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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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We got to Istanbul vıa another long bus trip and we both slept on and off on the way there. When we arrived at the bus station (away from the city centre) we managed to get a shuttle bus that had a maniac for a driver. He then decided to dump us in an unfamilar area to us and we were fortunate enough to actually have a map this time. Our initial thoughts of the place were that it was way less crazy than we anticipated and we were in awe of the massive mosques that loomed above us.
We ended up finding a cheap place that would take us in for a few nights (we were lucky to get this due to the ANZAC crowd) and we loved our first night in a bed since our arrival in Turkey.
Our first day was spent sleeping in and then slowly making our way to the Grand Bazaar. The Bazaar is a maze of little shops that pretty much sell the same thing as each other. You cant walk 1 metre without a shopkeeper making some witty remark to lure you in. Our personal favourite was a man stopping us with a very serious tone saying 'Are you Australian?' we replied 'Yes' then tried to walk away but he kept saying 'One question, one question,' we stopped and listened then he said 'I own a jeans shop.' We didnt have the heart to tell him that it wasnt a question. We didnt end up buying anything but we had some fun haggling for items and getting an idea of how much things were actually worth (David got 1000 lira off a leather jacket).
That night we had a great meal (Meagans wasnt too tasty) sitting on the ground in a Turkish restaurant. We met another Aussie and an American couple there and spent the night chatting and drinking Turkish apple tea.
The next day we went to the Blue Mosque, the Ayasofya and the bisilica cistern. To get into the Mosque, Meagan covered her hair (one of the few tourists to do so) and we carried our shoes in a bag. The mosque was really impressive (it was our first one) and we noticed that it was much less ominous than a Christian church. Next was the cistern which was where the Romans stored water from the river 16km away. It was a dark and eerie place (it was 20 metres underground) and was a great demonstration of how inventive the Romans were. Lastly was the Ayasfya which was a church, then a mosque and now a museum. The sheer size of the place was impressive and it was interesting to see elements of both christianity and islam in the one building.
That night we met up with some people that we met at Gallipoli who actually lived in Istanbul. We were going to a pub to watch a soccer match between two massive rival teams in Turkey. One of the girls that we met has a Turkish boyfriend who is passionate about his team and his antics throughout the night were really entertaining. He had us singing and chanting in Turkish by the end of the night.
Our third day was spent in the sultans palace (the Harem was fairly interesting). The treasury was pretty spectacular with some amazing jewels and a huge 68 carat diamond pendant that a beggar traded for 3 wooden spoons unaware of its value. There was also a museum of islamic relics which had some amazing items in it (too bad we didnt really understand the significance). Later that day a shopkeeper stopped us (as usual) and wrapped his arm around Meagan. He then pointed at me and asked Meagan who David was. Both confused she told him 'Its my boyfriend' he then replied 'You didnt tell me about him last night, did you tell him about the antics we got up to' he then looked at David and said 'I told her I was too tired but she kept at me' We laughed him off and then he introduced himself as Mr Delicious (he owed a sweet shop).
We have loved all of the great little, and cheap, food places here and Istanbul has been one of our favourite destinations so far. It is definitely a place that we could see ourselves living.
previous travel blog entry
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