An Asian adventure and last day in Istanbul
Thursday 11th May and we decided to cross the Bosphorus to the Asian continent - Turkey being the only country and Istanbul the only city - that spans two continents. You can catch the train or drive but we took the ferry across to Uskudar. The ride took about 20 minutes and cost around $1AUD, pretty good value. We had heard that the Maidens Tower was opening today after a year or so of renovations. The tower sits on it's own small island in the river and though this one has been around since the 1700's, there has been a tower on the island since the 10th Century. Unfortunately the opening was to be at 9:00pm, so we didn't hang around.
In fact there wasn't much else on in Uskurdar so we didn't hang around there at all, walking to Kadikoy - a lazy 6 - 7kms away. The walk wasn't overly interesting, though we passed a cemetary, a sports stadium, a couple of military installations and some parklands.
Kadikoy was a bit more of a happening place with a street similar to Istiklal St - though not as long - a fish market and a street full of antique shops. We went into a few of those but didn't find anything interesting enough or small enough to buy. We spent several hours just walking up and down the streets and alley ways exploring and taking in the sights.
We did come across a political rally, one of many we have seen as there is an election this Sunday. The rallies are a bunch of 30 or so people dancing and waving flags with very loud music playing. A bit annoying but easy to avoid. Strangely neither Trace or I were offered 'how to vote cards'. We must look like tourists :)
Caught the ferry back around 4:00 and then onto our hotel, going out later for dinner at a restaurant with a queue of locals waiting to get in. Food was good and relatively cheap.
26,602 steps today.
For our last day we started by heading to a small mausoleum that we had tried twice before to visit. The first time Trace didn't have a scarf with her and the second time it was closed. Inside there were 36 sarcophagus of various Sultans and their children. Each sarcophagus is covered by an embroided covering and all face the same way - Mecca I assume.
From here we decided to take the tram to the end of the line, with the thought that we would get off if we saw anything of interest. The ride took about an hour each way and though we only got off the once it was still worthwhile, and interesting, to see more of the city. We got off the tram at one point due to some ruins basically just laying on the roadside. They turned out to be part a Roman Forum dating back to around the year 393. Crazy
Once off the tram we walked to Suleymaniye Mosque getting there 10 minutes before they closed for prayers - damn. Rather than go in and rush we headed towards the Fener-Balat Neighbourhood. This area has brightly colored houses and a Cafe culture. The walk there was ridiculously hilly, but the area itself pretty funky and cool.
We stopped at one of the cafes for Turkish tea and a hot chocolate. As an added bonus they had wi-fi, so I was able to get a progress footy score, one that made me pretty happy 🐯🐅
Back to Suleymaniye Mosque we were able to go inside. Dating from 1550, it was designed to rival the Hagia Sophia mosque, being more graceful though smaller. Personally I couldn't tell, but Trace prefers this one over Hagia Sophia.
Tomorrow we get a taxi back to the airport to pick up a hire car and explore more of the country.
Impressions of Istanbul:
Fantastic historical sites everywhere
Hilly
Feels very safe
Organised chaos on the roads, lots of honking horns but mostly to say 'Im coming through'
Food and drink is expensive, especially wine and spirits (local beer is reasonable)
Public transport is cheap
People generally friendly - though often the friendliest are trying to get you to come to their carpet shop
Stray cats and dogs are everywhere and generally ignore you, but food is left out for them. Strangely no dog droppings though.
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