22 April 2011
Well we are off to Istanbul a major destination on our bucket list. Have read loads about it, plus we will be attending the Anzac Day memorial at Gallipoli which Scott has wanted to do for years. Istanbul just sounds amazing, originally settled by Byzas in 657BC, the city has constantly been inhabited by a variety of nationalities since and they have all left their mark.
We arrive at Istanbul Airport to be picked up and taken to the Ibis Hotel which is a short 20km bus ride. Now we knew this hotel wasn’t right in the heart of the city, but had no idea how far away it actually was. We checked in and booked onto the shuttle bus to the old part of the city. We asked if we could be dropped off along the way and was told “yes no problem we could be dropped off before Taksim”, so we sat on the bus for nearly 2 hours going through Taksim and eventually getting dropped off exactly where the bus would have stopped in Sultanahmet. The city of Istanbul is divided by the Bosphorus Strait (Black Sea and Marmara Sea) and divides European Turkey from Asian Turkey. The traffic in Istanbul was amazing, it was almost gridlocked. Lesson learnt! Sultanahmet is a mega concentrate of shops, eateries and history all in the size of a postage stamp as well as being a World Heritage Site. We found a lovely place to sit in the sun (it was warm when we left the hotel, but it was now getting very cold) and had a platter of meze which included humous, tomatoes, olives and the thinnest pita bread you can imagine. Wow if the food anywhere else is like this, it is going to be a great place.
We had a general wander around to get our bearings and see what else was happening. There are loads of bazaars and beautiful coloured mosaics, ceramics, rugs – everything, may have to forgo the “buy a crap souvenir” and actually get something nice. You are constantly drawn to the old parts of the city with the huge city internal and external walls and also the unforgetable sights of all the mosques and Topkapi Palace.
As it is Anzac weekend, the place seems to have been flooded by Australians of all ages, so there are some very lively pubs, but we ignore them and found a lovely restaurant, where we sat under a heater and had some wine/beer along with a fantastic fresh dinner, I had stuffed aubergines and Scott had skewers, along with vegetables and a wonderful apply tea for desert, not quite as good as The Snow Lion in Nepal, but up there.
We met some lovely people, who were also there for Anzac services, before heading back into the cold air. We managed to find a taxi and headed back to the hotel.
23 April 2011
Up early and onto an early shuttle bus where we got off at Taksim, so we could walk back down through the hilly streets and get some pictures of the steep roads and also some of the architecture. Taksim Square is the main square in this area and is on the European Side and supposedly the heart of modern Istanbul. We stopped at the Galata Tower (build in 528 – see how excited we are, the architecture and city is just so old and fantastically maintained/resorted) and I thought it was all stairs to made Scott go up to take some photos, whilst I sat underneath and had a lovely local tea.
On his return he said it was an elevator and not the 61 meter climb I was expecting. So disappointed with myself could definately have managed an elevator. We head off back back through the streets, walking over the Galata Bridge (built 1994 to replace the previous bridge built in 1910, which was built to replace progressively earlier bridges). This bridge provides a stunning overview of the city and joins the two halves of Istanbul. You get a fantastic few of the mosques that are atop the seven hills of the city and is also a hive of activity with ferries and boats. The bridge is covered by people fishing, we didn’t see many people catching things, but it seemed like a nice way to pass the time, although how they manage not to snag passing passengers on ferries is beyond me.
Underneath the bridge is a maze of restaurants and stalls selling fish sandwiches – strangely neither of us felt like one of these as the fishy smell was just too invasive. Next up on the itinerary was the Spice Markets and wow, they were just full of nuts, spices, cheeses, food – everything. We tried a lot of the food and finally settled on some nuts and turkish delight to take with us to Anzac Cove. I don’t like turkish delight at home, but here it is wonderful, not too sweet, but very tasty. These markets were constructed in the 1660’s, originally being called the Egyptian markets as it mainly sold products from that country.
We then went through the Grand Bazaar which is not as impressive as the Spice Market and seems to sell a lot of overpriced souvenirs, so we just scooted through, although with approximately 2000 shops, 64 lanes and the Suleymaniye and Beyazit Mosques this was no mean fete as it was a giant labyrinth.
We were now officially a bit lost. There are so many entrances and laneways it is hard to know where you are for sure. We head where we think the Basilica Cistern and Hagia Sophia Museum are, to be in the wrong area of town, so take the opportunity to do the long route stopping to have some freshly cooked chestnuts.
It didn’t make a lot of difference by the time we got to these places, the queues were phenomenal, so we decided to try later and headed off for the Blue Mosque, which was now closed for prayer.
After a lovely light lunch we wandered back towards the Aya Sofya (Haghia Sofia), which is Istanbul’s most famous monument. Build in 537 it’s original purpose was as a church until 1453, then it became a mosque until 1935. After 1935 Ataturk converted it into a museum. There is a considerable restoration works underway and a lot has been lost in the intervening years. However, you can’t help but be inspired by the gold mosaics that are so small and detailed.
We wandered back behind the Topkapi Palace, which is immense and opulent. It was originally home to Selim the Sot who drowned after drinking too much champagne, not necessarily a bad way to go. The gardens the palace sits in is also beautiful and well maintained. I stopped to grab a freshly squeeze pomegranate juice from a local vendor.
We called back into the meze cafe we went to yesterday and Scott had a Hooka while we snacked and grazed on yet more lovely nibble plates – somehow I don’t think you can lose weight here. The food was similar to yesterday, but different enough to know it is fresh and the olives were fantastic. Of course Scott enjoyed his Hooka and it was nice sitting back and watching the world go about its business.
It was now getting late and we had a team meeting for the trip tomorrow, so we decided to get the train back to the hotel instead of a taxi. On the way to the train station, we found an area that is full of seafood restaurants (next to Kumkapi Train Station) which all looked fantastic and have marked that on the list of places to come back too. We found the train station, it was cheap, clean and frequent. We got off at our required stop and took a wrong turn out of the train station, having to walk what felt like miles around the hotel, but it is a giant building site and eventually one of the guards let us do the short cut, which took us to the motorway where we walked trapped against a wall and oncoming cars – stressful. We made it back to the hotel for a quick change, had a drink in the bar and then did the meeting to find out the details. We headed back to the bar for a few too many drinks and then to bed.
24 April 2011
Up early today for the 8 hour drive to Anzac Cove. The bus is comfy and we are soon all on board and barrelling out of the city. It is a very agricultural scenery and we are soon near the coast. Our tour guide tells us some history of the area and coastlines. We do a couple of stops for food/toilets etc before arriving at the entrance to the national park, which is closed, so we all go for lunch and do some sightseeing to kill the time. Visiting one of the Turkish monuments. We have another go to get into the park at 4pm and made it through the gates, to soon be ensnarled in a traffic jam.
It is a one-way system, but with so many buses it is slow going. We get out and have a look at the trenches – it is now starting to sink in, that nobody in their right mind would have thought this a good place to land troops. I doubt there are many english people here and nobody back in London seems to have the slightest understanding of Anzac Day and even what happened.
We eventually start the long walk down the hill to get to Anzac Cove, stopping at some of the cemeteries and just appreciating the beautiful sceneary, I am sure 96 years ago the young troops never got a chance to even catch their breath. We soon joined the throng to get through security.
We made it through security who were very thorough and were given a bag by the DVA including beanie (to come in very useful), information on the event along with a timetable of all the things going on during the night, we had a wrist bracelet put on to say we had been through security and then headed into the melee. Nearly every space of grace had been occupied so we headed up to the stands with others from the couch and put up some plastic sheeting, trying to make a little shelter. It was a little disappointing not to get a spot on the grass, however, it doesn’t matter where you are going to be, it isn’t a comfortable night and nor should it. We all raised concerns about the space available and how it would be managed for the 100th centenary – interesting times ahead for the organisers.
It was only 6pm and it was getting cold. We take it in turns to go for walks and see what there is to eat etc – it is very organised and although we were told to bring food, there seemed to be plenty, as well as places to buy cushions, blankets, water etc – yes it could be a bit pricey, but you are in the middle of nowhere. We were considering nothing to be available.
Finally the sun started setting on the cove.
It was about 8pm and it is now officially freezing and we are wearing everything we own and in our sleeping bags – only about 8 hours to go before the service.
During the night we watch lots of video/movies/interviews about the event from both the Australia/NZ and Turkish sides which does pass the time. There was a constant stream of people arriving during the night, so at least things going on helped to pass the time.
25 April 2011
Then at about 4am, the band comes on and everyone starts to get organised and we are encouraged to wake up etc.
At 06:15, dawn service started at Anzac Cove. The service itself was good, as the cliffs were lit up and you are yet again reminded just how difficult this area was and impossible the task assigned. It is certainly very humbling and moving and sadly you also realise it was meant to be the Great War, the War to end all Wars, if only people had learnt from the tragedies during this campaign. After the service, it is then a very sombre 4km uphill walk along a trak to get to Lone Pine for the memorial service at 10:30. Now I am sure this is very inspirational, but today the area is covered in grandstands and camera crews. However, you are drawn to the Lone Pine.
Not the original tree that was destroyed on that day, but another one that was planted afterwards. We have the same MC who did the Anzac Service for the whole night before, who was really good and he went through what happened that day, the mistakes that were made by the allies in thinking the area would be minimally protected and the amount of people who died in the battle. What a waste of very young lives. Of course during the service, the weather seemed to get even colder and we were back into our sleeping bags. Feeling bad that we were complaing about lack of sleep etc which was nothing compared to the Anzacs, Scott and I were going to go to Chanuk Bear to watch the NZ memorial, but decided to take some quiet time (and we were totally exhausted and cold) we walked around just looking at all the gravestones.
The time ticked by and we met in the pre-arranged meeting point to get on the bus, which took forever, due to the number of buses. However, we had been fully warned and prepared for the wait. The good thing is that we had arranged to meet our bus slightly away from the main meeting place, so were organised and all ready to jump on the minute we saw it – even though we did walk down towards it as it was cold sitting on the hillside.
The minute we were on the bus I think everyone was sound asleep, just keen to get back to the hotel for a shower and a bed. We eventually made it back to Istanbul. Now for the downside of the hotel – I don’t think they are used to large groups arriving at once as they just couldn’t handle the number of people and it took quite a while to get our room keys which was very disappointing. We had a shower, grabbed a quick meal downstairs in the, again, seriously understaffed restaurant and bar and just headed back to bed.
26 April 2011
As part of the tour, we did a two hour Bosphorus Cruise and you realise that there is a very wealthy population in Istanbul, some of the houses and boats were just spectacular. You also realise how big the city is and how much we still have not seen. Good excuse to come back later. After the cruise, we left the group and headed off on foot to see the remaining places on our list. First up was the Blue Mosque which wasn’t closed for prayer this time. This Mosque was buillt by Sultan Ahmet I to surpass the Aya Sofya’s grandeur. I think it certainly does that, as it is spectacular inside, so peaceful and beautifully maintained and decorated – it was also free, so makes you wonder what some of the other churches do with their money.
There doesn’t seem as many people about in town today, so we walked back through the park for Topkapi Palace. There is a tulip festival here, so everywhere you look there are the most amazingly bright flowers, it just looks fantastic. Everything is also clean and the people are really friendly.
We head back into a market and barter for some bowls, a door number plate and some turquoise prayer beads before having a lovely meze plate in the sun. We can both say this is one of our best city breaks and have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
However, before you know it, it is time to get onto the plane and head for London. On the plane we catch up with some of the On-The Go-Tour Bus L travellers and have a good laugh on the plane and on the tube afterwards.