Saturday, September 19 Istanbul
Groggy and still very tired
I made it downstairs (after locating the elevator LOL) in time to meet my new
guide and driver. I didn't understand either of their names and will have
to get them to write them tomorrow. They were a little late but I hadn't
quite begun to panic. Given the traffic in this city city allowances must
be made.
Our first stop was outside the Blue Mosque where I was
able to a reasonable angle to photograph it. Being early (7:30 am) there
were not a lot of people around. Unfortunately it was overcast so the
light wasn't as good as I might have hoped. The Haghia
Sophia (originally a church, now a museum) is right across the road from the
blue Mosque so I was able to take photos from the same area. Both are very
interesting architectural examples and, from photos I have seen, beautiful
inside.
From the mosque we proceeded to the Kunkapi
fish market a bazaar like arrangement with many stalls. Once again they
all seemed to be selling the same goods but I was told there is a sufficient market
to sustain them. In a city of 15,000,000 I guess a lot of fish could be
consumed. Sea bream, sea bass, blue fish, turbot, shrimp, mussels, clams,
squid, sardines, and many other varieties are available. Since everything
is fresh daily there was little or no smell of fish. I sat and watched
them unload trucks and begin to set their stalls for about an hour.
Interesting.
Then it was off to the Galata Bridge to watch the
myriad of fishermen try to catch sardines and, if they were lucky, blue
fish. They stand shoulder to shoulder and, as a result, there is much
tangling of lines and not many fish caught that I could see. Catching one
sardine at a time (even larger ones) means you need to do a lot of work to get a
meal but men here seem to have little or nothing better to do.
Next on the agenda was
a visit to a boat to see if we could arrange a tour of the Strait of Bosphorous.
We did. Trouble was there was no way for me (or most anyone for that
matter) to get aboard because the ramp was about three feet off the ground, had
no hand rails and was bouncing in the waves. No way I was chancing
that. After some discussion they decided to move the boat to another
location where boarding would be possible. At the new location we had to
scramble across two other boats to get to ours but it was fairly easy.
Shortly thereafter we were off at a leisurely pace along the European side of
the strait. We passed high schools, palaces, five star hotels, exclusive
restaurants, a university and many other types of building both old and
modern. As we approached the Bosphorous Bridge, a one kilometre suspension
bridge, the motor died. Repeated attempts to get it going failed so they
had to call for the Turkish equivalent of the Coastguard to tow us to
port. Getting hooked up to the boat was a hassle to say the least but it
was nothing compared to the difficulties of getting up to the dock with no
power. Eventually were tied up to another boat at the repair yard but the
prospect of trying to get off was daunting as the gap and height differential
were substantial. With the help of my guide and a crew member I managed to
make it unscathed. I discussed the price
for the boat trip with my guide and we decided that half price seemed fair as we
had finished a little more than half of the trip.
Off to lunch at a very nice seafood restaurant on the
shore. My guide is fasting so he read a newspaper while I ate (rather
uncomfortably I might add). I had a good
but somewhat watery fish chowder, a fish meatball (flat patty as the lamb ones
were previously) and a grilled blue fish which I am told is prized by the
locals. WOW is Istanbul ever EXPENSIVE!!! My lunch here cost six
times more ($70) than the most expensive meal I had in the eastern part of the
country. When I remarked on it the guide said, "This is
Istanbul". I guess only tourists eat out here. Three busloads
of Japanese tourists arrived for lunch while were there.
Our final stop for the day (my choice) was to sit
outside the Spice Market. Since today was the final day of Ramadan the
square was a constant river of people buying their sweets or clothes or other
goods for the three day holiday which begins tomorrow.
I didn't see much of photographic interest but it was enjoyable sitting there
and people watching for a time. I did see one cart selling roasted and
boiled corn on the cob - the first corn I have seen for sale.
We had just got into the van after I decided to leave
when it began to pour. Great timing.
I was so tired that I fell asleep a couple of times on
the short ride back to the hotel...