Leaving on a jet plane …..

aaahhhh the last day in Turkey … We walked around a bit and then found Estee a new wallet after hers got knicked yesterday. That took a little while as well as talking to the nice policeman about the wallet.

Lunch was then had in the Sultanamet area of Istanbul which was very nice with the sun coming down on us as we ate. After lunch we were going to keep walking around for a bit but decided to head back to the hotel, get a taksi and head to the airport. It was probably the best thing to do really as we had time to relax in the airport over one of the most expensive cups of coffee you could get in your life. 8YTL … the same in AUD!

The flight on the plane wasn’t too bad except they played the same movie that we saw on the way across so we weren’t really interested in seeing the movie again within the week. What was the movie? Pursuit of Happiness. It isn’t a bad movie just can’t watch it twice in quick succession. One thing has to be said the plane pushed away from the gate on time and we were off. Unlike other places / airlines.

Took about 3.5hours to get back to Heathrow which wasn’t too bad considering. So we were back at about 09:20 and then the quick dash from the plane to customs … ok it is heathrow so it isn’t all that quick to get from the gate to customs. Estee was freaking out a bit on the way as she is acustomed to being stopped and interogated as she comes into the country. Today though she was fortunate and got through without any grief. All was good. Even the luggage came out quickly it was amazing and then we were off to the Heathrow Express to London before getting the tube to Victoria and then a South Eastern train to Margate. We were pretty well stuffed …. although we had to negotiate the bus ride at the end as well as they were working on the track.

We eventually got home at about 0030 UK time which felt more like 0230 which was the time in Turkey and we were stuffed. Thank god for Sundays …..

A day to ourselves and the pick pockets

Today was one of those days when we could do anything that we wanted to. The Tour was over and our time was our own. We went out on the CitySightseeing bus that goes around. It was a little expensive for mine but it was ok. The day was nice but the wind on the double decker open top bus was a wee bit cool. Brass monkey weather basically. The tour winds over to the Asian side of Istanbul and then around the City Wall which is rather impressive considering it goes for 20+miles!

After the tour it was time to walk around Istanbul. We made our way down to Sirkeci Train Station, the termination point of the Orient Express. Nothing really exciting about it but one of those interesting little things to know.

Then it was off to the Spice Markets after some lunch – Kebap of course. These had become our staple lunch. A pity the Sweat Chilli Sauce or the Garlic Sauce wasn’t freely available but they were still good. Nothing like the original I guess.

Like the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Markets were not too busy as one may have thought before going there. It was still a case of squeeze past people hare and there. The same salesmanship was on display here too. Amazingly, Estee said that she was all Bazaared out and didn’t want to hang around too much longer in the Bazaar.

After that shcok statement, we made our way back up to the Hotel to rest up and pack some of our stuff up as we were leaving the next day. We got the tram back up the road and unfortunately after we got off Estee noticed that her bag was open and it was closed when we got on the Tram. A quick check showed that her wallet had been stolen so it was a quick call to cancel all the cards that were in the wallet. Not a good way to end the trip.

Half Day Tour and Grand Bazaar Shopping

Today we had the pleasure one last time of Levant, our guide for the past few days as we went around the Turkish country side. Levant has been good to us explaining a lot of things to us. Not just what we saw but a bit about the Muslim Culture to which he belonged. Thanks Levant for all your information

We went down to Sulemaniye Mosque which is one of the oldest and biggest mosques in Istanbul. I was wearing short so I had to don a wrap to cover my legs which Estee thought was rather amusing and happened to take a photo of the event. Little does she know it isn’t the first time that I have been in a skirt. Ah they were the days

It was a very nice mosque and impressive with the domes being in excess of 40 metres in height. Not bad considering the era that it was built.

Of we then went to the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Camii). This probably one of the more well known Mosques around the world. It got its name from all the Blue tiles that is in the mosque around the pillars holding the structure up. Although it has undergone some renovations and the colour hasn’t been matched to the original and it has probably lost some of its original appeal.

The Basilica Cistern was the next stop. What is it I hear you ask … Well it is an undergound water storage facility. Water from the nearby forests is transported along teh Bezintine Aquaduct into this underground storage areas. It is really an amazing thing to see. Although I am not sure that it was lit in the way that we saw it many years ago. There is a restaurant down there too if you don’t mind getting some water on your head while you are eating.

The Archaelogical Museum (aka Hagie Sophia) is an old Mosque which in turn was an old Church dating back to 500AD or there abouts. Again one of those buildings you look at and wonder how they built the structure without a lot of the modern equipment that is used. they are currently doing restoration of the dome and removing some of the plaster that was used to cover the original Christian symbols before decorating it with the Muslim design.

 

 

After a quick bite is was then the thing that all women love … SHOPPING!!!! The tour was over and we were let loose on Istanbul and more importantly for the girls at least, it was time to hit the Grand Bazaar. Off we went to see the female mecca – bargains galore!! Well that is what they were hoping at least!

It wasn’t too bad looking through it. It wasn’t as crowded as I thought but amazingly we kept bumping into Kiwis and Aussies as we walked around looking at the rings and bags and .. and ….. Estee was on the hunt for a ring and she thought she had found one and asked the price …. 11000YTL … about the same in AUD! ouch!

We … I mean Estee eventually found one that she liked and we did a bit of a bargaining bantar but not sure if we won or lost. Not to worry all was good. We kept walking around and the shop owners we always coming out and being honest about what they wanted …

“Come in to my shop and let me help you spend your money”

One guy came up to me and said he liked my hat and started to talk to us and then spoke to Estee about South Africa. He asked if we would like to come back to his shop for a tea. We were a little thirsty so thought yeah why not could do with a good sit down in a chair sipping on some apple tea. When we got to his shop, we found he was a carpet salesman … We looked at each other and sort of laughed. We chatted, not too much about carpet initially and drank the tea. We then started to get the hard sell … Wasn’t too hard but it was a sales pitch. Estee said we had to hurry to catch our tour bus so up we got and left – very nicely of course. Unfortunately, we came across him a little later on when we were trying to leave the Bazaar. Wasn’t too bad but was funny to us.