Day
30 Thursday 10th January 2013
Part 2; Istanbul (Cathy)
Well the fact that I am sitting here in a
hotel room in Istanbul shows that all is eventually right with the world! But I
have been through fire and am a different woman than I was this morning. No,
seriously, I have been threatened, insulted, and generally herded from pillar
to post. Another tourist, who had been messed around even more than myself was
threatening violence and asking to be put in contact with his embassy, Istanbul
airport immigration is not for sissies!
One crucial fact to keep a hold of through
this description is that the Greeks hate the Turks and this hatred is returned
in equal measure, the Turks hate the Greeks – very much. And I had just flown
in to Istanbul on Aegean airlines.
I knew that I was going to have to purchase
a visa and Alex had looked up the cost on the internet, 15 Euros. So I was
ready with my passport, my flight details, and 15 Euros and with a light and
confident heart I approached the office that said ‘Visas’. There was no queue
which was good but apparently I was in the wrong place. The instruction was a
bit unclear but the man seemed to say ‘go to Passport 2 at the end of the
corridor.’ I saw a sign – Passport 2 - and followed it. There was was a short queue at Passport 2 but
it seemed to be the right place, my fellow queue members seemed also to be
‘aliens’. After a short wait a policeman took my passport from me ‘Nambia’ he
said to a fellow officer who tried looking up Nambia on the computer. There is
no such country on the computer. I suggested that they try Namibia rather.
Still nothing, ‘you are not on the Turkish Airlines flight list, show me your
ticket.’ Well no I had flown Aegean, I showed my boarding pass – ‘Only visa
when you fly Turkish Airlines’ – Whaaat!? How can this be? I was told
otherwise! I explained that my husband and children were now through passport
control and waiting for our luggage. They explained that it was more that their
jobs were worth to give me a visa. Impasse. I waited around while they dealt
with other visa seekers, none seemed to be sharing my problem. I heard a
telephone conversation, the word Nambia was repeated – ‘no! Namibia!’ I was
starting to lose it.
Eventually after another wait they said I
was to go to desk 33 and talk to their boss. Thank goodness for cell phones, at
least I was able to keep Chris apprised of everything. At desk 33 there were
even more policemen and a VERY irate man with an American sounding accent.
While I tried to find someone to help me the irate man was threatening the
wrath of his embassy and various other agencies and venting his frustration on
anyone who was nearby including me. I do not hold a grudge, he had been
battling for far longer than me and had reached breaking point. It seemed that
violence might ensue, which most of the police officers found quite
entertaining .
Eventually a policeman detached himself
from the group and looked at my passport and other paperwork. He repeated what the
other police had said; we will not give you a visa unless you travelled with
Turkish Airlines. The Aegean Airlines boarding pass was like a red rag to a
posse of bulls. Impasse again. But what should I then do? I asked. My family
will be in Istanbul for 5 days, what should I do? ‘You must catch the next
flight back to Athens.’ Oh goodness – this was getting out of hand! But I said,
I was told in good faith that the visa would be available at the airport. ‘That
is your problem. It is your business to be informed.’ At this point I was
visibly shaking and feeling helpless in the face of this intransigence.
Fortunately shortly after, Chris appeared and started to help me to argue my
case. Just as well because the moment I saw him I burst into tears!
After a while, after being shown my
electronic plane tickets on the computer, after Chris vouched that I was his
bona fide wife, after the necessary lecture, I was directed back to Passport 2
and after a further wait was given a piece of paper that permitted me to queue
up to pay for my visa and was then given a receipt that permitted me to go back
to immigration to queue to receive a visa and, following another lecture I was
permitted to join my family. Big hugs all round. BAD experience. Moral of the
story; get your visa before you travel to Turkey unless you are Travelling by
Turkish Airlines and if possible do not travel Aegean or Olympic or anything
Greek.
In the midst of all this an sms arrived
from Romana at home – two goldfish have died!!!! Somehow not terribly important
at this juncture. Sorry goldfish but your numbers were up.
The hotel had sent a car to collect us
thank goodness, finding transport at this stage could have been the last straw!
I must confess that I looked at the city with rather a jaundiced eye as we
drove in, but our welcome at the hotel was very warm and it turned out that the
hotel owner was Greek! Extraordinary - in the bosom of the enemy. Our family
room is a touch snug, not much room for more than the beds but we will survive,
the hotel is warm and has a magnificent view of the Blue Mosque; if we were any
closer we would be sleeping in the courtyard. Some of the old wooden houses are
still standing nearby. I thought they might all be gone by now.
We waited for Marlis; the hotel had not
heard from her and neither had we but suddenly there was a message, she was at
the airport and then she was here and sorting out a room. Relief; we were
starting to wonder if she was going to arrive! It turned out that she had
received none of our emails or phone messages. So we were all together and happily
all in the same place. It is bitterly cold today, with snow still lying on the
ground. Chris and Beatrice did a preliminary scout for likely restaurants and
we then all went out together to explore a bit and find their chosen place for
dinner. The mosques are all floodlit and look ethereal with the white snowy ground.
Beatrice and Alex throw snowballs with glee! The shops are all open and busy
and wanting custom and the restaurants all have people trying to attract us to
eat there. One restaurant has a snowman outside to beckon us.
Only the cake and
sweetmeat shops need no beckoners, the shop windows speak for themselves, full
of cakes dripping with honey, Turkish delight powdered with icing sugar, pistachio
green, rosewater pink, passion fruit red, sooo inviting! Supper is at a
takeaway with a dining room upstairs and we have hummus, salad and doner kebab.
Afterwards we buy a selection of sweetmeats to take back to the hotel and enjoy
with a cup or two of tea, hooray! we have kettles in the rooms for the first
time this holiday.
Day
31 Friday 11th January 2013
Istanbul (Alex)
Well at least I’m in training for getting
up for school, because today again there was no long sleep or any of that ilk.
Rather having to be ripped out of one’s dreams by a blasted alarm clock at 8
o’clock. We then followed procedure and at 9 o’clock we were all ready for
breakfast. It was the rudimentary sort of breakfast, such as cheese and jam, my
father asked for a omelette only to be told after he had eaten it that one has
to pay extra for it, in the end though after a lot of talking they were to be
on the house, something that both Greeks and Turks like to do. The view from
the breakfast balcony is of the Blue Mosque and is accompanied by the racket of
seagulls fighting and pecking at the roof.
Then we made ourselves ready for today’s
excursion, for it is a rainy, not very cold day. After having walked for only
5m we were already invited into the shop of one of the carpet weavers for tea,
we had to decline though. Just across the road there was another carpet shop
where there was to be seen a woman weaving an intricate pattern for a carpet.
Only now do I realise how long it must take to produce a carpet; she had been
working on an about 6cm strip for 2 months. Then onwards past the Hagia Sophia,
through a park and to the Golden Horn, the river flowing through the west side
of Istanbul, here one can get a ferry for a cruise on the Bosphorus, which we
would like to do another, preferably one sunny day. 
Then we walked through an underground
tunnel to the other side of the road, in this tunnel there were loads of stalls
with cheap Chinese copies of clothing and toys. Here my father bought a hat and
Beatrice nearly bought a pair of shoes.
We passed a big mosque and then passed into
the spice market, nothing compared to Dubai though. We are on the search for
puzzle rings and thus even on the spice market, where there were a couple of
people selling jewellery we asked for their best prices. Whilst we, Beatrice
and I, were doing this my father was trying to convince Marlis to buy a pepper
mill and my mother was doing what she does best, taking pictures of everything.
The spice market isn’t that big and so we were out of it quite fast, then
walked through a retail section of the town, along with the section of town
were one could buy weaponry. Beatrice bought a milky kind of drink from a
street merchant and enjoyed it very much.
Then we came face to face with the biggest
market I have ever seen: the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul. Here the stalls were
filled with carpets, glass arts, embroidered shoes, musical instruments and of
course jewellery along with a lot more. Thus the real search began for the
puzzle rings and we found many, Beatrice is a bit more enthusiastic than I and
was the one bargaining and finding in the end a merchant who would sell us 2
rings for 35YTL, the best price yet but we’re still looking.
Meanwhile Marlis
and my parents looked at every single stall and we just constantly heard the
exclamation of my mother: “this is so brilliant” or “this is so amazing” or “no
thank you”, this last exclamation wasn’t directed at us but rather at the
merchants who wanted to sell one their wares. The haggling and merchants aren’t
as aggressive and hard to deal with as those in Egypt and so it was a rather
more enjoyable time.
Then we were all hungry and so we had to
walk out of the Bazaar, which is challenge in itself and found a restaurant to
sit down for lunch, the food here was also quite nice. I waited though and had
a durum doner kebab at another place, after we had left the restaurant and we
shared a cup of freshly pressed pomegranate juice at the same takeaway, it
tastes kind of like sour apple juice. Then we walked back in the direction of
our hotel, for this was the way to get to the Basilica Cistern.
Descending the stairs into the Cistern one
is greeted with the eeriness of it all: a forest of pillars, dark water
surrounding them like a carpet of blackness. Once closer though there are
walkways and on even closer inspection there are fish in the water. To the
right of the stairs is a place where a man can dress up as a sultan and a woman
can wear an outfit with veil and all. My father badly wants a photo and thus
both my parents get dressed up and have their photo shoot. Then onto the
walkways and to the back of the Cistern while passing a pillar with engraved
patterns called the tear pillar that was put there to symbolise all the deaths
of the those who perished in the building of the cistern. Right at the back of
the Cistern are two pillars with the head of the mythological Medusa carved
into them, luckily we weren’t turned to stone whilst seeing them, that would
have been very awkward for on lookers and would probably give them quite a
fright. The Cisterns are not to miss and every visit to Istanbul should
incorporate them.
Once out we split ways: my mother needing a
rest and heading back to the hotel and the rest of us going back to the Bazaar.
Once at the Bazaar we split ways again: Beatrice
and I went off and explored together. We passed so many shops that one would
have to have a will of steel to try and count them all, apparently there are
more that 4,000 shops, not even Beatrice tried. We decided that we would make
every person who asked us where we were from, guess, this was loads of fun and
a lot of people guessed Australian or English and hadn’t even heard of Namibia,
but understood once we had said it was north of South Africa. We were invited
into a carpet shop and had tea with a man called Mehmet and had a conversation.
Very nice and interesting, just the getting out of the shop is always the hard
part without buying a carpet. Then we walked some more through the Bazaar and
looked at different instruments and once were asked if would like to buy
something . . . we don’t need (after the scarf salesman saw Beatrice already
wearing a Kashmir scarf) Beatrice and I both enjoyed it very much.
Also we were offered a unbreakable tea-set,
when we asked for proof the salesman said only if we pay for it, another
amusing little remark.
Then back to the Hotel then a quick break
and me getting annoyed with the super slow internet. Then we went out to a
restaurant and I had another doner whilst the others opted for chicken and
stuffed vegetables and the like. Then it was back home and off to bed.
Day
32 Sunday 12th January 2013
Istanbul (Chris)
Same pre- and breakfast routine as
yesterday. It looks quite dry, but overcast, and mild outside, but the internet
weather reports predict rain for later today, while Monday is supposed to be
sunny. Hence we decide NOT to do the Bosphorus ferry trip today and opt for the
Sultan’s historic palace (the Topkapi Serail) instead. It is important to note
that Byzantine Turkey (essentially Christian since 300 AD) was conquered by the
Ottoman Empire (Muslim) as late as 1453
- which lasted until 1922 when
democracy under Atatürk
took a secular pro-Western course. Therefore it should be self explanatory that
this palace was built as from 1453. An imposing set of sprawling latched-on
palaces in the middle of a huge park, on prime real estate at the Golden Horn.
Entrance fee is a stinging TL25 (N$125) each, and that does not even include
the entrance fee to the harem, which is notwithstanding, part of the complex.
Quite stunning, especially the collection of jewellery (the treasury), arms
(the armoury) and clocks. After 4 solid hours of concentrated miracle gazing we
are overwhelmed by it all and the kids say that they would be happy to skip the
harem (Cathy and me had independently visited in our respective earlier lives).
In the
pouring rain we walk back to the nearby ‘main road’ to seek refuge and have
(dry and warm) late lunch at the first budget restaurant on the block: the
Pudding Shop. Both Marlis and myself remember the Pudding Shop from the mid-70s,
when it was the meeting point for all kinds of hippies looking for budget
options to drift further east to Afghanistan and India. Today it still has its
nostalgic framed gilded newspaper clips on the walls, but otherwise is a
typical budget restaurant. Nevertheless a square meal. Just a note on alcohol
in Turkey: it is for sale in all restaurants, mini-markets and supermarkets,
but even in supermarkets it is about twice the price of Italy or Greece ) you
can imagine the prices in restaurants. So, as in Dubai and Egypt we are
tea-totallers here.
When it seems to stop raining and we have warmed –up and dried enough, it
is about 17:00.
But
before going to our hotel we still pay a visit to the adjacent Blue Mosque.
Purpose built during Ottoman times it is still a functionally used mosque
today. We have about 30 minutes inside before there is another service and all
visitors are enticed to leave. With our shoes in the plastic bags provided and
the women using their neck-scarves as head-scarves we settle next to a huge
column on comfortable Persian carpets and marvel at the size and splendour of
it all.
We
decide to rest (read , write, wash socks, doze, etc) for a couple of hours in
the hotel and to go back to the grand bazaar later before having later supper.
While we are in the hotel there are a few gusty showers outside in the early
darkness (some water puddles form underneath our window - but we can mop it up with one of the bathroom
mats), so we only leave once this has abated.
At
20:00 we reach the locked-up entrance to the deserted grand bazaar … well, now
we know that this is too late. We have dinner at another budget restaurant
close-by – I could come here for a second time, if the opportunity presents
itself.
On the
way back we still visit a department store that also sells craft work upstairs.
I’ve now made up my mind that I would like to take home 2 shallow ceramic
serving dishes, in the blue-white ‘arabesque’ colours to complement the other 3 on the “Granada-wall” of our
veranda in Windhoek. I’ve taken measurement of the width of my suitcase with a
piece of string earlier to be sure not to buy bigger than my suitcase would
hold. Now I’m checking the ‘fixed prices’ in this type of shop to give me an
idea for the haggling in the Grand Bazaar in the next few days. Prices here
around TL 160 each (N$800).
On the
way back a biting ice-cold (but now dry) wind is cutting into our faces, but we
still make a short detour via the old Roman-era hippodrome with its 2 obelisks:
one stolen from Luxor in Egypt and another one locally made with an intriguing
history of gold-plated brass that was later stolen by the British in their vain
ignorance, We are now approaching our hotel from the south for the first time
and pass through a quaint street of old-style Istanbul wooden houses. What an
unexpected treat! Relaxed rest of the evening in the hotel room.
Day
33 Sunday 13th January 2013
Istanbul (Beatrice)
We woke up with the alarm clock; well apart
from Alex who we had to persuade to get up. When I went to breakfast I was
barefoot, for I had just gotten out of the shower and had not felt the cold and
so walked on the cold tiles without caring, but the kitchen lady was freezing
herself and therefore out of the kindness of her heart brought me some
disposable slippers. Much later I found she had put a few more of these
slippers on my bed. Also at breakfast we found out why the sea gulls kept
coming, since they were fed the remaining cheese of the buffet. After breakfast
we met up in the lobby and went together to the Hagia Sophia. Hagia Sophia is a
magnificent building with loads of domes, columns and towers, which was
originally built as a church, which was then reused as a mosque and functions
now as a museum.
In the main hall there are hundreds of very low hanging
chandeliers which make the atmosphere awe inspiring. Also the fact that the
entire floor was covered with marble with no seats of any sort, made it very
different to the churches I know of. We walked around for a long time and then went
to the upper level, the so-called gallery to see its wonderful gold mosaic
pictures of Mary, Jesus and his disciples. On the way up we went past the
“wishing/sweating wall”. It is a worn out hole in the one pillar, which one has
to stick ones thumb in, make a wish and turn once around and if your thumb
comes out damp, your wish will come true. Unfortunately I did it before I knew
about the damp attribute and there for I did not notice wether my wish would
come true or not. The most amazing part of the museum was that the central
mosaic of Mary and baby Jesus was still intact and had not been defaced as we
saw in the Egyptian tombs, this I thought, was a good sign towards the
followers of Islam, that they still respected the Christian’s religion enough
not to vandalise the pictures. It was all very amazing and beautiful. Apart
from the fabulous museum I also saw this really tall man. I have to my
knowledge never seen quite such a tall person that would make all of my entire
family look small, which by the way is not a very easy thing to do.
While walking out we saw a small stall with a man pulling candy, we did not buy
any but I thought it worth mentioning since I have never seen such a thing ever
before. We walked along to the Hippodrome, to see the obelisk and columns in full
daylight, even though the term “daylight” does not quite fit. It is not pouring
down like yesterday but the clouds completely covered the sky, letting no blue
sky and sunlight shine through. Then we proceeded to the grand bazaar, to
finally buy the puzzle rings. We walked with determination and enthusiasm and
found it locked. It may be because it is Sunday, but since the vast majority
are Muslim and their holy day is a Friday, it did not make much sense to me. On our way back we bought some more salep for
Mummy and me and some mielies for Alex and Daddy.
While walking out we saw a small stall with a man pulling candy, we did not buy
any but I thought it worth mentioning since I have never seen such a thing ever
before. We walked along to the Hippodrome, to see the obelisk and columns in full
daylight, even though the term “daylight” does not quite fit. It is not pouring
down like yesterday but the clouds completely covered the sky, letting no blue
sky and sunlight shine through. Then we proceeded to the grand bazaar, to
finally buy the puzzle rings. We walked with determination and enthusiasm and
found it locked. It may be because it is Sunday, but since the vast majority
are Muslim and their holy day is a Friday, it did not make much sense to me. On our way back we bought some more salep for
Mummy and me and some mielies for Alex and Daddy.
We walked through the same
little side street as last night, for the wooden houses were quite lovely and
Mummy wanted to take a couple of hundred pictures. We returned to the hotel to
pack a few extra items we might need in the Bueyuek hammam, such as a pair of
dry and clean undies. We looked for a taxi that could fit five and we all
squeezed in. Now I will try and explain the personality of the taxi driver, but
whatever I say will not do justice to him. Every time he drove past someone he
knew he shouted bye as if he would not be returning, then he said bye to the
buildings as we drove past. The manner he did it in was very funny. If it was a
3 way stop he would say that he had big boss (Daddy) in the car and that they
should give way and when they did he would say that they were right to be
scared.
He sung to himself and made the same noises as a small boy does while
playing with toy cars. He pointed out interesting things as we went and before
a tunnel asked us if we needed a bike. We were quite confused and when we were
under the tunnel we understood his comment, for there were bicycle shops all
along the tunnel wall selling thousands of bikes. There really were a lot of
them! Anyway eventually we had to get out and say bye to the funniest taxi
driver ever.
We walked to the hammam, gave Alex our
valuables (since he did not want to go) and went in. Women and men are strictly
separated and Daddy couldn’t even come in to pay. After all the official stuff
was done we went off to the changing rooms, where we were given a cloth to put
over. We obviously kept our panties on and went to a warm steam room where one
put hot water over one’s self. After that we were thoroughly scrubbed down and
washed off. Then we went to a different room and poured a bit colder water onto
us. Then we were soaped up and massaged. After that back to a different room
with a bit colder water. Then we got our hair washed and washed off. It might
sound a bit hectic but it was deeply relaxing and enjoyable. I do recommend for
anyone going, bring body cream and hair conditioner. We waited inside the fire
room and heard what was definitely gossiping but it was all in Turkish, so we
could only soak up the atmosphere. We met up with Daddy and Alex who had their
own experiences.
Daddy: I went into the hammam alone … Alex really did not want to go … and I was welcomed cordially. Not a word of English spoken here, but we agreed on the standard 30 TL for ‘everything’. After changing into a wrap-around type of loin cloth in a cubicle, to which you keep the key around your wrist, my hammam ‘handler’ gestured me into the sauna. The handler is a short but stocky chap with a well-developed pot-belly, so I never felt embarrassed about my own size. What incredible heat! I had to filter the hot air through my hands not to burn my lungs. I left my watch on, but now I got worried whether it might not melt … each time the metal buckle touched my wrist, it burnt. Fortunately I had read what to expect, otherwise I might have panicked. But after, what felt like a century and I was burning severely, the handler came back and gestured for me to follow him. Then the first scrubbing followed, later the massage on a centre marble slab. The massage is quite thorough (rough?). Later scrubbing with soap, followed by cold water. After an hour it is unexpectedly over and I was covered with a new dry wrap-around and a few towels in the open cooling down area. I chose a bottle of water from the drinks offered. After some 20 minutes of cooling-off I got dressed and met Alex outside. A thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing experience!
Beatrice;
We went to a döner place and
ordered, with sign language, some döner kebab and water to drink. It was the best
chicken döner so far! Marlis had Börec which was very interesting, a type of
cheesy puff pastry. We then wanted to get to the big pedestrian street on this
side of the Golden Horn and followed Daddy, yet Daddy didn’t quite know where
we were going and so we walked through the back streets hoping to get there. At
one point Alex was sure we were going to die. Mummy then still stopped to take
pictures and the rest did not wait for her and so I ran back and forth telling Mummy
to walk faster and the others to hold up. This was rather stressful. On the
way, whilst not dying we walked past a restaurant which did not have a bread
basket per se but instead had an entire bread bag on the tables so that one
could not see the person opposite because the bag was in the way.
We
eventually, with difficulty, found where we were going and walked to the Çiçek
passage, where Daddy had been 30 odd years ago. The band that, as Daddy said,
played in the passage only started at 8.30. So with much time to spend we
walked up the street past loads of great shops, past a guy dressed up as a
cross between the hulk and superman, past a different guy wearing Apollo wings
on his sneakers and generally past a lot of people. Every now and again the
tram went past and everyone quickly made way. We reached the top end of the
pedestrian passage and saw a few flower stalls. Mummy wanted to take a picture
of them and eagerly strode towards them, when the lights in those flower shops suddenly
all went out. So with Mummy slightly annoyed and confused we walked back down
the wide and busy street and stopped at 2 electronic stores. We looked at IPads
and other cool gadgets and followed by having a drink in the Çiçek
passage. We drank apple tea and Alex and Daddy had beer. We got some free nuts,
which were very tasty, so tasty that Daddy and Marlis bought some of them for
later. We would have still had to wait for one and a half hours for the music
to start, so we decided to depart.
We walked past what must have been 10 music
shops, which is always a plus point and past various graffiti. And we then saw
Sponge Bob. Sponge Bob has followed us everywhere we have travelled. The Sponge
Bob we saw was in the shape of a woollen hat. We continued walking and baam,
there was a Sponge Bob jumper. Sponge Bob is everywhere! 
We saw a supermarket and bought a few
things to drink for later on, more importantly we bought a packet of Haribo,
which we shared out precisely between us. Well between Alex and me, but we gave
Mummy two.
On we walked to the Galata bridge and on it
we saw many night fishermen fishing away merrily with the magnificent view of
the lights of Istanbul. Especially bright and shone up, where the many mosques
with Hagia Sophia as the centre point. Once on the other side of the long
bridge we realised that it was not too far to the hotel and so decided to walk
the rest of the way. Alex quite needed to go to the toilet and so demanded from
Daddy, how many steps he would have to take until we were home. Daddy nonchalantly
said 1872 and so Alex started counting. I helped for his fingers did not
suffice, so every now and again Alex would say “hit me” and I would stick out
one more finger.
One waiter tried to persuade us to come in, but Alex explained
that he couldn’t stop, otherwise he would lose count. The waiter laughed in a
very confused way, which one would laugh at a lunatic and we went on. We then
walked past a shop playing Gangnam style with the owner and two small boys
dancing to it. We thought it was hysterical but for the numbers’ sake we went
ever onwards. All the time we followed the tram lines, so directing was not
hard but when we had turned off Marlis kept walking along the tram line, so I
called over and she came. We were very close and had already taken 1840 steps.
Alex reached the door step and Daddy was wrong! It was 1865 and he had gotten 7
steps wrong. Yet in retrospect it was quite amazing that he had guessed so
well!! On this rare occasion Daddy managed to even surprise himself.
Alex and I enjoyed our Haribo and stayed in
the room. Meanwhile Mummy, Daddy and Marlis went upstairs with a few wine
bottles.
Cathy: In the rooftop restaurant at the hotel we adults found an American
woman, resident in Turkey named Barbara and her friend, a Turkish man named
Ishmet. They were very good company. Barbara has worked in the International
school system all over the world and Ishmet has sold carpets in the Grand
Bazaar for many years and met a vast variety of people. Their stories were very
interesting and they were good company. We told them about Namibia, they told
us about Turkey and we realised that we shared an interest in wine. Turkish
wines are apparently improving by the year, certainly the ones that we sampled
were very drinkable. An enjoyable end to a very diverting day!
Day
34 Monday 14th January 2013
Istanbul (Cathy)
Today was the second to last day of our
holiday and the day dawned brilliantly sunny putting us all in a good mood. The
Blue Mosque glowed rosily in the morning light as we got up. We were in such a
good mood that we forgot that sunny does not mean warm and the kids and I went
to breakfast without our jumpers, silly us! We had to get them after we
realised that sunny, like in Greece and Italy, is also cold here! Apparently
elsewhere in Turkey there is deep snow! Today’s sunshine meant that it was
worth going on the boat trip as we had hoped and so after breakfast we walked
down past the Hagia Sophia to the boat piers to buy our tickets. I found out
today that Hagia Sophia means’ holy wisdom’ in Greek and is not the name of
some obscure saint as I had thought.
Seagulls were the theme of today, from the
maniacs who peck the canvas roof of the terrace where we eat breakfast and fix
us with beady eyes through the windows, to the flocks storming the fishermen at
the Galata bridge where we bought our tickets and the escort that accompanied
us on our boat trip and watched us hungrily at lunch along with the local cats.
The ferry took us along the Bosporus almost
as far as the Black Sea and past mosques, palaces, pavilions and lodges of all
sorts, most dating from the days of the Ottoman Empire. Some of the buildings
were extremely elaborate and according to the audio-visual guide that we hired,
they are equally elaborate inside. Many of them have been taken over by
embassies, colleges and hotels but some are still in private hands. Modern
development has swallowed most of them up and few now stand in the gardens and
parkland which used to surround them. 
The banks of the Bosporus rise quite
sharply from sea level and so many later buildings are on the ridges and hillsides
above the waterway while the older buildings are closer to the water. The ferry
stopped from time to time at piers on both the European and the Asian Banks. Of
course there was no visible difference in the appearance of things on either
bank although it felt quite exotic to have lunch on the Asian bank.
We spent most of the voyage on the open
upper deck, the better to enjoy a clear view, but it was very chilly and we
were glad of the extra warm clothing we had brought with us. When we arrived at
the final stop we were greeted by enthusiastic restauranteurs waving from their
waterside restaurants. As the ferry docked they were all there brandishing
their menus, they must wait hopefully for the ferry every day, today there were
not many other customers. But before lunch we had to walk up to the castle,
after all it was in the guide and the brochure for the trip. Up we all
clambered obediently to get a good view over to the Black Sea. It was quite a
climb up a steeply inclined road and then rather a slippery pathway and some
steps. A good way to work up an appetite. The view from the top was worth the
climb although the day was a bit hazy. 
We descended from the castle for lunch. We
had told the kids that we would eat at the harbour and so they belted down the
hill way ahead of us. We strolled down and spotted a couple of places where we
could have eaten with a Bosporus overview but by that time the kids were out of
sight. Eventually we all met up halfway down the hill, the kids had come back
to find why we were so slow but by that time we were well past the hill-top
restaurants and so we decided to eat by the water as originally planned.
As we got to the harbour waiters descended
on us imploring us to eat at their restaurants. We left the decision to Chris
since too many decision makers would lend further confusion to the issue.
Eventually we settled for the Gold Fish Restaurant, rather an unfortunate name
I thought but never mind. We sat right next to the water with the ferry in view
so there was no chance of it leaving without us. We ordered salad and various
fish dishes all of which were wonderfully fresh and cooked to order. You could
see the freshly caught fish laid out on ice if you needed proof. The food was
delicious but some of our company did not settle well to the meal due to
worrying about missing the ferry.
As we were eating, a large cargo ship
passed up the Bosporus, as they do, and generated a serious wake which
eventually reached our little quayside with the accompaniment of yells from the
other tables. We looked up to see that mini-tsunami was approaching our table.
Most of us grabbed our belongings and headed inland. Chris, showing more
presence of mind, stood on his chair and allowed the water to flow beneath him.
The kids found this very amusing and Beatrice took a photo.
Needless to say the ferry did not leave
without us and we spent most of the trip back sitting in the cabin where it was
much warmer. By the time we were back at the Galata Bridge most of the
passengers were downstairs in the warm. We retrieved Beatrice’ passport which
had been surety for the audio guide and headed for the Grand Bazaar; we had a
number of errands to do.
On our way to the Bazaar we passed the line
of shoe shine guys in front of the Sulemanye mosque. Alex stopped to get a
really good shine on his boots for one last time. They shine like conkers now,
as they have never shone before!
We walked through the spice bazaar and
Chris bought a new pepper grinder, the Turkish pepper grinder is a wonderful
invention. Then we walked through the darkening streets of the garment
district. It was very crowded; the dry sunny day had brought people out and the
shopkeepers were finishing their day’s trading with enthusiasm; deliveries were
being made, shops were being cleaned out or tidied up and we were entreated to
buy, or eat, or whatever was appropriate as we passed.
In the Grand Bazaar we went first to the
jeweller’s where Beatrice had arranged the best price for two puzzle rings for
her and Alex. She had previously chatted up the young shopkeeper and arranged a
bargain price. This time he was not alone and an older relative was there, not
impressed by the price, but Beatrice still wore them down to a very good price,
50 Lira for two rings. The kids put their rings on and we went on to the next
purchase; two blue plates for our garden wall which is decorated with plates like a garden wall in Granada. Chris
visited a number of stalls, he has been seriously researching plates and prices
since we arrived, and found two very nice plates which the trader wrapped very
thoroughly in bubble wrap. If it were Egypt they would have been sewn onto
cotton wrappings; such is progress. The trader assured us that they would make
it home. If not we will have to get busy with two part glue! Marlis bought a
small tile fridge magnet and identified more purchases for later, she will be
here another couple of days.
Next, to the barber, Chris wanted to get a
proper Turkish close shave! I watched with some concern as the barber shaved
him with a cut-throat razor but he emerged with the cleanest shave I have ever
seen and cheeks as smooth as a baby’s bottom! While waiting for his father Alex
had undone his puzzle ring, of course, and was trying to remember the trader’s
instructions about putting it back together!
We returned to the hotel to offload our
purchases, check on the internet how to solve puzzle rings and start to pack
our suitcases for the return journey. Chris will take the big blue suitcase
because the plates need as much protection as they can get. I will take his 4x4
suitcase.
We have a trifling but unpleasant experience
on the way to have some soup for supper. Beatrice and I decide to have our
shoes polished and the shoe-shine guy tries to rip us off. 37 Lira for a shoe
shine! That’s more than the Turkish bath! and more than the cost of a silver
puzzle ring! is he serious! Alex boots only cost 4 Lira to shine! Chris finds
it funny but Beatrice and I are disgusted to be seen as foolish tourists to be
conned if possible, none of the other street traders have tried to cheat us. Could
it be nature’s way of saying it’s time to go home?
Day
35 Tuesday 15th January 2013
Istanbul (Alex)
Thus after a ‘lengthy sleep’ we awakened at
8am once again to the radiant sunshine streaming into our room. Then I was
forced to get up promptly because it was my turn to have an early shower, this
would luckily be my first and last one of the holiday, I mean early shower of
course, usually I’m the last to shower. Then we ate breakfast at leisure and
packed up everything that was scattered over our hotel room. We then deposited
our bags at the check-in desk and put our hand luggage in Marlis’ room.
We decided we would still go out and see
the world . . . so we left the safety of the hotel and made for the sea side,
just a 20min walk from the hotel. Once at the sea we found a playground and
everyone tried the swing, or more like the gym equipment, except my father. This
was loads of fun and we did kind of have a work out. Then we walked along the
sea front in the direction of the Golden Horn. It was a nice little stroll, the
ordinary mortals on the footpath and I of course walking along on the rocks
that make a breakwater line along the sea. On the way we discovered that there
were people living in the old city wall and we saw a man climbing out of a
window in the wall, it was very amusing seeing him open the window, then
getting out a ladder, then descending the ladder then closing the window and
then laying the ladder down out of sight.
We then went in search of more souvenirs
and had lunch at a restaurant where we had had dinner two days before, then we
wanted to go into the Blue Mosque again, which was sadly closed for prayer. So
we had a little rest in front of the mosque.
It was then time for us to get going, so
back to the hotel and into the car, saying bye to Marlis and the shopkeepers
next door.
Then off to the airport, where we still had
two and a half hours to kill, which was spent by sitting in a café. then
effortlessly we made our way to the gate. It was then straight forward to the
plane and off on our way back home.
The plane was once again a Boeing
777-330er,so we each had a screen and the flight went quite fast. We will land
first in Dubai, then Johannesburg and then home sweet home.
Day
36 Wednesday 16th January
2013 Flight home (Christof)
The plane to
Dubai wasn’t full so we had empty seats between us, room to breathe, very
pleasant. Istanbul has the same time zone as Namibia, so the temporary 2 hour difference
in Dubai hardly necessitated a temporary change of watches. Nevertheless we had
about 3 hours to kill in the middle of the night in the Dubai Airport.
As usual, we
made a table at one of the food outlets our home-base and explored from there.
Alex finally bought his duty-free coveted ipad 64G(!), his belated 18th
birthday present and got to work on it within minutes. Beatrice was very tired
and told Cathy (while Alex and me weren’t there) that she wanted to lie down
for a while on one of the longer chairs, she would be back latest 25 minutes
before boarding time. When I came back to the table, poor Cathy started to get
very nervous. ‘What if Beatrice had fallen asleep?’ But she didn’t mention
Beatrice’s promised return time. So she
went to search for a sleeping Beatrice somewhere, a long time before the agreed
hour. After a long time she came back very distraught: she couldn’t find her!
As soon as Cathy had gone for her second search, Beatrice strolled back to our
table, even earlier than the appointed time. After listening to the sorry tale,
she rushed off to find Cathy again, sensibly, agreeing to back latest at a
specific time. As soon as Beatrice was out of sight, Cathy, now in near panic,
came back to the table from the other side. I still tried to ‘catch’ Beatrice,
but she was too far away already. But anyway, Beatrice came back soon and very
kindly calmed her mother down and back to reality.
Hurry up and
wait to the boarding gate, the ‘system went down’!. We had to stand or sit
around for some 40 mins before we could board, therefore, obviously departing
late.
The 8 hr flight
Dubai – JHB was chock-a-block full … no comfort of additional empty spaces. But
between watching movies, dozing and sleeping, even this time was over. Then,
having finally landed late in JHB it took ages to get out of the plane and wait
for the bus. The time in JHB would have been tight anyway, even without the
delay … but we were positively surprised when a lady with our four boarding
cards for the Air Namibia flight to WHK intercepted us on entry into the
airport building. That is what I call service!! Now we still had a forced march
for what felt like at least 2 km, inside the airport building from one extreme
end to the other. The kids even did some inexplicable additional detour in the
airport building, but in the end we were all there in time, panting and
sweating. The last 2 hours home felt like nothing and we had additional spaces
again too! Nina, our neighbour, picked us up with their Kombi and then it was
the end of this trip! At home we found everything in order as confirmed by text
messages from time to time during the trip. Beatrice noticed that we had left
Istanbul with a temperature of 5°C, then Dubai with 15°C, Johannesburg
with 25°C and finally arrived in Windhoek with 35°C. Quite a jump
even if it was in four stages! It will take a few days to get used to the heat.
Not exactly a
relaxing holiday at a seaside resort, but a demanding and very varied trip that
was deeply satisfying. In hindsight we would not have planned it differently.
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