Istanbul Day 5: a trip along the Bosphorous

Today, we decided to walk down the hill from Sultanahmet and catch a ferry to take a tour of the Bosphorous from Eminonu (where the Galata Bridge is) nearly up to the opening to the Black Sea.  We had been told that there were great photo opportunities plus the chance to visit a fishing village.  We should have been told to bring cash, since the fare can not be paid by credit card and if you want refreshments or an audioguide, you also need cash.

Although we arrived half and hour early, most people seemed to have arrived much earlier and there was a race to get the best positions.  These are on the roof or outside, at the front or the back of the boat.  Although windier, you get better photos without dirty window panes between you and the scenery.  Plus, we hired the audio guide to share between us, since there is no commentary on board, and even though we were sitting by a window initially, the poor reception meant that the tape kept moving ahead or lagging behind the boat, so it was quite confusing knowing what we were looking at. If inside, sit on the upper left on the left as the boat seems to stick to that shore.

As the ferry leaves the Golden Horn, the estuary that separates Istanbul in two, you can get great photos of the old part of the city

and the newer part.

 

As you turn into the Bosphorous, you can get good photos of  famous landmarks - mainly the abodes or former abodes of the rich and famous - like Dolmabahce Palace,

 

  and landmarks like the Ortakoy Mosque which is at the foot of the Bosphorous Bridge

or the contrast between the old and the new

 

The cruise is also a great opportunity to get views of the towns and villages which now seem to form suburbs of modern Istanbul 

and the woods that still remain

Although most Istanbul residents live in rather ugly apartment blocks it is clear on this trip that some can afford rather gorgeous houses too.

 The other nice aspect of the trip is that you can people watch both locals and tourists.  we got into a conversation with a nice Spanish couple who were as confused as we were about how the cruise was organised.  They were a bit stunned that, although Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the world, nobody speaks or understands it.  Sorry people, English is the lingua franca!

 We didn't get to see the Black Sea, but we did get to see the new bridge just before it:

The trip takes 1/12 hours, and although it stops at some villages, you can't just hop on and off as you like.  The main destination, for some reason, is the fishing village of  Anadolu Kavagi which, although it looks fine from the water,

is extremely disappointing from the shore.  And, we had chosen the long cruise, as advised, so we had 3 hours to spend there!  From the boat, the village appeared to be very long with lots to see.  When we arrived however, we discovered that we were confined by the rebuilding of the roads that was occurring to the rather tatty looking souvenir shops and the very aggressively competitive fish restaurants.  It was a hole!

 We tried to stroll around but you can't get up to the the Yoros Kalesi (castle), which would have given rather good views.   The local dogs were full of ticks so we avoided touching them.  The foreshore is covered with private buildings so we couldn't paddle. We did enjoy some of the humour, like this display in a shop window, which shows the EU and the USA dividing a turd between them to eat.

 But the the friendliness of many of the non-sales locals, the evident resignation of others of the locals who realised we weren't going to buy anything

and the discovery of gravestones with turbans

did not fill in much time.  We resigned ourselves to having a very prolonged and expensive lunch and watching the local bully who ran the restaurant beside ours, verbally and physically abuse his neighbours as he tried to keep all the business for himself.

Half an hour before the ferry was due to leave, there was a huge queue outside the exit gate on the dock.  When they finally opened the gates, they opened the no admittance gate just to trick us and we all hurled ourselves on board with great alacrity and relief.  I don't think we would do the long trip again.

Back in lovely Istanbul, we were treated  to some local musicians playing instruments and singing

Istanbul Day 4: Great Palace Mosaic Museum

Today I had a quiet day, mainly sitting in cafes and people watching, or window shopping.

However, we did get to see the Great Palace Mosaic Museum.  It always amazes me when incredibly old pieces survive against all odds.  This museum displays about 180 square metres of a very, very, very, large mosaic pavement, which is thought to have been added to the Great Palace of Byzantium, behind the present Blue Mosque.  It was made somewhere between 450 and550 AD and features scenes of  life, mythology, nature and hunting and is wonderful.  Here are some of the scenes that I photographed:

 These last two are my favourites:

Day 3 Istanbul: the Basilica Cistern and the Galata Bridge

The next visit was to the Basilica Cistern which was built in 532 AD to deliver water to the Great Palace via viaducts from a reservoir near the Black Sea 20 km away.  Now, it is home to the fattest carp I have ever seen.

The  steps down to the cistern and the walkways are pretty damp and slippery, but it is an amazing feeling to think of the age of these remains of the 336 original columns, and the modern city above.

Because the columns were sourced from ruined temples, they vary in appearance.

 So do the bases, two of which feature heads of Medusa.

Our final adventure was walking down to the ferry terminals, then across the Galata Bridge to the Beyoglu side. Fishermen catch fish on the top of the bridge:

The views are amazing, whichever side of the bridge you are on:

and you can pick up a meal from one of the restaurants under the bridge, or from one of the vendors on the foreshore.

Istanbul Day 3: Topkapi Palace

Amazing! It drizzled on and off all day today - I wouldn't call it rain- and was a bit cooler. Nice to know that Turkey isn't perpetually warm and sunny.

Topkapi palace, the home of so many of the sultans and their entourages, was the main aim today.  The gates and some areas inside the walled enclave are guarded by rather bored looking soldiers who look rather pleased when asked to pose with tourists for photos. 

Inside, the gate, and once you have entered the ticketed area, you have to be prepared for queues in some areas like the Harem and the Treasury, more tour groups and some shoving from rude people in the popular exhibits, but you also get the advantage of having great views over the water, and I discovered the areas that interested me most had less people in them.

Once inside the Imperial Gate, you wander through treed and rose lined gardens towards the Middle gate.  On the way, you pass traditionally garbed actors who wave pseudo-enthusiastically as you pass and pose for photos, presumably to tempt you into one of the museum shops.

Then, you wander through more gardens towards the Gate of Felicity and the Audience chamber beyond, which was used for state ceremonies.

Just past that, there is a very long queue to get into the Imperial Treasury, which has a small collection of super dooper jewels and the famous Topkapi dagger, amongst other treasures.  I found other areas which had much less interest from the public more interesting, but other people were pretty enthralled by the collection.  Once through the treasury room, there is a balcony which gives great views across the Bosphorous and the Sea of Marbara, which is why, presumably, this site on the promontory was chosen.

You can wander down to the Mecidiye Kiosk area to take advantage of more great views, then wind through the gardens

 to visit the Library of Ahmet III, the kiosk of Mustafa Pasha, The Revan Kiosk, the Baghdad kiosk, the Circumcision Room, the Marble Terrace

and the Viewing Pavilion

all of which vary in styles and influences.  However, all prepare you for the sheer opulence of the life of the sultans and the amazing profusion of and quality of the craftsmanship they could demand.

 My favourite areas were in the family areas of the Palace, the harem.

  I love the quality and the variety of the tilework there.

 I noticed, however, that the men seem to be entranced by the Outer Treasury and the Arms and Armour area with its display of weapons.  

Another favourite area for me were the enormous palace kitchens with their huge chimneys. 

I found the quantities of food that needed to be prepared each day for the 4000 inhabitants each day, and the extra logistics of having to cater for up to 50,000 odd guests on special occasions, the sourcing of foodstuffs  and serving utensils from all over the world, absolutely fascinating.

 there is much more to the Topkapi palace than I have described.  I think you need more than one visit to really appreciate it.  At first, I was a little disappointed in some aspects of the Palace compared to the Alhambra and El Generife in Spain, which seem more elegant and use water features so well, but other aspects lived up to expectations.