Turkish Delight - not just a candy!

Staying up all night is such fun when it is spent at an airport and on a plane, then what seemed like forever in the passport line (after spending $60 for a visa!) and then when we finally got our bags and passed through the doors to find out that there was no one from the travel agency we were assigned, well, let’s just say we were not very happy by this time – two tired and cranky girls!  Thankfully one of the reps from another company obviously saw the signs of distress and asked who we were looking for.  He called the company and got someone to come out and get us, the poor man didn’t know what he was getting himself in to with this assignment!  However, he handled us very well and got us to the hotel in the old part of Istanbul – the scene of the next problem.  We had our room but the hotel needed to change it on us later that day because it was a room for three….not impressed by that either especially since this room had a balcony!  In true style we decided to enjoy the balcony after our shower by enjoying a glass of the NZ wine at 8.30 am!!  Well, doesn’t staying up all night mean you can drink at anytime of the day??  We thought so.

Istanbul is a magnificent city and we were totally impressed by it.  After our breakfast on the rooftop restaurant (magic!) we went for a walk around the area to get our bearings and ended up at the Grand Bazaar.  It has over 4,000 shops in it but the nice thing is you are not pestered every step of the way.  Our afternoon trip was to the Spice Market and then a cruise on the Bosphorus.  It was a great way to see the city and we were amazed at the number of mosques, palaces, ruins and expensive houses.  Some of the houses along the waterfront fetch up to $60 million and they are not that fancy!  Because we crave exercise as often as possible (okay, let’s be honest…we NEED the exercise) we walked back rather than taking the coach and that is when we found The Pub.  The North Shield to be precise, and it was one of those pubs you feel completely at home in…..and naturally we made friends fast with the bar tender and manager.  We chatted with an American who was there for a few days mixing business with pleasure and came up with this brilliant idea that we would come back to watch the Canucks game at midnight because we had only been up for 38 hours by this time….. tired = dumb decision making!  Needless to say, we didn’t make it as I was sleeping the sleep of the dead by 8.00 pm and Errin was not that far behind me.  Sorry Steve!

After a brilliant and refreshing sleep we joined a group of 4 others and had a tour of old Istanbul with our terrific guide, and it was all within walking distance of our hotel.  We saw the Blue Mosque, the Ayasofya, the hippodrome and the Topkapi Palace. plus visited a carpet shop - Errin resisted the temptation to buy but managed to lounge on her favourite rug!  Istanbul has had such an illustrious history it was fascinating especially how it linked to our new-found Egyptian and Jordanian knowledge.  We were dropped off at the Taksim Square in the new part of Istanbul and checked out the shops as we made our way back to our hotel on foot.  Somehow (ha ha) we ended up at The North Shield and decided to stop in for a drink or two – well, it was a long walk!  We chatted with a few of the patrons and met a group of Italians who were on a break from work in Kazakhstan, who invited us to join them the next day, so we accepted.

We had a free day which meant we did not have to get up at the crack of dawn, so we didn’t.  Most enjoyable.  We took the tram over to the other side and walked to an area that had caught our eye on the cruise, Ortakoy.  We walked past some pretty impressive buildings, former palaces that are now hotels or part of the university or museums.  We wandered around, had lunch and then headed back to meet the boys.

It turned out they wanted to do a cruise on the Bosphorus and we ended up on this cute little boat that had bean bag seats up top – now that’s the way to do a cruise!  It was a most relaxing 1½ hours sitting in the sun chatting with our new friends.  The rest of the evening was spent wandering part of the old city and we ended up at a place the boys had been the previous night and thought it was good.  Sitting on the colourful cushions wrapped in a blanket and watching the world go by, it was a delightful way to end the day, so much so that we were out longer than intended as we had another early flight to catch – Kayseri in the heart of Cappadocia.

The Istanbul airport is crazy!!  Despite the fact that we were there at 6.00 am, there was a queue to get into the actual building – the reason?  To go through security.  We knew that we were now facing an airline that actually followed the rules and true enough, the guy called us on the weight of our luggage.  He could not speak English, and our Turkish is a bit rusty so he actually gave up trying to explain to us that we were 14.4 kgs overweight.  Smiling and gesturing we did not understand worked….this time, but we could be in trouble for the rest of our Turkey flights.

The view of the region from the airplane was a surprise – green fields and snow capped mountains.  We had a moment of panic thinking that we were not adequately dressed for the area, but it turned out to be a glorious day in the low 30’s.  No hanging about for us, straight into the tour.  We were joined by three couples all of whom were Australian and we had a great day.  Our guide was a bit on the dry side and I have to confess that I have pretty much reached my limit in terms of history lessons and Errin is not far behind me on that one.  We saw a bunch of different things related to the caves that the people used to live in and the alleged footprints of Jesus in one of the churches they made – that’s a bit of a stretch, but oh well.  The area is famous for its Fairy Chimneys, formed due to the wind, rain and snow but it is said that these structures are the chimneys of the fairy houses that lie below!!  The area is also famous for its ceramic pottery and we went to one of the places the pottery is made – the highlight was getting a crack at it!  It didn’t turn out too badly but I doubt they will be selling it anytime soon (it has probably already been made into something else!).  We watched a plate being made and then one of the wine jugs that at synonymous with the area.  It was a treat to watch them create in front of our eyes….I’m sure everyone felt the same about my effort…….

After a few stunning panoramic views we were dropped off at our 5 star hotel.  The room is wonderful, complete with balcony, so we are happy little campers.  Another early rise in the morning, but it is well worth it as we are embarking on a hot air balloon ride over the region.