So we rocked up to Joanna's friends after our ferry journey and a few evening circuits of Istanbul's Trafalgar Square equivalent (Taksim Square - we got a little lost due to a police diversion). It was great to see Sevil again, and her husband, Devrim. They took great care of us and it was lovely to be in a real home again (and get our washing done!). They also took us to lots of fantastic cafes - we saw a very cool trendy side of Istanbul we can definitely recommend.
Our first day there they took us on an orientation tour. We went up Galata tower which is one of the oldest towers in the world (5th century, although burnt and rebuilt in stone 14th century). Apparently some Turkish Da Vinci type organised a flying contraption off there after the Ottomans took over (1453 Constantinople fell), and got across the Bosphorus. The Sultan was going to praise him but got scared and exiled him instead - some reward! Anyway, it has great views:
(That's the Bosphorus to the left, Topkapi Palace, Agia Sophia, and the Blue Mosque across the land, and the Golden Horn inlet in the front).
We also then went on a trip along the Bosphorus. Joanna, full of confidence after the ferry trip to Istanbul, coped with some ease:
It was good to go along the Bosphorus to get a sense of the city (and say: look we're in Asia! Look we're in Europe!), and Devrim filled us in on a lot of the sights and history of the places along the way. There's a fair few Ottoman palaces!
The next day we let our host and tour guides get some work done, and we headed off to the main sights in Sultanahmet (which as well as the area is the local name for the Blue Mosque). Now if you start your sight-seeing at 3 in the afternoon due to too much sleeping in and chatting you must see the main sights in the order we did...
First up was Topkapi palace - where the sultans ruled from Mehmet, who finally conquered the city, until the mid 19th century. The main thing to see is the harem, where the royal family actually lived. Here's Ben in the Eunuch's Rooms:
and Joanna in a throne area between the harem living quarters and the Sultans:
There was an awful lot of palace to see, from the circumcision room to the kitchen, the weaponry, and especially the treasury, with amazing emerald, diamonds, gold swords etc. It's massive, and amazing.
From there we headed to the Basilica Cistern. Don't be put off by the toilet sounding name, it was a 5th century water reservoir for the Byzantium Roman Emperors' palaces:
Next on the late tourists' schedule is Agia Sophia:
Converted to a mosque, they covered lots of fantastic mosaics like this with plaster:
But Ataturk, great fella that he was, converted it to a museum, and restored some of the mosaics - so now it has elements from both religions. Ben went a bit snap happy, so there'll probably be a few photos on Flickr of Istanbul when we get a chance.
That was it for closing times, as the Blue Mosque has to be open for worshippers:
Outside the Mosque we were accosted by a gentleman trying to sell us a carpet. He seemed quite a persuasive fella but was couldn't handle the googly Joanna threw him, "I'm sorry, we don't need a carpet. We don't have a house!" He knew he was beaten!
To round off our Istanbul top five tourist attractions in one afternoon we moseyed outside the Blue Mosque to the Roman Hippodrome (now a roundabout road), which has 4th century Egyptian columns in the middle:
On our last day in Istanbul, we took a trip out to Belgrade forest on the outskirts to visit Sevil's parents. Along with Sevil and Devrim, they gave us some good history lessons about the area, so we hope we've got most of our facts right! They also had lots of very useful advice for our travels following their own motoring adventures around Europe. And we were treated to some lovely food - Ben has to admit Turkish lamb is pretty good - which is high praise indeed from a kiwi! It doesn't matter where you are in the world, or how old you are, going to parents' homes is always fabulous!
Finally, the drinking challenge. 2 drinks were fulfilled. We've been carrying around a bottle of Cava since Valencia - we've not had a fridge, and Ben didn't fancy drinking the whole bottle by himself. So with chilling apparatus and friends we could finally do it:
Also, we Turkey's drink, raki:
Aniseed-y, as all the drinks of this region seem to be; Ben loves them, even if he does have to brush his teeth before he's allowed anywhere near Joanna again.
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