Sampling Everything

In between the day of Anzac Day and then the following day when we visited the Anzac battlefields, our tour included a night’s stay in the nearest proper town across the Bosphorus channel, Canakkale (pronounced cha-na-ka-leh), which was a cute, very small little town right on the water.

Having spent the previous night sitting in a grandstand freezing our you-know-whats off (see here), we were sorely tempted to fall straight into bed at the hotel room, but we persevered, and are very glad that we did.

First stop was a coffee shop, to try proper Turkish coffee, and sample little truffles (at least that’s what they looked like). Honestly, Turkish coffee was a disappointment. It was very bitter, and almost the entire bottom half of the espresso-sized cups was filled with a gritty, murky, fairly dense slop, which we presume was actually the mushed up coffee beans. That part did not taste good at all.

Nevertheless, we certainly enjoyed feeling very European sitting outside in our coats and scarves sipping our little espressos.

We then moved closer to the water, where we found a lovely line of cafes and restaurants. Isn’t this view fantastic?

We decided we needed to continue working our way through Turkish drinks (and a very cold wind was cutting straight through me outside), so inside we went. Tom tried a beer, and I tried apple tea, which we had seen on virtually every drinks menu since arriving in Istanbul.

Like the coffee, the apple tea did not impress me (I sound really fussy don’t I??). It was basically like drinking hot apple juice. We learned later that the Turkish locals don’t usually drink it, it’s mainly offered for tourists. I’m not sure why.

We then walked a little further inland, and discovered the inevitable mosque minaret, which of course I snapped a picture of.

We actually spent ages trying to find a restaurant that would serve local Turkish food instead of the usual tourist fare of hamburgers, chips and toasted sandwiches. We eventually found a lovely little understated place that offered just what we were after. Keeping with our theme for the evening, we tried yet another Turkish drink (this time very much a local favourite), called Ayran. It’s essentially watered down yoghurt – the natural type, not the sweet type. It was interesting, but quite enjoyable, particularly when paired with seafood.

We finally called it a night then as I started nodding off at the table, and departed quite early the following morning for our battlefield tour.

On our way to the ferry back to the mainland I spotted the local clocktower and snapped a shot as we drove by. Sorry it’s blurry.

And that was Canakkale. A lovely little place on the Asian continent (but still in Turkey) for a short visit.

Last Afternoon in Turkey

After our tour of Old Istanbul in the morning of our last day there, we had a bit of spare time, so wandered around a few of the streets near the mosque and museum that we hadn’t seen before.

This was the first thing we spotted.

Watch out tourists! Hehe.

On the next street corner we met a guy who asked if we were lost. Of course the reply was “not yet”. He then became very useful when Tom asked him if he knew of a seamstress. Tom had ripped a big hole in a very sensitive part of his jeans that morning, and we figured sewers in Istanbul would be a lot cheaper and easier to find than in the Greek Islands, our next destination.

As it turned, out the guy from the corner worked in (or owned) a leather tailor shop, so we trotted up there with him, paid 10 Turkish Lira (the equivalent of about $7), and got the hole repaired in about ten minutes. Of course the guy insisted that we try on a few leather jackets while we were waiting, in the hope that we’d fall in love with one of them, but it was fairly easy to resist temptation.

Then there was a quick stop at a patisserie where Tom bought a kilo (yes, a kilo) of pistachio baklava (and a few other Turkish treats). The man’s obsessed, I tell you. I am now entirely sick of baklava.

Next, Tom spotted this (sorry about the blurry photo).

We think they’re the traffic police, or something similar.

We had several options for spending the bulk of our last afternoon in Turkey. The cruise boat (which we had joined the previous night) offered a few tour options. A free one to Topkapi Palace that we had initially booked ourselves on, or another one that was a cruise down the Bosphorus Channel, the body of water that separates East and West Turkey (and, incidentally, the part of Turkey that lies in Asia from the part that lies in Europe). After chatting with a local tour guide we decided that we would probably prefer the Bosphorus Cruise. Then, we discovered that it would cost us 40 pounds each going with the cruise excursion. Hmm. With the Australian dollar conversion from pounds, that does not work out cheaply (around $124 AUD at the moment).

So, we decided instead to go for a walk along the waterfront to see if there might be any similar channel cruise available for cheapskates like us. And what do you know, there were lots of little buses lined up along the waterfront with guys in captains hats offering tours for 20 Turkish Lira. The equivalent of about $13 AUD. For about 10% of the cost of the other option, that definitely sounded more like us. And we found one that was only 15 Lira, so even better!

We spent the next two hours going up and down the Bosphorus, the banks of which apparently have some of the most expensive real estate in the world.

Upon our return from the cruise, we decided to walk up to see Topkapi Palace, which we had missed out on by doing our own little Bosphorus cruise, but somehow got lost along the way, and stumbled upon a few other interesting sights.

The first was the extremely impressive central train station.

Tom discovered my gloves in his bag, and was very excited about it.

We thought this statue of a man gazing at a tip truck which was in turn gazing at the Bosphorus was quite interesting. Actually I think the tip truck was there for another purpose, but it was certainly raised high enough to look kind of funny.

We found a cat sneaking past a guard dog fallen asleep on the job.

And then best of all, we stumbled across a gorgeous park, completely awash with tulips for the tulip festival.

This stone lion enjoyed a scratch as much as Allie does back at home. From the expression on its face, I was half expecting its back leg to start twitching.

We spent our last hour in Istanbul before hopping back on the cruise enjoying this park.

We even managed to climb a hill and get a fantastic view of the Bosphorus channel, with an old castle wall in the foreground.

We have no idea of the significance of this enormous pillar, but it looks pretty cool!

These tulips were my favourite.

Aren’t the colours spectactular?

Sigh. We’re generally not particularly into photographing flowers, but given that it was a special festival, and we stumbled across these completely unintentionally, we’re going to appreciate their beauty.

What a lovely end to our stay in Istanbul!

Next stop? Santorini! Bring on sunshine and warm weather!

How Bazaar

Once we returned from our Anzac tour we tried to cram as much as possible into our last time in Istanbul.

First step of each day in Turkey was always layering. We got used to not only wearing our thermals, but donning multiple layers to go outside, and then removing some of them whenever we entered a building. I’m sure it’s not an unusual concept for people used to living in cold countries, but for us warm little Brisbanites it’s certainly taken some getting used to!

Here’s Tom all dressed up in his thermals, with an added flair of money belt. Just as well he added more layers on top of that, huh?

Speaking of clothing, we discovered that the Turks are much more realistic with their mannequin sizing. Tom thought this guy was hilarious.

First place on the agenda for us was the Grand Bazaar, which we had tried to go to on our first night in Istanbul without success. The ceilings were fabulous.

And the place itself was massive.

Guess who we ran into?

It’s Louis! See more about him here.

Tom couldn’t resist the opportunity to use the facilities.

These kinds of light shops are all over Istanbul. I’m so in love. Tom had to tear me away from them many times, muttering something about space and luggage and three-months worth of souvenirs. Very sad. They’re so lovely.

And how about these ones! OMG. So in love!!!!!!

I did manage to get a couple of things (slightly easier to transport in a suitcase things), but will talk about those later.

Once Tom dragged me away from the lights, we resumed our walk down the giant aisles.

The next major event was a visit to the giant Blue Mosque, named thusly because of the many many blue tiles that adorn its interior.

Even the gardens at the mosque were exhibiting tulips as part of the festival.

Here’s the front of the Blue Mosque.

The practising muslims wash their hands, elbows, feet, face and ears before entering the mosque. Tom couldn’t resist testing it out.

One of the six minarets. The number of minarets indicates the importance of the person for whom the mosque was built. This mosque was built for Sultan Ahmet. Reckon he was compensating for something?

The ornate alcove above this door amazes me.

This is the square on one end within the external walls of the mosque, that you can walk through to reach the back of the mosque itself. If that makes any sense.

This is an example of the ceiling along the verandah (for want of a better word) along the other side of the mosque.

This is the image that hits you when you walk into the mosque. Incredible, huh?

The columns holding up that giant dome are absolutely massive. Here is Tom kindly demonstrating the width.

More of the arches and ceilings.

This is the main focal point of the mosque. The big ring at the bottom of the picture is a giant round suspended chandelier. It’s pretty spectacular.

The archways with alternating coloured stones are lovely.

They obviously had some very good stonemasons.

Here I am putting my shoes back on afterward.

The square outside the mosque used to be a Roman hippodrome apparently. It’s huge. And this statue that they apparently got from Egypt??

I couldn’t resist snapping more pretty buildings.

Tom found a book about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who we’ve both developed a great deal of respect for after our Anzac battlefield tour.

The museum had very very very old, and very very very giant rugs.

Tom decided to make use of the very fancy Koran stands to figure out our next destination.

We had a lovely view across the square towards the Blue Mosque again.

Quick stopover to take a picture of tulips and a fountain…

And one for Tom to smell the…tulips.

Next destination, Hagia Sofia Museum.

First off, we had to marvel at the massive width of the doors.

And then the massive height of other doors...

This building pre-dates the Blue Mosque by hundreds of years. It was first built as a church, and stayed that way for a really long time. Then, when Istanbul (then Constantinople) fell to the Ottomans who were muslims, it was converted to a mosque. The Christian mosaics and frescoes were painted over, and the altar moved slightly so that it would face Mecca. It now functions solely as a museum, and makes for a very interesting building.

It’s a gorgeous building.

How amazing are these archways?

This photo shows the off-centre altar thing.

Here is a Christian mosaic that was covered over.

This is how you could get from floor to floor.

Outside the museum is an enclosed fountain, for more pre-prayer washing.

The ceiling is incredible.

Tom has decided that Istanbul is his favourite city. Considering it’s only the second one we’ve visited this trip so far, I imagine he may change his mind, but it’s definitely pretty incredible!