Istanbul, Turkey

The Last Leg Begins……………

02:30 (CAT – GMT+6) Departure: Sitting at the airport in Astana. The end of another amazing Toto Tour – we made it! Maybe it is the lack of sleep but we have already been waxing poetic about our trip. It is difficult to synthesize a vast sea of liquid thoughts and feelings into a cohesive package but we will try to put them together and create an entry to summarize pur trip.

05:40 (EET – GMT+3) Arrival: Early arrival in Istanbul. Not sure what happened but our flight arrived almost an hour early. We were at the back of the plane so we didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to several members of our tour group. Customs and baggage claim was a breeze. Graham and Ross (a couple of new Aussie friends) helped arrange a car for us so we made it to the hotel without a problem. Thankfully, our room was available and we were able to relax and shower.

The hotel is amazing! The room is comfortable, the internet works and we have a view of the Blue Mosque from our balcony. Can’t wait to have a cocktail on the rooftop terrace.

10:30 Sightseeing – We ate a hearty breakfast that included incredibly tart yoghurt and a really salty, braided Turkish string cheese called orgu peyniri then headed out to see the sites. We bought a museum pass and were able to bypass the massive line waiting to get into the Hagia Sophia Museum.

Hagia Sophia was a Byzantine basilica built by Emperor Justinian in the 6th Century. It was converted to a mosque after Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks in 15th Century. Now a museum, it has been undergoing renovations for years. Although there is still scaffolding in place, the space is almost overwhelming in its beauty. The mosaics, overall architecture, grandeur and history make this one of humanity’s greatest creations.

12:30 Wine – Grabbed lunch at Balikci Sabahattin, a seafood restaurant in the touristy Sultanhamet area. Food was great but wine was even better – it was nice having white wine that did not taste like a mixture of kerosene and cognac!

14:00 Hamam – Andre booked an appointment for us at the Sultanahmet Hamam. It was the super touristy, Disneyland version of a Turkish bath but it was just what was needed after our long journey. We had a full body wash followed by an oil massage. Before having your skin scrubbed half away, they cover you with soapy bubbles that tickle as they pop all over your skin.

16:00 Pushy Salesman – We headed to the grand bazaar to receive a little education about carpets from a very well known and respected shop that sells top quality carpets (at top quality prices!) The bazaar is a labyrinthine maze of shops with well seasoned salespeople that cater to every possible tourist need. Unfortunately, we got lost in the carpet area of the bazaar. A very helpful fellow volunteered to help us find our way out of the area and before we knew it we were pulled into one of the innumerable carpet shops with tea in front of us. The owner showed us carpets while providing a song and dance routine about the shop. The carpets were okay but the salesman became increasingly aggressive both in tone and pricing. I don’t respond well to high pressure sales techniques and the fact that he dropped his price to less than 25% of the starting price made things worse. We finally got away from the shop but it took a good 90 minutes. We went to the bazaar to get an education and we certainly got one, just not the one that we had intended. We decided to get some much needed sleep and start the day fresh tomorrow.