Day 47 Istanbul

Today we arrived in one of my favourite ports.  The sail into Istanbul is always beautiful, passing many of the famous landmarks.  We were also lucky that we only had a couple of smaller ships with us, the Seabourn Odyssey and the yacht Wind Spirit. 

We also only had to contend with the approximately 13 million that live here. When we told Kagan our guide, the population of Sydney, he suggested that we should know everyone.

Once again, Kagan from www.privatetoursinturkey.com was our guide. Having been to Istanbul in 2011 we chose a tour that took us to the Mosque of Suleyman, Beylerbeyi Palace, the Grand Bazaar and a cruise along the Bosporus.

The Mosque of Suleyman is the largest in the city. They were much stricter here with the dress than they were in the Blue Mosque the last time we visited. Though it was lovely to walk straight in and not contend with hordes of tourists.  Kagan took us to the side, sat us down and spoke to us about religion in Istanbul.  Eventually, we decided to get up and leave the serenity of the mosque, and soon we were on our way to the Palace.

One thing that Kagan showed us is how Istanbul likes to group their shops. We drove down one street, and it was all hardware, he said if you drove down this other street, you would be able to see all the shops that sell crystal chandeliers, so on and so on....  We passed another section where there were rows and rows of bikes.  

This led to the story of Circumcision.  When a young Muslim boy turns four – five it is their time to be circumcised.  The father and uncles take the young boy out for the morning and the mothers and aunts gather all the family to the house for the celebration.  The father and son return and with the bed set up in the middle of the lounge room where the operation is performed. 

Don’t panic, nowadays anesthesia is applied, so it is relatively painless, but Kagan (pleased that he is Christian) remembers going to friends' ceremonies where the boy was held down by the father and uncles until it was over.  This is a celebration where there is a reward and the young boy is showered with gifts, which gets back to the original story, this is when boys get their first bike.... a bike he can’t ride for several weeks!!

Our next stop was the Beylerbeyi Palace. Young at only 150 years old it was the summer palace of the last six Ottoman Sultans.  We crossed one of the suspension bridges that link the European side of Istanbul to the Asian side.  Apparently, they are not going to build any more suspension bridges and if the need arises, they will build underwater tunnels to link the 2 sides. 

 A lot of locals prefer to live on the Asian side as it seems much more lush, green and open than the European side.  Walking around the palace you can once again see the opulence in which these sultans lived.  Unfortunately, this year the officials decided we could not take photo’s inside the palace, according to Kagan it seems this can change with every visit.

 

Now it was time for the Grand Bazaar, an area so big that you couldn’t cover all of it in the couple of hours that we were there... though once you saw one type of stall, you have seen them all...  Kagan gave us a few hints on how to bargain successfully.  He said that it was really important to look at them straight in the eyes to let them know that you mean business.

 Unfortunately, one shopkeeper who thought himself smooth and charming, mistook my determination for flirtation.  After we completed our transaction, we shook hands as you always do, but he held on... tight, while he tried to make his move I frantically looked around for Garry to come to my rescue, but he had already left the shop.  As Casanova tried to steal a kiss, I managed to free myself from his grip I raced out of the shop, only to find Garry pointing the camera and grinning at me as he captured my exit....... grrrr  Kagan tells me it must of the been the green eyes as they are not used to them. LOL

We wandered around the bazaar picking up a few more trinkets. What we always find amusing is the on-selling......  as soon as you purchase anything, no matter what, you will always hear “would you like a carpet with that” ....... I am sure that everyone in Istanbul owns a carpet and leather store and if you enter one, they will try to get you into the other.  We did find it all a bit overwhelming and decided that we much prefer the much more relaxed Spice Market.

The weather today was much more pleasant than last time, but we did have the threat of rain... well, it did rain... just when we were ready for our Bosporus cruise.  We debated yes or no, but decided the alternative in the rain was no better.  The traffic was really starting to build up now, and it took us an hour to get to the pier where the boats left from... But we made it just in time, the rain stopped, and we were able to enjoy the cruise from the top deck of the boat. 

The cruise lasted for an hour, and we passed many of the multimillion Euro homes that dot the water’s edge.  Kagan told us stories of how he used to live on the Bosporus and as a young boy would swim with the currents from one side to the other ... Obviously, the water traffic was nothing like it is now.

We passed many boats decorated for what looked like wedding celebrations, and a few brides had been spotted around and about.  We took this opportunity to sit back, the girls with a bottle of wine and the boys with a beer and take in the surroundings.... ahh life is good....

With a little time to spare, we hung out with the locals back at the pier.  Little craft and food stalls had been set up.  Having scrounged a few Liras from the others, we decided to try a Turkish waffle, much to the delight of the young men who were preparing them....  Tom Cruise, as he called himself, put on a great show once Garry got the video camera out...  It really ended up being a highlight, as Tom a self-confessed master chef, created a culinary delight for us which included caramel and white sauce, banana, strawberries, kiwi fruit, nuts, chocolate bits, and God knows what else..... he was so proud, and it was so yum..... Of course, then he wanted to watch the playback on the video!!

Happy and content, we got back on the bus and fought our way back to the boat.  Whilst on the bus, we noticed an old man begging in the middle of the road literally.... he stood in the middle of the road whilst the cars zoomed past and as soon as they stopped for the lights, he would walk from window to window. Kagan said that they don’t have a lot of beggars, probably cause they have realised they would get more money if they tried to sell things from window to window... which we also saw... we were impressed with the beautiful flower bouquets people were selling, if only we had room in the cabin....

 

Everyone was out early for sail away. The views from the boat were just magic.  In the back of our minds we are all aware of the trouble brewing in Syria, this was reinforce when  whilst standing out there we saw a fly over of at least 6 fighter jets.... hmmm ... no formation flying here so we gathered it was not for the benefit of the South Korean conference that was on!!!

 

Day 36 Kusadasi

Today we are in Turkey, and we were told we would be sharing the dock with another Ship.... grr more crowds... you can imagine our surprise when our other boat was the  Wind Spirit which really is just a huge yacht.

We had a very easy disembarkation, and we found our Guide Yelda very easily. We used www.privatetoursinturkey.com as we had used them in Istanbul last time.... she was a wonderful and knowledgeable guide.

Once we were in our very flashy and comfortable bus we were on our way to Ephesus.  Ephesus was an ancient Greek city which later became a major Roman provincial capital.  This is was major sea port but alas the ocean has disappeared over the years.

Ephesus is very hot to visit with limited shade, but it was a magnificent experience to visit this wonderfully preserved city... there are actually four cities like this in the area and only 10% of this city has been excavated. 

We saw examples of ancient mod cons, underfloor heating, piped water systems, drainage systems, remains of beautiful frescos that decorated walls and intricate mosaics that decorate the floors .  We actually saw the biggest jigsaw puzzle ever.  Tables full of pieces some is painstakingly trying to fit back together.

Other highlights were the reconstructed library facade and the Grand Theatre that hosted many a famous stars until one day the sound vibration from the concert caused the collapse of a section of seating.

 Even saw what could be the first milestone ever.

We learnt about the meaning of many of the symbols we have nowadays, like how outside the front of their shops traders would display a wheel that looks like a sliced pizza and how the religious fish symbol came into being.....

Then there is how the pharmaceutical snake's symbol came about. 

There was a hospital that claimed to have a perfect record of cure rates.  Doctors would examine patients before they were allowed to be admitted, if they seemed curable, they were accepted if they were a lost cause they were sent packing.  

One day a doctor felt sorry for a very sick patient and admitted him.  After his mistake was realized and the patient deteriorated, he was thrown out of the hospital.  Unable to travel the patient stayed out the front of the hospital.  The hospital staff felt sorry for him and would bring food but never brought him back into the hospital. 

One day as the patient slept, two snakes slithered up to the man and drank milk from the bowl next to him.  When he awoke, he drank the rest of the milk from the bowl and suddenly the man started to improve. A doctor had witnessed the snakes and realized the healing properties of Venom.  This is how anti-venom was developed and if you notice the pharmaceutical symbol is 2 snakes interwoven, leading to a bowl of milk.

After leaving Ephesus we went to sacred sight at Mereymana. Here is believed to be the final home of the Virgin Mary, brought here by John the Evangelist after Jesus asked him to care for his mother before he died.  This site was found after a German nun wrote a book about the virgin mary and described her life from visions she had had.  This nun had never been to Turkey but was able to describe the area, house and surrounds precisely. Here we were able to walk through her home, light a candle and drink the water from a local spring that is known for its healing properties.  There is also a wall where people write wishes to Mary on paper and stick them to the wall and hope that she will answer their prayers.

 

Starting to feel a little hungry now so,  Yelda took us to a little local restaurant mainly frequented by locals.  Food here had a greek influence with servings of stuffed capsicums, vine leaves, cheese rolled and fried in Pitta bread and that was just the entree.  We also salad and meat cooked in different ways. 

On our way home we did a drive by of Artemis’s temple one the ancient wonders of the world.... all of one column that remains LOL

We were then dropped off back at Kusadasi to wander around the Bazaar just next to the port.... Hey this bargaining is fun..... did I get a good price for my Genuine fake handbag ......I don’t know but it makes a good story.

One other thing I forgot... now that I was in the bargaining mood we decided to buy Garry a "Paul Smith" shirt.... we walked into a shop found his size and asked the price... 20 euros..... Garry says “no too much 12” The guy just laughed at him and turned away.... ok no bargain no buy so we walked out.  We were met by another man at the door who asked what are you after... we told him and agreed on 15 Euro... he ran into the shop ran out and quickly stuffed the top into Garry’s bag. He took the euro then asked for a tip.... 2 -3 Euro..... I patted him on the back and said “be good to your mother” turned around and walked away...  Garry was still concerned about the manner he stuffed the top into our bag.  He now thought that maybe he ran into the shop stole the shirt and gave it to us.  We decided to hightail it back to the ship before anything else happened.....we didn’t want to go to jail  ..we have seen Midnight Express!!!