Istanbul

The first weekend of May in 2009 we went to Istanbul with some of our London mates. Lucky for us we had Turkish guides (our mate Efe & his friends/family in Istanbul). We arrived in the dead of the night at our hotel. I wasn't too impressed with the facilities for the price we paid, but the location was very central in Sultanahment the historic part of Istanbul.

Next day we woke up to rain but as determined tourist Pramo, Fede, Cheech, Jase and I headed out to see some of the sights near by. First we arrived at the Blue Mosque the national mosque of Turkey built in the early 1600s and still in use. The interior was covered with patterned blue tiles rising to an impressive height. The Blue Mosque was built with six minarets equaling that of the mosque in Mecca deemed a bit presumptuous at the time. Thus the Sultan paid for an additional minaret to be built in Mecca to restore the correct order of things.

The Blue Mosque is directly across from Hagia Sophia, one of the oldest and most venerated mosques in Turkey. Hagia Sophia was built originally as a church, then converted to a mosque and now a museum. Its a world heritage site but had fallen into disrepair prior to that so there was on-going restoration work when we visited. It consisted of two levels and some of the Christian murals that were painted over when Hagia Sophia was converted to a mosque were now on display. When we stepped out of Hagia Sophia the rain has stopped and the sun was out, which cheered up all of us.

Across the road and around the corner was another historic site - the Basilica Cistern. This is a huge underground chamber built in the 6th century to store fresh water for Istanbul. The cistern consists of 336 columns lit beautifully for the benefit of its visitors. Soon it was time for lunch.

We had a relaxing lunch at one of the many outdoor cafes in Sultanahment, with fresh pita bread, dips, grilled meats and soothing apple tea to finish. Only a short walk from the cafes was the Grand Bazaar the oldest and largest in Istanbul. The main concourse was packed with people and every 20-30 meters there were paths adjacent to the main concourse leading to more stalls and shops getting ever smaller. The stalls were full of everything from colourful ceramics, clothes, jewellery, antiques, souvenirs, leather wear so on and so forth. The sellers were very pushy and annoyingly over familiar. Over and over again we were asked where we were from and many were perplexed when we told them we were from Australia; unable to imagine Australia as a multi racial country. Soon we learned to ignore them. After trying in vain to meet some of the London crew that we got separated from earlier we took a break to sip apple tea at a cafe inside the Grand Bazaar. Then we headed back to the hotel to rest before dinner.

Dinner was in Eminonu, on the Istanbul harbour which we got to via the Metro (tram). The sun was setting on the busy skyline dotted with mosques. The Galata bridge on the harbour was lined with fisherman on the top level fishing day and night. The second level was full of seafood restaurants displaying an impressive array of seafood to entice customers. As you walked by each restaurant the maitre d' tried to coax you to come in for dinner. We met our friends at one of the restaurants and feasted on some great seafood accompanied by Raki - anise flavoured alcoholic drink taken with water in a shot glass.

Next day we headed out to the Topkapi palace the Sultan's residence. The gardens were overflowing with tulips in bloom and the palace was situated atop a hill overlooking the harbour - with fantastic views of the golden horn. There were many rooms and exhibits to see inside the palace including Prophet Mohammed's walking stick - in surprisingly good condition ;) .

For lunch we headed into the heart of Istanbul away from the tourist and had an amazing lunch - course after course of beautifully rustic Turkish food full of flavour accompanied by a frothy sheep's milk drink. Dessert which we now knew to be always way over the top in Turkey was surprisingly simple in the form of a semolina pancake with the creamiest home made ice cream.
At the end of lunch we were so full we could hardly move so we decided to walk back to town and head to the Galata tower. On the way we stopped to have some fabulous profiteroles from a cafe which seem to only serve that. The second dessert finished we headed up to the Galata tower - a striking cone capped cylindrical tower overlooking the Istanbul skyline. The sun was about to set and the view was fantastic. Istanbul looked like a vast and crowded city from above. We enjoyed picking out some of the famous sights which we had visited so far along with the Golden Horn and the Istanbul Harbour.

By this stage we were all feeling quite tired so we chillaxed with apple tea and Turkish coffee. Arriving back at the hotel via the tram we showered and headed out for a light dinner. Our hotel in Sultanahment was near a small bazaar that had an open air area with restaurants. We settled outside and had a small dinner enjoying the live music and a whirling dervish performance. We then met up with some more Londoners for dessert of baklava and apple tea before calling it a night.

The next day Pramo and I headed back to Eminonu to the Spice bazaar, while the other guys went to a harem - a Turkish bath. The Spice bazaar was full of colourful sights, sounds and smells. It was smaller than the Grand Bazaar and seemed to be where the locals shopped unlike the Grand Bazaar. We stocked up on Turkish delights and apple tea while admiring the weird and wonderful things on display. After a quick lunch soon it was time to head back to the hotel for a ride to the airport.

Istanbul was an exciting city and a great place to visit over a long weekend. We were lucky to have some locals to show us around and take us on a historical and gastronomical journey we both wont forget soon. I would like to go back to Turkey to see more of the places outside of Istanbul including Gallipoli. Maybe someday I will...