shop, not sure why it’s called pudding as we did not have pudding, we headed to the Blue Mosque. There are over 1100 mosques in Istanbul which has a population of 15m. On our way from the airport we passed 2 new smaller mosques being built. The were a similar size to a small parish church in New Zealand.
The interior of Blue Mosque was closed for renovations - every 2nd historic building seemed to be closed or partially closed for renovations. We could walk around the outside areas of the Mosque which is rather large. 20 000 people can fit in for services.
The Cistern of Philoxenos, or Binbirdirek Cisternas the last stop on todays walking tour. The Cistern is a vast cave like space built under the city initially used as a cistern ( water storage ). Our hotel is on top of the Cistern so we did not have to walk far to get to the hotel and it’s bar.
The bar was in theme of an English pub but the choice of beer did not include any English beer only local brews. EFES which is a Pilsner (Simon found that they also make a Malt, like a larger as well) went down well after our 7 hour walking tour. Susan was not the only person with tired legs.
Simon went got some wraps to eat in our room for an early dinner as Saturday was going to be another busy day. We were amazed at the number of stalls selling freshly squeezed orange juice and pomegranate juice. Pomegranate are a very popular fruit and readily available.
For Saturday’s touring we were traveling by van so a little bit less walking.
We started at The Dolmabahçe, another Palace, where we had to put on lovely overshoes and also had to listen to a audio guide for our tour. The government are making these compulsory for tour groups to cut down in noise and help the flow of visitors through the buildings. We were only a group of 4 but as we had a guide we are classed a tour group. The taking of photos, even without a flash was prohibited.
Built between 1843-1856 as the then Sultan was sick of the Topkapi Palace. It is based on the Palace of Versailles in France, so very flash!
We then had lunch at a Kariye Family Tea Garden. As the Tea Garden was next to the Chora alcohol cannot be served so it was time Simon tried a Turkish Coffee. Yummy is not a word you would use to describe the taste. Simon apparently pulled some funny faces.
The Chora Church has a very old past. In 298 it was a monastery and had been rebuilt back in the 500s. Several versions have been built following earthquakes and other events. Today’s version was built in the 1320s. I wonder how long it took after an earthquake for a rebuild?
Of course the inner chamber is closed for further restoration but we can use Selçuk, our guides book to see more and to see pictures of images he discovered. The book is available for loan if anyone wants to read it. Go on you really do want to see pictures of old mosaics etc!
After visiting the Chora we or I should say Susan bought a lovely Pashmina at a price less than half what you would pay at the Grand Bazaar. The stall holder knew his stuff as he produced copies of Selçuk’s book which we duly purchased and had signed with a personal note by Selçuk.
It was now time to meet Myra at the Turkish Rug shop. Myra had visited the store on Friday and wanted to buy different coloured rugs to what she had bought on previous trips. It was amazing (sorry for repetition) how the rugs changed in appearance depending which way they were laid.
Turn them 180 degrees and they changed especially with the small silk rugs. We spent quite a bit of time and we all spent some money. Some a lot more than others. Clue we can carry ours with us Myra and Rose’s have to be shipped.
While Myra visited her favourite bag shop we went to the Mall. The mall being the worlds first mall is The Grand Bazaar. It has 4000 shops / stalls and they all look pretty similar selling either gold, pashmina and not much more. People, people and people everywhere. The locals do not shop here. We can now say Been there done that!
We had time for a bit of R&R before dinner at the nearby Deralyie. The restaurant served Ottoman Palace Cuisine. We had an assortment of dishes so we could share the different tastes.
There were no night clubs nearby so after dinner we returned to the hotel to sleep until the Call for Prayer at 5.10am!
Sunday was a lovely spring morning so Simon went for a dawn run ( Aykut had told him that a park was quite close and he should not get lost.) Aykut was right Simon did not get lost and had a lovely run through the Gülhane Gardens and then along The Bosphorus . After breakfast we headed off on a 2 hour boat ride on The Bosphorus. It was a perfect day for cruising going past the old, the new and the expensive. Actually they are all expensive houses on The Bosphorus are called Yali ‘spit in to the river ‘. Originally houses were so close to the water they could spit into the water from any window.
Houses generally sell for about US$80 million.
The boat took us to Asia. The Bosphorus splits Istanbul in 2. One side is Asia and heads to and the other side is Europe which heads to Bulgaria. Both Selçuk & Aykut live in the Asian side. They say the pace is not as frantic with less traffic and less stress. Asia and Europe are just terms there are no passport controls! 97% of Turkey is in Asia. If you know how to speak Turkish you will find Russian a breeze.
They have now built 3 bridges and 2 tunnels under The Bosphorus and the roads are busy, busy busy. Simon saw a group of cyclists out when he was running when there was less traffic on the roads. You would not want to ride a bike on the road after 8am!
We disembarked from our boat in Asia near to the Beylerbeyi Palace which we toured before lunch. Again we had to don overshoes and we had to wait for 15 minutes as they limit numbers in the Palace due to the weight of people on the upper floor.
Lunch was seafood, very fresh, simply grilled and served with salad. We had not had Sea Bass or Turbot before. We were even given the some fish liver to eat - Simon tired it but the actual fish was so much nicer.
For dessert , we went to an Istanbul institution, Karaköy Güllüoğlu, to have some Baklava. Only the one shop so it was very chaotic we got assorted pack to go and ate them in the van on our way to the Spice Market. The Spice Market sell spices and a lot of locals shop here each week on Sunday the Grand Bazaar is closed so the Spice Market was super busy.
Aykut sent through a note on Monday to say the market had been so busy it made the news. We popped in so Rose could get some coated nuts - yum. It was then back to our hotel and the end of our Istanbul tour. After our lovely large fish lunch we did not need much for tea so Simon went and got a chicken wrap for supper. We set the alarm for 5.15 as we had a 6am pickup! Simon was pretty sure we would not need the alarm as the Call to Prayer is sure to wake us. The region of Cappadocia awaits.
Istanbul photos - I have to list the photos as when I print our trip diary as a book the descriptions with the photos don’t transfer.
1: Why else would you go to a Turkey. I t’s a small rug and it is a Ski Trip. Actually there are lots of good reasons to visit Turkey. 2: Tulip Carpet. The biggest in the world - sorry Dubai may be next it will be your turn 3: Tulip Carpet sign. 4: Irene’s Eastern Orthodox Church. One of few churches which was not converted into a Mosque. 5: Nice mosaic at The Topkapi Palace. There were hundreds no thousands of mosaics.
6: Sultans Stone Carpet Simon can’t remember why or where it went. 7: The Harem - for the chosen few. 8: Read it. Not sure how old I think it’s a coming of age ceremony in the Muslim Church. Ouch! 9: Circumcision Room. Quite a big room. Circumcision in Islam was the rite of passage so I think generally puberty and may be a party! 10: Cannon Ball. 600kg made in the 15th century! Used to defend Palace. 11: Hagia Sophia Doorway. Stone floor worn from millions of people kissing icon on door. 12: The stone ramp in Hagia Sophia. It went up to the first upper level. We could not go up up the 2nd ramp to the next ( top ) level. Quite slippery. 13: Hagia Sophia 14: Hagia Sophia Posing ( I don’t do it very well) in front of large famous Mosaic. First built in the 5th Centurty it became a Mosque in 1520’s. Instead of destroying the numerous frescoes and mosaics on the Hagia Sophia walls, Mehmed II ordered they be whitewashed in plaster and covered in Islamic designs and calligraphy. Many were later uncovered, documented, or restored by the Swiss-Italian architects Gaspare and Giuseppe Fossati.
15: Selçuk pointing to an image. From memory a horse. It was an animal.16: Lunch. Our lunches were getting later. No pudding involved. It’s famous. 17: Preparing market stalls for Ramadan. Ramadan is the biggest period of the Muslim year. 18: The Cistern. Amazing underground water storage facility. 19: Arrival at Istanbul airport. This photo is intentionally out of order. 20: Sunrise over the Bosphorus. 21: Fishing off the bridge. A few more people than you see fishing off the New Brighton pier. Over the Galata Bridge over a river that flows int9 the Bosphorus. Apparently there fishmongers at the end of the bridge who would buy their catch. 22: Fresh Fruit was plentiful. 23: Queuing to go through a security scanner. Bags as well as yourself were scanned before you bought your tickets. This is for The Dolmabahçe Palace. You get used to queuing before entering buildings. Security ie police and soldiers were visible but everyone seemed relaxed. 24: Entry to The Dolmabahçe Palace. If you arrived by boat this is where the boat docked, NB you in this case means people of royalty etc in the old days.
25: The Dolmabahçe Palace. Lovely overshoes were required to be worn to protect the floors. This was the first but not last time we had to don overshoes. 26: Kariye Family Tea Gardens. Upstairs in the Kariye Family Tea Garden they had a ‘smoking room’. You may not have been able to have a drink but you could certainly have a smoke. The Turkish water pipe or nargile has been around for 500 years. Nothing shady about this smoking tradition. It's just a great way to slow down and relax. Apparently we did not try it. 27: Turkish Coffee time. Smelt strong. 28: Turkish Coffee time. Tried it, maybe a 2nd sugar will help. I don’t think it’s quite my cup of tea! 29: The Chora. Angel on ceiling face uncovered by restoring in 2009. It had been covered in 17th century .30:The Chora. Chora museum mosaic Jesus eyes follow you. Made in the 1320s. 31: Seen The Chora - bought the book. Autograph by the author who was also our guide. A very knowledgeable man. 32: Selçuk signing our copy. 33: Tyres. WTF? The reason was to remind me to mention that when we went down one street it was like a Bunnings or Mega Mitre 10. Every small business was selling just 1 type of product - Taps, Toilets, Spanners, Road Cones ( yes Chch does not have them all.) The Tyre shop sold tyres but did not seem to have a spot to put them on your car. 34-38: Deleted. 39: Carpet - The one the left is 2000 years old. 40: Silk Carpet - Weaving a silk carpet. So intricate. 41: The Silk Carpet - One of our contributions to help the Turkish economy.
It looks different in different lights and changes which way you hold iit. Turn it 180 degrees it looks a lot different. We spent the least of our group. 42: The Happy Skiers! 43: The Grand Bazaar - one of four entrances. 44: The Grand Bazaar - One of the many ‘streets’ in the Mall oops Bazaar. People everywhere, we only spent 15 minutes and we spent no money. Honest. 45: Saturday night dinner - The owners know Selçuk and often pick his brain on the Ottoman cuisine. A tasty dinner. 46: A quiet night - When it is quiet at 10,30pm on a Saturday night you polish the fruit. 47: Best walk in a straight line - You wouldn’t see it in NZ, No guard rails. Just ready for you to fall into. The way the number of people, especially the younger generation, walk round with their eyes glued to their phones, I am sure quite a number must fall in. It was not the only one we saw. 48: Oops they dropped it. As I headed into the lovely Gülhane Park this site greeted my eyes. The rubbish was very localised it was mainly down just one path. 49: Gülhane Park a bit cleaner. 50: Sunrise over the Bosphorus. 51: The Bosphorus in the early morning sun. 52: Fishing peacefully on The Bosphorus. 53: Lovely flowers on the banks of The Bosphorus. 54: Gülhane Park. 55: View from on The Bosphorus - This Mosque and bridge are close neighbours. Cars and roads seem to have a priority! 56: On The Bosphorus. 57: Cemetery overlooking The Bosphorus - Apparently plots at this cemetery are the most expensive.
6 zeros! One way to Ski! 58: The house the Tanker hit! Quite recently a tanker had steering issues and hit the house. The house owners apparently want US$100 million from the ship owners. 59: Billionaires Row on The Bosphorus. These 5 houses are all owned by billionaires- mainly Russian. Lake Clearwater has a wee way to go. 60: 60: Our private launch for us on The Bosphorus. 61: Fresh fish for lunch - before. From the left - Turbot, Sea Bass and ? 62: Fresh fish for lunch - dig in! Lightly grilled, very nice. 63: Desert was takeaway Baklava - We drove back to the Europe side of Istanbul and got takeaways from Karaköy Güllüoğlu as it was so so busy. 64: Karaköy Güllüoğlu - where you go in Istanbul for Baklava. They only have the one shop. 65: The Spice Market - So busy. The locals shop at the Spice Market buying small amounts ( so fresh ) often. No Greggs spices to be seen here. 66: Outside The Spice Market. 67: The Spice Market made the news. Aykut, sent us a story from Monday’s paper. The crowd at the Spice Market on Sunday had been so big it was newsworthy! A good news story. The end.
Jane Rennie
2018-04-28
We still won’t let them into the European Union perhaps they will take our place