Days: 534-537 (11 December 2015 – 15 December 2015)

Total distance travelled: 135,649.5 kilometres (84,254.35 miles)

Two weeks ago we’d passed through the city on a wet, cusp of winter morning.

The fourteen days since, meant we were officially into the northern cold season, and although it wasn’t another wet arrival, it certainly was a grey old day.

We’d found ourselves a hostel in the Sultanahmet area of the city, the perfect point from which to explore the most iconic sights of the city, but equally as important, close to our first (and only definite) destination, the Iranian consulate.

Sarah was certain we’d need to make an appointment. I had a suspicion we might be able to get away with simply waltzing in.

What we weren’t certain of, was whether Sarah’s hair needed to be covered, so we did do so out of courtesy.

Once within the crowded waiting area (where we were able to submit and pay for our applications without an appointment) we realised we needn’t have bothered.

We were told to come back in four days to collect our visas (we’d pre-arranged the paperwork, our passport photos and Iranian authorisation codes), and just like that, we had ourselves an approximate end date for our time in Istanbul!

There wasn’t actually a ton of time left in this first day, so after sating our appetites with our almost daily consumption of a kebab, we spent the early evening checking out a few local sights after the sun set.

After all, we were staying close to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia so we could enjoy them at any time.

The winter night was chill, and the people about were few…

The following morning was one befitting the season, with grey skies and a cool breeze, enhanced no doubt by our proximity to the sea.

We kicked our day off with a wander, the confusing alleys in and around the Grand Bazaar, and ultimately the bazaar itself consuming a good chunk of the morning.

It wouldn’t all be wasted either, for whilst I can’t recall if it was this same morning or another, we did eventually utilise the vendors, grabbing Sarah a long, loose fitting skirt for our upcoming visit to Iran (something she could wear over her jeans).

Over time, our explorations took us to the waterfront where the dull day and lack of shelter made us feel even colder, but as we walked some back streets, we did discover and enjoy a museum dedicated entirely to ancient mosaics.

In random plazas and squares, long queues of folk could be found, snaking their way to unseen lengths, and piquing our curiosity. What on earth could they all be waiting for?

Turns out this was for lottery tickets, the impending draw I can only imagine being a big one.

Did anyone ultimately win? We never learned…

With late afternoon came a small break in the crowds, and as we dodged wedding parties, throngs of fisherman and the occasional street shark (offering the chance to take on their football prowess and lose some cash in the process), we made our way across the Galata Bridge.

From here we could put a golden finish on an otherwise grey day.

The waters below were apparently chock full of fish, at least the volume of fishermen suggested such, but other than the occasional vessel, all we could see were scores of jellyfish, not the most attractive dinner prospect!

On this particular night it was pide for dinner, pretty delicious if I recall correctly, however it was the beverage we chose to try and wash it all down with that was even more memorable.

Back in Göreme we’d met Paul and Johanna (that Australian/Swedish couple if you’ve been following our adventures), and they’d suggested we try a little of the local drop of which they were quite partial, Şalgam.

So what exactly is it?

If you’ve been imagining a local red wine or beer, you’d be way off the mark (but given it is us, not a bad guess).

If red pickled carrot juice, fermented and salted was what you’d been thinking, then incredibly, you’d be surprisingly correct!

We sipped it, we didn’t love it… we tipped it.

By morning, our luck (by that I mean with the weather) had returned.

A fitting time to tackle the Hagia Sofia.

Even on approach, it looked more impressive today.

Within, few people loitered which pleased us.

Large metal chandeliers which one could easily imagine housing sputtering candles (but these days house still  sputtering electric globes), hung low to the floor from the ridiculously high ceilings.

A lone black cat wandered about.

It was impressive, even if the curse of the scaffold struck once more (yes, I’ve strategically positioned the camera to avoid it, I’ll call it artistic licence).

To think this wonderful museum was at one time a cathedral, before conversion to a mosque and memories of both merge to create something truly beautiful.

We later wandered some tombs to royalty and Turkic nobles, the austere design of the complex livened by the incredibly decorative interiors, and the especially beautiful ceilings.

With the gorgeous weather continuing, we took this to be the opportune time to utilise our Istanbul pass and check out the Topkapi Palace.

The large arched entrance to the palace grounds provided a perfect frame for photos looking back towards the iconic Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia, whilst within the well kept lawns were bathed in winter sunshine.

Elevated as we were, we also had some lovely views out over the waters that dissect this ancient city, its much used highways from long before the invention of the automobile.

For the most part it was smaller watercraft and ferries, although the occasional tanker or freighter would pass us by, taking up the entire view at the same time.

The palace itself proved a sprawling complex of rooms, most grand, and spread over several levels of elevation (I keep referring to it is a palace, but these days it is a museum first and foremost), which we wandered in no apparent order.

Rooms of lavish jewels, intricate artwork, with walls, ceilings and floors (both inside and out) all bedecked in some sort of detail.

By now another kebab lunch beckoned, and as tasty as it was, it must be pointed out that whilst we indulged in many of these delightful fast food wraps as a meal, it wasn’t all we enjoyed or indulged in whilst in the capital (in truth, if I cast my mind back, we may have also had a Börek).

Supangle, a Turkish chocolate pudding was a favourite, and many  bowls worth were purchased during our time in the country (seriously, when I say bowls, despite it being takeaway, we were actually given a clear glass bowl in which it was served).

Our afternoon lunching near the Grand Bazaar (post Topkapi Palace) found us wandering the narrow cobbled alleys, and it was here we munched on a dessert of a different kind.

Sweet Lokma, I guess a fried ball of dough drowned in a sugary syrup, it was the sort of thing that would give us a burst of energy to get through the remainder of the day.

And for the rest of said day, we were getting both religious and scientific, usually something I would consider an oxymoron (and in truth, even here it remained as such), but what it meant was, we were headed to the Istanbul Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam (the name quite the mouthful, despite all of our aforementioned food).

After admiring a few colourful birds outside (as well as a rather impressive world globe highlighting the continents in bronze), we spent a bit of time within, checking out some equally impressive pieces.

Think ancient astrolabes and even more ornate globes (yes, navigation was obviously a big thing in the ancient Islamic world), as well as ancient medical equipment, and even a lovely recreation of the ancient water clock we’d seen months ago back in Fes, Morocco!

By the time we emerged, the day was late, so we sauntered back to our hostel whilst the golden rays of the sun still bathed the city, and the air wasn’t too chilled.

There had been one other point of note from this day, and depending on how you view the world, it might be quite momentous.

For us, it was simply a relief to finally have it sorted.

After a brief wait on our return, we were both now in possession of our visas for Iran… with the photo attached to mine looking particularly stereotypical… that would be stereotypical in a western convert to Islam, “Is he going to fight for ISIS?” (despite them having no presence in Iran) kind of way.

Anyway, we were now set, and it meant we could now put our plans in motion to travel east, as despite it being winter, we were not intent on simply flying into Iran.

But Istanbul, with it we were not yet done, and the following morning, which began with patches of blue sky before fully clouding over, saw us making the lengthy walk out to the Chora Museum, and it was here, that our scaffold curse finally returned.

An old church, it wears the moniker of the Istanbul Mosaic Museum (no, not the one we’d already visited), famed for its ceilings, which hold more than simply frescoes, although it certainly does still have plenty of those!

It had taken us roughly forty five minutes to make the trek out here, and normally that would not be of interest, but for the fact that Fevzi Paşa, the road we walked, was seemingly very important for the locals when it came to holy matrimony.

You see, on one side of this admittedly long road, we counted no fewer than fifty four bridal boutiques!

That’s a crap load of wedding dresses full stop, but also translated to a lot of horrible wedding dresses as well… but what do we know about local fashions!

We made our return along this same strip with slightly more hustle than our outbound journey, as we had an appointment to meet.

You may remember a random assortment of folk we’d met in Göreme?

A pair of Argentineans, a Swede and a fellow Australian?

We’d arranged to catch up briefly before we all dispersed to various parts of the world, so with about ten minutes or so before the appointed time, we made it back to Sultanahmet and loitered in wait.

It was mere minutes before we saw the first familiar face, but surprisingly it wasn’t anybody for whom we actually stood in wait.

Instead it was Juan (who for days we’d thought was known as Mr Jose) and like the quartet for whom we were actually anticipated, we’d also met (and become somewhat annoyed with) in Göreme.

We felt a little rude, but as our friends arrived, we soon ushered him on before finding a somewhat disappointing kebab shop for lunch where we all relaxed, shared a few more tales of adventure and promised to keep in touch.

The world of social media makes this exercise a hell of a lot easier, but would we ever develop these friendships beyond these few days? Who knows…

For our last hours in the city, we took things underground, and explored the conveniently nearby Basilica Cistern, incredibly almost fifteen hundred years old where its still pools (although there were fish in the waters) and columned supports were wonderfully lit.

If only my photos could do the place justice.

I’m not sure it was deliberate, however it somehow came to pass that our final touristic endeavor was one of the cities most famous sites.

If you know the city, or even simply know of the city, you’ve likely heard of the famous Blue Mosque, and as fare as finales go, this one was certainly worth the wait.

The skies had only partly cleared and it was by now getting late in the day, but even with this dull light, within things looked pretty special.

We’d certainly given ourselves plenty of other Islamic sites through Morocco and then the Balkans, so we felt we had some reasonable basis for our comparisons, and there was little doubt that this was our favourite Islamic place of worship.

Now we’d already arranged onward bus tickets through an agency, and it was from here (another point along Fevzi Paşa, the bridal street) that we were supposed to await our transfer to the main bus terminal.

So we grabbed a final kebab for dinner (Sarah put most of hers aside for later), and sat down inside the small office to wait…

 

Notes:

* Our overnight bus from Göreme to Istanbul cost us ŧ70.00 Lire each.

* The Istanbul Museum Pass cost us ŧ85.00 Lire per card. This allowed entrance into the Hagia Sophia Museum, Hagia Irene, Chora Museum, the Galata Mevlevi House Museum, Fethiye Museum and the Rumeli Hisar Museum.

* The entrance fee for the Basilica Cistern was ŧ20.00 Lire per person.