At last, some sun....Turkey

Sams pic's of the cistern

It's 5am, and once again, Sam and I are up for a flight. Why so early? We were trying to maximise our fun time in Istanbul. We've just crossed the Thames in our uber when Sam realises he has a txt from BA saying our flight was cancelled and sorry but your on the 10am flight...gad damn it there goes the sleep in...

British Airways are great, I guess it is deemed a long enough haul for free food and drinks, which is good for me because for some reason as soon as I get on a plane I get ravenous. They kindly gave me three boxes of lunch instead of just the one...good chaps.

Taxi to the hotel, a jazzy golden place in the old city. Some delicious coffee on arrival and bam, free upgrade too. Wonderful. Thanks Golden Horn. Our room was at the top, facing out over the Bosphorus, which was excellent although sliiiightly too close to the kitchen for after dinner noise...

The first morning we met up with the others and all went to see the sights together - on the list were visiting the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia and the Basillica Cistern. Lucky for us they are we all in walking distance from where we were staying and also walking distance from each other...

We didn't end up going in to the Hagia Sophia, just ogling it form the outside. It turns out that it isn't open on a Monday, something I didn't realise and so planned a visit for the Monday...rookie mistake Alana...Ah well....That whole area is amazing to walk through, I mean, hot as hell, but amazing. This is probably a silly thing to say but it feels like the sun hits the earth in a different way round there, maybe it's a real thing, maybe it's just me being a weirdo, but it's great. We went into the Blue Mosque, and as anyone who has been in there will know, they give you a lil robe thing to cover up your shoulders and head, which in the heat cling and make you feel like you've been placed inside a plastic ziplock. But thank god they had them, as we were all dressed for summer, and it would have been a shame to miss the mosque.

Then we dropped in to the Basilica Cistern,  'The Basilica Cistern (Turkish: Yerebatan Sarnıcı – "Cistern Sinking Into Ground"), is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), Turkey. The cistern, located 500 feet (150 m) southwest of the Hagia Sophia on the historical peninsula of Sarayburnu, was built in the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I.' I had read the Dam Brown book 'Inferno' a while ago, and for some reason had never googled what this place really looked like. The book has a chapter that includes the cisern, and that whole area of Istanbul, so it was quite cool to actually go down there and finally put some visual on what I'd imagined, which, just so ya'll know, wasn't too far off. In my brain it was a bit bigger, darker, crummier and for some reason I'd imagined them big palm trees they put lights at the bottom of being around the entrance hahaha...What? It cost about 20 turkish lira to get down there, which at the time was about £5. Being the keen bean I am, I got the audio guide. I'd probably say, don't bother with that...

Anyway, it was super awesome. The Medusa heads that no one quite knows where originated? Someone find out soon, please.

From there we went to a recommended spot for lunch, the House of Medusa. It was bloody yum. A nice outdoor setting, a short walk from the Blue Mosque. Then it was on to a rather big walk about town and over the bridge and up to the Galata tower. About the same price as the cistern.

Again, some Wiki info: 'The Galata Tower (Galata Kulesi in Turkish) — called Christea Turris (the Tower of Christ in Latin) by the Genoese — is a medieval stone tower in the Galata/Karaköy quarter of Istanbul, Turkey, just to the north of theGolden Horn's junction with the Bosphorus. One of the city's most striking landmarks, it is a high, cone-capped cylinder that dominates the skyline and offers a panoramic vista of Istanbul's historic peninsula and its environs.'

And it has a lift!? What?! that's right, you don't even have to walk up. Thank god, it was about 1000 degrees by this point, so it was a happy sight, that lift. Pretty good views, in all directions obviously. It has a one way system going, but it's kinda a slim jim walkway, and with people stopping, using selfie sticks, or ANNOYINGLY walking against the grain I couldn't help but feel like OKOKOKSEENITIMLEAVING.  There is a little dress up photo booth thing, which I wanted to do, but the idea of putting on a full on costume in that heat...oh dear no.

Then we headed towards Taksim Square. There were police and riot vehicles on every corner, which we found out later were in place due to a planned (but cancelled) Pride Parade, but at the time we were thinking whaaaaat is going on...

It's so darn sad how the bad shit that had gone on pre-our visit was having such a negative effect on their tourism, I mean, understandably so with people not wanting to run a risk, but it was so obvious, even then (pre coup) how lacking it was. Little to no lines to get in to these places that had every recommendation telling you to go early to avoid the madness. Sigh...

The last day we headed to Topkapi Palace, one more Wiki: 'The Topkapı Palace (Turkish: Topkapı Sarayı[2] or in Ottoman Turkish: طوپقاپو سرايى‎) or the Seraglio[3] is a large palace in Istanbul, Turkey, that was one of the major residences of the Ottoman sultans for almost 400 years (1465–1856) of their 624-year reign.[4]' 

We actually accidentally got tickets to the Istanbul Archaeological Museum that is just down from the entrance to the palace. Well, I certainly didn't mind. The most exciting part of that for me was the bit of the Ishtar gates of Babylon. They are spread out around the world, but these bits were cooooool. There is lots of other interesting stuff in there, mostly things I know nothing of, but I would recommend it.

On to the palace, and we strolled about in the hotness, nipping in to the different rooms and courtyards as we went. You can pay extra to go into the harem, which we didn't. It would have been cool but I don't think we thought we would have enough time. Some pretty good views from up there, some amazing tiling and gardens. It was a nice easy afternoon. From there we went and had the most amazing feed, at Buhara, which included some classic puff bread. They call it ‘Lavaş’ (lah-VAHSH’) it was pretty tasty dipped in hummus. We had walked past some of them earlier and I honestly thought it was an alligator head hahahaha. Cos the shape and the burn spots and the periphery....yeahhhh. I'd recommend it.