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...

Berlin

Its been ages since I last wrote. I know I've been a bit slack. I think I go through phases of intense interest in blogging and then sometimes it doesn't seem as important. Anyway its not as if there hasn't been anything to write about either but I just got lazy. I realised that I haven't written about our trip to Berlin yet. It feels like such a long time ago that I had to look at my google calendar to find the date. We went to Berlin in early September. We caught Easyjet there and we were delayed again. Besides that the airport we arrived in was deep inside East Berlin, and coming back into town in the train we saw many decrepit and creepy looking train stations along the way. The train ride in took ages and it was very late when we checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Westin off the main street of Unter den Linden. Saturday morning we grabbed some breakfast in a nice cafe on the way to the Brandenburg gate. That was where our free walking tour of Berlin began. The guided walking tour was excellent.. and the best way to see the main historic sights of Berlin for anyone going there. It covered the following places:

• Pariser Platz
• The Brandenburg Gate
• The Reichstag
• The new Holocaust Memorial
• Hitler’s Bunker
• Luftwaffe HQ
• The 17. June Memorial
• The Berlin Wall
• The Former SS Headquarters
• Checkpoint Charlie
• The Former Red Light District
• Gendarmenmarkt
• Bebelplatz
• The Book Burning Memorial
• The Old Royal Boulevard
• Neue Wache
• The TV Tower
• Museum Island

As you can see it covers numerous places of historical interest, many of which have a lot of significance to the Nazi era and when Berlin was divided into east and west. We saw the remnants of the Berlin wall and its path in the city still etched on the ground where it once stood. Our tour guide (a soft spoken English girl) told us many stories about people escaping the wall and trying to reunite with loved ones trapped on either side. We went past the Humboldt University, Berlin's oldest, at the sight of which the Nazi book burning took place. There is poignant memorial to that day on the square giving a view of a room through a glass sheet embedded on the ground full of white empty book shelves representing the books burnt on that day. Across the road in front of the University there is a free book fair held every weekend giving away copies of those books once burnt. That place stirred a lot of sadness for me.

After the tour we had a late lunch and went back to the hotel to rest. We headed out to dinner that night to an area full of restaurants and there was too much choice for us. In the end we went to a Cuban restaurant and had great food. After dinner we made an impulse decision to go to the ultra modern parliament building which is open for tours till very late at night and gives a good view of the city. We rushed through the streets in the rain but were not let in as we were one minute late!!!! After getting over the disappointment of that we walked to the Brandenburg gate which is lit up beautifully at night and took some great pictures there. Berlin is full of great bars and an excellent night life and if you like to drink its a great place. We skipped the bar experience as we had just finished a bottle of wine between the two of us at the Cuban restaurant. We got back to to hotel and had some nice apple strudel and ice cream :) It was sooooo good!

The next day we spent a lot of time at museums and riding around the different parts of the city on buses. The time went quite quickly and soon it was time to head back home to London. At the end of the our time there I understood a little better how much the city itself had gone through, its legacy and why some of the wounds of the past will take many more years to heal. That is not to say that a lot of people are not trying to do just that. The city is full of history & culture but a little depressing and hard to stomach when you are there for a short visit. Much of the east parts of the city are still quite run down, grey and dirty while there are areas in the west which are newer and greener. The city is full of contrasts and the people friendly. One thing I did love were the alldescribingwordsstucktogether German names for places and things which were a bit hard to get used to at first but were a delight once you were a bit clued in.

Check out the photos of Berlin we took.

Edinburgh

In mid-August we went to Edinburgh for the weekend. It was the first time we flew from Stanstead airport and I think will probably also be our last. Not only is it too far to get to on a Friday night after work, the easyJet flight was delayed (after moving the original flight forward few days earlier!!).

We got to Edinburgh by about 9pm and caught the AirLink bus to the city centre. Right outside of the airport Edinburgh appeared almost rural. After about 25 minutes we arrived in the city and got off near Haymarket station as our B&B was near there. The original hotel we booked for the weekend was flooded by recent rain so we were told a few days earlier that another room had been booked for us nearby. The B&B was on a street full of other hotels and B&Bs. The place was run by a family and looked very cosy. The ceilings were high and our room which was huge faced a cute little garden at the back.

The weather was cool as we set out walking to find somewhere for dinner. We walked towards the city centre and ended up picking an Indian/Bengali restaurant called Ignite. The place was decorated modernly but the food was the real winner. Beautiful naan bread, a fantastic buriyani and a tangy lamb jalfrezi had us ooing and aaahhing. Of course we ate too much and stumbled back to our B&B with great difficulty.

We woke up the next day to gloomy skies. Rain was forecasted and it started just as we headed out. We walked to Edinburgh castle, grateful for our waterproof Kathmandu jackets. Edinburgh castle dominates the city skyline as its set on the plug of an extinct volcano. On that day it looked dark and foreboding. The line for tickets was very long and not too pleasant in the rain but we prevailed. Finally with tickets in hand we headed up the hill to the castle.
The castle grounds are huge with many different buildings. We started our tour in the interesting Scottish War Museum. The Scottish have a long history of war and are a passionate people. We continued on to Mary Queen of Scots chambers(dark and gloomy for my liking) and the great hall with decorative weapons and high ceilings. The crown jewels were glittery and over the top as expected. We continued on to the castle wall which had fantastic views over the Queen street gardens and city of Edinburgh. The city sprawled below as far as the eye can see with the national monument and arthurs hill in the distance. The buildings all seemed to be in every shade of grey imaginable.

We stayed on to the one'o clock gun salute which was historically used by sailors to set their marine chronometers by. The shot was quite loud and made a lot of people jump including myself. Luckily by this stage the rain had stopped and it was time to leave the castle to explore the city. We walked down royal mile which was crowded with tourists and locals as well as performers and promoters for the fringe festival. We were getting peckish so we looked about for somewhere to eat. We walked past the Scott Monument dedicated to Sir Walter Scott, one of Scotland's famous authors. We had a light snack at the M&S food hall in the end because every pub seemed packed to the brim with festival goers and tourists. After lunch we went back to our B&B the long way(by foot) to rest before dinner.

After a short rest we headed to dinner at Rhubarb, the restaurant at Prestonfield's about a 10 minute taxi ride from Edinburgh city. Prestonfields is an old manor house set in a huge property that has been converted to a boutique hotel. The grounds were beautifully manicured and well kept. Upon arrival we were greeted by reception staff kitted out in black kilts. We were lead upstairs to have pre-dinner drinks in a room decorated with plush upholstery and antique furniture. Fire place and rich carpet complete the scene. The wine list arrived some 50 pages long split into sections by country of origin. We spent the next 20 minutes deciding on the wine as well as our dinner courses. We sipped champagne till our table was ready at the restaurant. In no time at all it was time to head to our table in the dining room which again was beautifully decorated with grand chandeliers and long bay windows. The whole place oozed with decadence and grandeur. Our table was by one of the huge windows overlooking the hotel gardens. Peacocks were roaming the gardens leisurely. As we were enjoying our first course as it started to rain again. It was beautiful to watch the rain through the big windows as we sat cozily inside the restaurant. Dinner was interesting and the food was very good, but I think the location & atmosphere outdid the food by a mile. We had coffee at one of the upstairs rooms before heading back to the city again.

The next day we checked out after breakfast and headed out to Arthurs Seat which is a steep hill on the outer edge of Edinburgh which many people climb to see the amazing views of the city and beyond. We caught a bus to the Commonwealth pool and walked to the top of Arthurs Seat using one of the many paths available. The climb was invigorating but quite easy in the end. The views were amazing. We waited at the top while a rain cloud moved across spraying us for a short time. It was very windy at the top so the rain didn't last long at all. The sky cleared again and we took the opportunity to take some pictures. It as possible to pick out many of Edinburgh's famous sights from Arthurs Seat including Prestonfields house and golf course. We negotiated the climb down a steeper path to what we climbed and a bit scarier as well.

Next we caught a bus to the centre of town to walk through the Princes Street gardens. The Princes Street Gardens are situated below street level and give great views of Edinburgh castle especially as a backdrop to the big fountain in the middle of the gardens. There was light rain on and off. We found an eco-cafe in corner of the gardens and had lunch. With lots of time to kill before our flight we took the opportunity to visit the Scottish National Gallery right near the Princes street gardens. The collection wasn't huge but still proved to be quite interesting with many paintings & sculptures. There were large crowds outside watching fringe festival performers. There was a girl from Australia doing a hoola hoop show, guys juggling fire sticks and a big demonstration about Palestine in the middle of it all.

Pretty soon it was time to fetch our bags and head to the airport. Can't wait to return to visit the Scottish highlands.

Check out the photos here.

Copenhagen

Last Friday I barely got anything done at work because I was too excited. Excited at what was coming at the end of the day. Our first weekend trip to Europe.. which turned out to be to the beautiful Danish capital of Copenhagen. We left work early on Friday to make it to Heathrow for the 8pm flight. Having only hand luggage meant we could check in online which was convenient. However, it also meant that we had to put all our 'liquid' toiletries into plastic bags and make sure they were not more than 100ml each in size. Getting through security was quicker than I expected though still tedious especially since you have to go through a second screening for your shoes.

Nevertheless after an uneventful flight we arrived in Copenhagen airport around 11pm. We were both impressed by the stylishness of Copenhagen airport. Its design was impressive with sleek wooden floors, high ceilings, and elegant lighting. It didn't have the usually 7-11 feel of most other airports.. in a word it was 'tasteful'. For someone who hates airports this is pretty big. We just missed the train to central Copenhagen so we decide to get a taxi. We stepped outside and joined the taxi queue. The whole road was lined with taxis...all Mercedes. On our 12km drive to Copenhagen didn't take long at all as we whizzed past office buildings and shopping centres.

Our hotel was on the main hotel street Colbjørnsensgade very close to the centre of town, right next to the central train station. We had a good night's rest and had breakfast at the hotel which consisted of cold meats, cheeses, boiled eggs, bread, cereal and fruits. We then set out to explore the town. We walked past Tivoli, a huge amusement park in the middle of Copenhagen with all sorts of rides for kids of all ages. One thing we noticed everywhere we looked were the number of bicycles parked. Most people use bicycles in Copenhagen with dedicated bicycle lanes on all roads which were wide and spacey compared to London. Outside of the train station there were 100s and 100s of bicycles. Most street corners, cafes and restaurants had bicycles parked outside in all shapes, sizes and colours.

We arrived at a large square near an old important looking building. The area was aptly named town hall square. The front of the town hall had a gold statue of the Bishop of Absolon who founded Copenhagen. In one corner of the square was a huge statue of Hans Christian Anderson, the famous fairy tale writer and one of Denmark's most beloved sons. Opposite the square is a building with a huge thermometer on it, when the sun is out a gold statue of a girl in a bicycle comes out at the opening at the top of the building, when its raining a gold statue of a girl with an umbrella comes out. Denmark was having a heat wave that weekend and the thermometer was broken at 15 degree on both days when it was well over 30 degrees.

We bought a multi pass hop-on-hop off bus ticket and boarded the Mermaid tour opposite the town hall square. The bus took us via the wide Copenhagen streets to many famous places including Rosenborg; the summer palace of the Danish royal family, now a museum, as well as their winter and current residence at Amelienborg palace. Many of the beautiful buildings and attractions in Copenhagen were built by King Christian the 4th of the Danish monarchy. The bus also circled the Tivoli gardens which was opened in 1843 now one of the most visited sites in Copenhagen with an amphitheatre, many restaurants and of course numerous rides. Tivoli was built to act as a distraction for the residents during times of unrest and riots which apparently worked.

Then the bus took us to the famous statue of the little mermaid by the harbour at Langelinie. This delicate statue was commissioned by Carl Jacobsen the son of the founder of Carlsberg when he became fascinated with the tale of the little mermaid by HC Anderson. Towards the end of the bus tour we arrived in Nyhavn, an area where one of the canal arteries ends. The area used to be quite unsavoury but now its full restaurants and cafes all along the canal full of locals and tourists. The buildings still retain their original look with colourful front walls and shape. The area had a very relaxed feeling and we hopped off the bus tour to explore the area. Nyhavn or new harbour is also where the canal tours of Copenhagen start.

We bought tickets and boarded a boat for the canal tour which takes you to many famous Copenhagen sights through its vast canal network and harbour. The canal tour takes you under very snug fitting bridges and tunnels and gives a very different and interesting perspective of Copenhagen. We went past a very modern looking opera house on the harbour as well as the Copenhagen library made to look like a black diamond. The canal tour lasted a couple of hours and was a worthwhile experience. At the end we decided to have lunch in one of the Nyhavn restaurants by the canal. We tried the famous Copenhagen open sandwiches with very delicious marinated herring, salmon, shrimp and beef. Lunch was a relaxing fair. Only at the end we realised that soft drinks were actually more expensive than beer!

We left Nyhavn and walked to the Rosenborg palace and gardens which we saw earlier on the bus. The gardens are much like hyde park in London full of people enjoying the sunny weather, having picnics and relaxing on the grass. Pramod took the opportunity to lie on the grass and get some shut eye while I walked around the gardens taking pictures. The palace in the centre of the gardens looked like it was from a fairytale. It had a moat and huge trees around it. We sat under the trees and relaxed debating whether to go to Tivoli later on. We decided to head back to the hotel and have a nap before dinner. On our way back we walked along Stroget the crowded and longest pedestrian shopping street in Europe. Ice creams helped ease the heat a little but we were exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel.

After a nap and shower we went walking about looking for somewhere appealing for dinner. We decided on a Thai place right near our hotel in the end. The Thai place turned out to be great, with the best green chicken curry we've had since we got to Europe much to our surprise. The wine was expensive as well as the soft drinks and again much more than beer.

The next day we slept in a little more and had a later breakfast at the hotel. It was another hot day. We headed back to the town hall square and took another bus tour through Christiana, which is like a hippy town in the middle of Copenhagen where people are 'free' to do as they please. The bus went along the old part of Copenhagen with many gorgeous buildings which still are preserved well. After the bus tour we went to Glyptotek the Copenhagen sculpture museum. The museum's main entrance hall is very unusual in that it has a very tall ceiling housing huge palm trees and a fountain. There are many sculptures in amongst the trees which you can gaze upon while sitting on one of the many benches provided. The sculpture museum had many great pieces including a large collection by Rodin as well as works by Degas and many antique Greek, Egyptian and Roman sculptures. The Roman sculptures were displayed in the majestic main hall with huge pillars and a beautiful floor and ceiling. The museum also had a good collection of paintings by Manet, Monet, Van Gogh and Renoir. We had a great time there and I would recommend a visit to anyone heading to Copenhagen.

By the town hall square we hopped on another tour bus this time to the Carlsburg brewery. We didn't really want to go to the brewery itself but it was a good way to see a bit more of the outer Copenhagen. After a late lunch back at the square we headed to the central station to go to the airport.
So in the end Copenhagen was a nice place to visit for the weekend despite the freakish heat wave we experienced. The town has many beautiful parts and interesting places to see but it all seemed rather deserted except for tourists.

As always the photos are in picasa web abums, just follow the link here.