Start as you mean to go on

We have done the run in and out of Istanbul to Greece/Bulgaria a couple of times now and it really isn't very interesting. It sounds as though it should be far more exotic, but the reality doesn't live up to the concept. It was a Sunday, so the roads were quiet. There was a 7km queue of lorries leading to the border and just one booth open for cars/bikes - so we did the honourable thing and queued. All in order and quite straight forward; we will certainly have more trying borders to come. On the other side of the border there was a 10km queue of lorries. One really hopes that there wasn't the same stuff going in both directions. 

As we were now in Turkey and it was approaching lunch time, there was only one thing to do and we therefore started, as we will inevitably go on doing: we stopped for a kebab. The weather had perked up a bit, a man wanted to clean the bike and doubtless the tip that went with it and the petrol attendant knew we would only have large-ish denomination notes, that he would be unable to give the exact change for. But all was well with the world and we enjoyed it.

The motorway signs seemed to be indicating that one should have a pass to use them. And there were no control barriers - or manned booths - at what we presumed were toll stations. They seemed to have forward facing cameras too. But a bike only has a rear number plate and we never looked over our shoulders to see whether there was a rear number plate camera too. Anyway the letters and numbers are arranged differently so....

The tunnel under the Bosphorus is now open and that has changed the road system - Messrs Garmin please take note. The traffic was heavy from about 30km out, but we were never actually at a stand still. There were no pretzel/water/flower/fruit sellers walking between the cars either blocking 'our' reserved gap.
 

Istanbul is great for a few days - you can't overload yourself in a short time.

We think it's better to do a series of short visits with something new each time. We had not managed to see the Topkapi Palace last time, so that was one of our major things this time and it was well worth it. More and more impressive chimneys than Battersea - they had to feed up to 15,000 people on major feasts apparently. But there was also a shopping list for the banquet that said 31,000 sheep's heads - two each? The Palace also contained relics, a bit of John the Baptist's skull that had been bejewelled, part of his arm in a gold case and off-cuts of the beard of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. The Palace contained State Government buildings and the Harem. The latter seemed to have been used far more and was in need of greater renovation which large areas still closed to the public.

We also did the old favourites of the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market, as they are right next to our hotel. Carpet had been replaced in the Blue Mosque or had had a very HEAVY clean - less foot odour. Blue Mosque still the only six minaret-pack mosque in the world.

Restoration/conservation works at Hagia Sofia had not visibly progressed over two years and the dust build-up on the scaffolding was probably now of architectural interest.

 

 

As for the Grand Bazaar and its surroundings; never has man passed so many shops and not seen anything he wanted to buy...The bustle is, nonetheless, magnificent.

 

We also visited the Chora church which, although off the track, we braved the Istanbul trams,

had some stunning Byzantine mosaics discovered 50 years ago under some plaster - similar to Hagia Sofia. Faith had changed, Christ had been plastered over and a minaret bolted on. So much better to reUse rather than reBuild - the architectural period was probably called Early Environmental.

We have even been able to put up with the patter. One day we would however like to challenge the restaurant callers, as to whether there is anything at all on their menu that is different from the restaurant next door. We also went and tried the fore-runner of the fish finger sandwich - but where was the mayonnaise?

 

But the over-riding question that Istanbul has left us with is what happens to all the cats. There are masses and masses of feral cats in Istanbul with a substantial number of kittens. Yet......no, we won't have the chicken tonight, we will stick with the fish thank-you.