December 2017 - Solotravel

Istanbul Bosphorus tour

Another early start for the day, this time to do the Bosphorus tour, same routine with the company. Everyone was gathered from various hotels, given a number, then sent to the coaches. We started the day by stopping off at the Spice market. I was so hoping to go there. After the wonderful markets in Uzbekistan, I love the atmosphere, the smells, the people busy with their lives. It lived up to my expectations of the colours, the smells, displays both large and small. The usual sell stop at a prearranged seller of course , ten percent off if you buy!
I didn’t but headed off to explore the rest of the markets. Finally being tempted by some Turkish dried figs and apricots. The small boy nicely putting on a plastic

glove to put the fruits into bag. I get the feeling sometimes that these kids don’t go to school. perhaps they go early while its still cool. The figs and apricots turned out to be superb.

From the spice market i wandered over to the adjacent mosque. Called the New Mosque or Rustem Pasha mosque, it is not as big as the main mosques that tourists tend to see, but its lack of size gives it a genuine feeling of being a sacred site. It is apparently one of the top three for its mosaic work. It truly was spectacular, despite having seen mosaics ad infinitem, I never tire of seeing them.
I have seen many mosques over the last few months, the interior of this was worth seeing just for the Iznik tiles alone
I carry a scarf to slip on most of the time when looking inside the mosques. so it comes in handy. The mosques do provide a covering for the women to wear, it is standard practise to remove shoes, and either carry them in a bag or leave at the door in shelf space.

After leaving the spice market the tour headed for the boat that was to take us to the Bosphorus up through the Golden horn. A natural water division between the European and Asian parts of the city. A charming trip on a beautiful day to view the old buildings. The Bosphorus bridge one of I think, four bridges. We were told they are currently building a tunnel beneath the Bosphorus that is due for completion in 2013 as well as an additional bridge.The boat turned to go back to the port after taking in the stunning sight of the Rumeli Fortress. I love castles and forts and this was no exception, It the impression of tumbling down the hillside, but far from it. It was built around 1452 and attests to the building skills of the past. Seven hundred years later it still looks the formidable sight it must have been to the many raiders who tried to conquer city.

From the boat ride of nearly two hours we were whisked away to lunch. Essentially the same as the previous day, very tasty, but for me it was spoiled by the lack of accompanying cold water, although it was made clear the drinks were not included on the tour, I felt water should have been complementary with lunch it is not ‘ a drink’ perse! The lunch room up three flights of stairs with no air conditioning of note, with the heat of the day, a poor choice of restaurant for the number of people there was on the tour that day.
From lunch the next sell of the day at a leather fashion stop. We were treated to a fashion show of the products, which were marvellous, with price tags to match. Looking around the showroom later some prices were 12-1500 €.
Mostly exported we were assured they would be well discounted for us. I don’t think anyone bought at all. Total waste of time in my opinion. to see and feel the quality of the garments however was something I would not normally do, and allowed me to dream a little!

From here we went on to the Beylerbeyi Palace. Oh, what it is to have money regardless of the era you live in! This was built as a summer palace in the 1860’s. Complete with an indoor pool and fountain, not working while we were there, it was one of those sumptuous places the people of the era were very good at doing. The paintings on the ceilings, wonderful furniture, the carpets ,and mirrors. It had no kitchens as all the cooking was done outside with it being a summer palace, bringing into the house if the residents wanted it there. I felt it was a bit rushed I would have liked to have spent more time there but you were only permitted through it with a guide. All shoes covered with plastic covers for obvious reasons of keeping the carpets clean.

The last port of call was the Camlica hill for some wonderful photos from one of the higher points in the city. Worth the drive, but the cafe a tad expensive in my opinion, 7lira for an orange juice just too much. Juice had been 5 lira on the menu but it waa upped’ because it was orange juice’ Why not just say so and advertise it as such, rather than being sneaky. Something I have noticed quite a lot of since being here, if you’re a tourist anything goes, and if its a price its up!!!
The end of a long day, the bus driver very obligingly dropped me off at the top of the hill to see what I could find for a meal, and a quick visit to the Turkish delight shop to try for free some more flavours of that yummy treat! It truly was a wonderful day.

Plovdiv to Istanbul

Interesting journey to Istanbul! After a fascinating stay in the very, very old city of Plovdiv in Bulgaria I caught the train to Istanbul. Surprisingly, it left just after 10 pm close to the timetable. I actually fell asleep, as I had grabbed the disabled seats so had a complete row of three to myself. Everyone else draped themselves over seats and suitcases. Plenty of room for everyone to do so as well. Woken up by border patrol for passports at 1am, back on the train ready to doze off again. Come 2am, this time its the Turkish police for passports and visas. The entire train was queued to pay €15 for a pretty sticker in one office, a stamp in another! Incidentally, I was the oldest person on the train, everyone else looked like they were doing a gap year, 20-35 max. My grey hair stood out like a sore thumb,while at least my backpack wasn’t out of place at all, the suitcase definitely was!
Once we were stamped, it was out to the buses on two modern coaches and a minibus. Leaving at 3am, I was soon asleep again , two hours later a voice says toilet stop, loud enough to penetrate the sleeping brain. The most modern service station I think I have ever seen. Worthy of big time America. Souvenirs, coffee,food, the lot. Just couldn’t face turkish coffee and turkish delight or even baklava, in a half comatose state at that hour of the morning.
Once again back in the bus and in to Istanbul an hour or so later, yes, I went to asleep again!

Wonderful city to wake up to in the early morning, incredibly beautiful. I’ m going to love it here! As you can see I have already made an acquaintance with the mosques, now they’ll have to wait for another day. The weather is very, very hot but the days stunning, sight seeing only happens for me when there are shaded streets, usually before midday and after about three.
The usual rip off by the taxi driver who also tried to chat me up, I dislike some of these people intently. I am aware of it, I just try and minimise the damage as I can’t be bothered walking and finding my way in a very large and strange city at odd hours of the day. First obvious mistake he made was saying he knew where the place was, I knew he didn’t have a clue and had to ask others where it was.
Not surprising really there were no signs or names any where and certainly if I had walked there I would have had a great deal of difficulty finding it.
Once inside I was shown a lovely big room in the basement alongside the kitchen . Complete with ensuite , I was very pleased to see the electric jug in the kitchen. The room had been advertised as having air conditioning which it did not have but they did provide a fan for some relief from the heat. I was starting to get a little disturbed by these events.

Once settled in the room, because it was in the basement the windows were very tiny and opened on to the footpath level. As I have mentioned I suffer from a mild claustrophobia, this was not helping, but I decided to do my best anyway. Currently it is Ramadan in Muslim countries , which means the evening meal is eaten after sunset. The first night there were families and children laughing and playing outside until nearly midnight. Following a night with very little decent sleep the night before , I was not in a particularly good frame of mind , gritting my teeth , the night passed in sleep once the noises stopped.

The feeling of being shut in a small space was increasing, with the heat and the noise combined with the basement features.
At least during the day I had spent happy hours wandering around the mosques, I later found the area is called Sultanahmet. The hotel is well situated in that respect, all though the first walk had me following a family that were obviously on holiday. They seemed very purposeful, so it looked hopeful, as indeed it was. It was wonderful getting to the top of quite a hill, almost a 45 degree slope with cobbled streets, and appalling footpaths that included steps for good measure. The sight of the mosques , the grand bazaar, the shops on the street and in the middle of all this the tram station! It was definitely one of those wow moments, it would have been nice to share with someone.
After walking around these places and getting some turkish delight. It was a real shop with plenty of free trial delights! I couldn’t resist the temptation, could I. The body was fading fast, so I headed back to the hotel, which of course was all downhill this time! Getting in, found me asleep in five mins, the night having proved to much to handle without a small siesta.

Warsaw Arrival

I left Vilnius at 11.25 for Warsaw, by train with changes at Kaunas and Sestokai. Kaunas is Lithuania’s second largest city about an hour and a half away. One of the more modern trains, it sported an upper deck and was a very comfortable ride. Toilet at one end of the carriage for convenience. The change at Kaunas included a half hour wait, just across the platform for the next train, for which I was grateful. Towing heavy bags is not easy if you have a lot of handling to do. Kaunas to Sestokai change achieved, a trip of similar length again with a change of trains on the same platform,on different sides.

Reaching Sestokai was the change to the Warsaw train, an older train ,with cabins to seat eight persons in second class, and a closing glass door for warmth. I imagine the first class carriages did not have the high number of seats.
Sestokai to Warsaw was the longest leg of the day, getting into Warsaw at 8.30 local time which meant we had to put our watches back an hour.
I found this leg unpleasant, with nonstop talkers and their loud voices very annoying. As seating was available anywhere you chose, I moved into another cabin for some relief. It was also unpleasant from the fact that on none of the trains I had spent all day travelling on had provided absolutely no food or drinks. Something I was not advised about , so come Warsaw I was extremely hungry and without a doubt becoming very short tempered.

The dreaded taxi ride, I had been warned by a fellow passenger not to pay anymore than 20 zloty . Good advice , one I was able to use immediately. He tried it on, that’s for sure, but I was prepared.
Finally making the hostel for the night. Fortunately ,with a small supermarket a couple of hundred meters down the road, I was able to grab some food and start making my way back to the hostel.

The buildings all looking the same , I stopped at what I thought was the hostel entrance and proceeded to press the intercom with the given numbers but no reply. Just then a lady came in with a key so I entered with her to go to the second floor in the lift. Getting out of the lift, hello, no hostel, I was in the wrong building! Just then the lights went out and it was pitch black. I thought the lights were motion activated but apparently not, this left me trying to go down stairs in a building I was unfamiliar with in total darkness. Very, very, scary, making it out the door after another person entered. I walked on down the street to where I could see the small hostel sign on the wall. Tapped the numbers in, and the door opened. Relief at last, food and all was well with the world, despite having to share the dorm with three guys, two from Peru and one from France. All very nice young men indeed.

Month: December 2017

Istanbul Bosphorus tour

Plovdiv to Istanbul

Warsaw Arrival

Warsaw Square