Greece & Turkey, Without the Motorhome 2015

1      - ATHENS

We felt Greece and Turkey were not suitable for motorhome travel, and in fact the rental company in Germany said Turkey was a no go.
To travel to the Greek Islands we considered hiring a car in Athens and taking it to the islands on the ferries, that was shown to be unsatisfactory, not only would it cost more, but the insurers do not cover the vehicle whilst on the ferry.    Much more cost effective are the hire cars, which are available on most of the islands, as are scooters and ATVs.
So we settled for an apartment in Athens for 8 days, a 4 day bus tour around Greece, 3 days apartment on Mykonos, 9 day cruise from Athens to Istanbul, via several of the Greek Islands, then 5 days in Istanbul and a 1 day tour of Cappadocia

We flew with Qatar airlines, a 15 hour flight from Melbourne to Doha in Cattle Class. You needed a shoe horn to get into your seat and god help you if you wanted out for some reason. Still we managed 6 hrs sleep and the first two episodes of the Hobbit trilogy. Doha Airport was a very new, lavish affair with moving walkways to cope with the long distance to the gate, for some reason ours are usually at the end of the line. The next flight was 4.5 hours so managed the third of the Hobbit series.

12.30 at the airport in Athens and we were met by Valarious (Val) our transfer driver to the Marina Alimos Hotel,  a 45 min trip. The Athens Airport was also very new. It was built by a German Group, after 30 years it reverts to the Greek Government.  A condition was that there not be any other airport in Athens, consequently the previous airport has been abandoned and the buildings and facilities left to be overgrown with weeds for the past 14 years. An offer was made by a wealthy Arab to convert the site into a tourist hotel complex and facilities, given that it fronts the beach only 20 mins from the city, but was rejected., so it sits with 14 years of decay and overgrown with weeds.

We settled into the hotel apartment, nothing flash but clean and spacious, large bedroom with king bed, Bath/toilet, kitchen, Lounge/dining and a long narrow balcony 18meters long  x 1.2 metres wide. Rested up for a couple of hours then went out to stock up the larder.

Next day we were picked up by Val at 8am he took us to the Acropolis so we could get in and out before the crowds . The Acropolis is a large rock in the centre of Athens, in ancient times people lived up there, as it was a protection from invaders . As the city grew buildings were set up at the base of the rock in the area known as Plaka. What is left on top of the Acropolis are the remains of the Parthenon and several other temples.

The Parthenon was the target of bombing by the Venetian Army in 1687 when they took control of Athens in their war with the Ottoman Empire.

Today, there is a lot of restoration work going on and has been for the past 30 years. At the base of the Acropolis are a couple of Amphitheaters, one, the Odeum of Herodes  Atticus is still used for major singers, the other The Theatre of Dionysus is pretty much a ruin.

Val then gave us a tour around Athens, pointing out the major features, such as the Panathenaic Stadium, the site of the 1^st Modern Olympics, still used for the finish of the Marathon races. The original Marathon race started in the town of Marathon which is 42kms distant from the stadium.  We caught up with the changing of the guard at the palace. We came away  understanding how the English comedian, John Cleese, came up with the Ministry of Silly Walks. These Presidential guards are volunteers and work in 1 hour shifts, changing with another guard position on the half hour. They would break and then do another hour later in the day. Their shoes weigh 3 kilograms each and are studded underneath with steel studs. They waved their legs and arms around in very scripted movements, scraping the steel studs dramatically as they move. 

We headed off to the Temple of Poseidon (god of the sea), which is on Cape Sounoin, 70 kms to the South . like the Parthenon , this temple or the remains of it are on top of a rocky hill. This one is on a peninsula which juts out into the sea. Two Temples to Athena Sounias were built at a lower level and the whole area was surrounded by walls. Not much is left of the walls and lower temples but there are several columns still standing from the Poseidon temple, one column graffitied by Lord Byron, who fought as a volunteer with the Greeks against the Ottomans. Lord Byron died of pneumonia in 1834 during that war.

Time to check out the tram system, the trams are 4 carriages all linked inside with swivel plates between the carriages, about 30 minutes into Syntagma Square in the centre of Athens. A walk through the square and over to the Plaka area.

oPlaka is the old part of Athens, the area where residents started living away from the Acropolis, so Plaka is at the base of the rock, which is the Acropolis. Very narrow streets, on the slopes below the big rock, a lot of decaying buildings and outdoor eateries everywhere. One advertising the smashing of plates in with their menu. Knew it as a Greek wedding feature, but a little café on a hill.

We made our way through to Hadrian’s Arch at the entrance to the Temple of Zeus and finished at the Panathenaic Stadium, where for the vast sum of 3 Euro we were given a recorded commentary / history of the stadium along with the entry ticket.

A bit of a surprise as we had just paid 10 euro for a couple of cups of hot chocolate.

Back home on the tram, along the way it was interesting to note the general living conditions of the locals, most live in apartments, all with balconies with shade blinds, lots with their balcony gardens of potted plants. Generally the apartment blocks are 4 to 6 stories high with the ground floor hosting a business, albeit many of them vacant.  An obvious government cost saving shows in the condition of the footpaths, you really have to concentrate where you are putting your feet, there can be all sorts of obstacles.

A concern we have is that when we leave this hotel next week to join a 4 day tour, we have to get with our baggage to a hotel 400 metres away on the same road that we are on now, one tram stop, not a problem to walk the distance, but there is no way you could tow a luggage bag with their small wheels on the footpath, doubt that we could get them to the tram stop which is visible from our apartment balcony, seriously considering getting a taxi for the trip. Another indication of the financial state of the country is the number of office/business buildings that are empty and the many shells of buildings that have been abandoned.

Motorcycles are very popular, although unlike most other European cities we have visited Athens has a larger proportion of the larger motorbikes, Helmets can’t be mandatory as only 50% wear them.

Parking of cars also causes problems for pedestrians,  cars can, or at least do, park across the footpath line at an intersection, the cars will park with their car level with the curb of the cross street, blocking pedestrians wanting to cross.

Another tram trip into the city, this time it is May Day, a public holiday and the opportunity for unrestricted marches, protests and strikes. So we were shunted off the tram on to the subway with 2 stations to get to Syntagma Square where we intended to catch the hop on, hop off bus for a lazy look around, it wasn’t until we got to the square and found no busses, no traffic in fact and that May day was the cause.  We reverted to a previous option, to do the walk around the base of the Acropolis, there is a dedicated walkway which was recommended to us as a must do.  Being a public holiday and a beautiful 22 degrees, the area was full of walkers all doing the same thing,  quite a long walk and the trams and trains were absolutely packed all the way home. Still we managed to tick off a few on our list, Monastiraki, Ancient Agora of Athens, Temple of Hepaestus, Stoa of Attalos, Portico of Eumenes and Hadrian’s Library.

Saturday we thought we would have another attempt at the Hop On – Hop Off Bus tour, all was working in the city, however tomorrow, Sunday will be a good day to rest up, The city is setting up for a marathon on Sunday and a lot will be blocked off. The bus lines have two routes, we chose to do the one to Piraeus first. Piraeus is the port of Athens, it is claimed (by the Greeks) to be the most important port on the Mediterranean.  There certainly were a lot of ships, with the inter-island ferries making a big presence, also a large number of very luxurious smaller craft.

The Port is also the home base for the many Greek Shipping Lines, the most famous of course, was the Onassis Line.  Seemed to be a lot more evidence of a huge gap between the haves and the have nots.  Given the state of the Greek Economy, one has to wonder.

Back onto the other bus route, we had a stopover at the National Archaeological Museum, then a taxi to the Funicular to get to the top of Mount Lycabettus, the highest point near Athens. It has on it’s summit the 19^th century Chapel of St George, The Orizontes  Lycabettus Restaurant and the open air Lycabettus Theatre, which  seats 4000 and has hosted many of the world’s top artists.

Certainly a must do when visiting Athens. So long as it is a clear day for some great photos.  It was quite difficult to get there, however there is a road access right to the doorway to the Funicular, so an honest taxi is the best way, busses cannot get close with the narrow steep streets, unfortunately we asked to go there, but our driver, Costa, was a rogue and gave us the runaround. So we suffered a steep climb to get there after abandoning our taxi, only to find another taxi parked at the door of the Funicular, not happy Jan.

 Lack of signage was another problem, also what signage there is, is in Greek only. The cost of the Funicular was 7 euro return, which incidentally, I believe is refundable from the bill at the restaurant.

A taxi from the funicular to The Temple of Zeus, where for 2 euro we were admitted to walk around the massive remnants. No charge had we been able to show them out ticket to the Acropolis.

The Temple of Zeus was commenced construction in the 6^th century BC but took 638 years to complete. When finished in the 2^nd Century AD it was 108 metres long by 41 metres wide with 104 columns each 17 metres high however it was brought to ruin in the 3^rd century. The sight was then pillaged for building materials for other building projects in the city.

Today there are 15 columns standing and one lies on the ground where it fell during a storm in 1852.

With the current economic crisis in Greece, given that Greece expects 19million tourists this year and the ridiculously low charges to the tourist sites  Acropolis 12 euro,   Stadium 3 euro,   Zeus 2 euro,   Archeological museum  7 euro. And coupled with the 70 minute  ticket for multi transport use for  1.20 euro it is no wonder the country is going broke.  All of those prices should be doubled at least, to bring them in line with other tourist destinations. 

Ask yourself, how many tourists that come to Athens would not visit the Acropolis?. NONE!!!

One area where the tourist is poorly catered for, is the signage.  What there is , is predominantly  Greek,   although I am told they have officially adopted English as their second language and are teaching it in schools.

Photos

 

     2      -   4 Day  Classical Tour from Athens

We chose to do a 4 Day classical tour with Fantasy Travel company.

They use G.O.Tours as the tour operator, Our Guide George, looked like a scruff with an old hat, actually an Albert Einstein look alike, were is hair whiter. But by jingo did he know his stuff. Turns out he is the main trainer for new tour guides, he not only knew them all but their habits and faults as well. The other important host of course was the driver, another George, an excellent driver, he spoke very little English, but seemed to be able to communicate with the girls on the tour.

Our first short stop was at the Corinth Canal, we walked out onto the bridge to view the canal, which is 6.34kms long the cliff walls either side are 72 metres  above the water line, where it is 24.6 metres wide and 8 metres deep, allowing 12500 ships to save 131naughtical miles off their journey between the Saronic and Corinthian seas. The canal was cut through the 6.34km Isthmus and was opened in 1893. This also created an island of a large part of Greece called Peloponnese.

The downside to the canal is that it was designed in classical times and the narrowness of the canal makes it useless for modern commercial shipping, so it is only tourist and small vessels  that currently use it.

We drove on to Epidaurus to visit the theatre built in the 3^rd century BC, The huge stone theatre has remarkable acoustics which was demonstrated by the guides.

Our next stop was the Archeological  site of Mycenae and the tomb of Agamemnon.  Mycenae was the centre of power in the late Bronze Age from 16^th to 11^th century BC.  Entrance through the cyclopean walls was by the Lion Gates which restricted any attack.

King Agamemnon led the Greeks to their victorious win in the war with the Trojans, however on returning to Mycenae, Agamemnon was murdered by his wife and her new lover. (thems the breaks, you can’t win them all)

Agamemnon’s tomb was built as a pyramid, but underground. We went on to visit the tomb, an amazing bricked cone structure, still quite complete.

We stayed overnight in a hotel in Olympia, which gave us an earlier access to the Olympic games site the following day.

The games were held every 4 years to honor the god Zeus.

 The Temple of Zeus built on the Olympic site was where the gold and ivory statue of Zeus once stood and was one of the seven ancient wonders of the world, (of the seven, only the pyramids remain). Most of the temple is left in fallen blocks from the columns, strewn around the temple base.

Alongside is what remains of Temple of Hera, where still to this day, the Olympic Flame lights every four years, to be then transported to the current games venue.  The stadium where the races were held is still as it was, no seating for other than the judges, just grassy banked viewing areas.

The museum on site has many of the archeological finds from the games area, There is a current dig area being worked by a German team.

Statues, and building decorations are on display in the museum.

Delphi would be our next stop, on the way we would pass over the Bridge at Rion, claimed to be the longest bridge in Europe, at 2.88kms long.

Our Hotel at Delphi, the Hermes,gave us a great view of the 1.5 million olive trees in the valley below, known as the Olive Grove of Amfissa it looks like a green/grey sea, many of the trees are over 200 years old and the grove is heritage listed.  

Delphi, known in ancient Greek Times as the Centre of the world, well, to the Greeks, Delphi was situated in the centre of the then Greek empire. The museum gave us an insight into the layout and function of Delphi as it was then.

The ruins of the old city are on a high sloping hill and for the young and or energetic there was a lot to see by making trek around the site.

Our next area to visit was Meteora we travelled on to Kalambaka at the base of the Meteora  mountains for our overnight stay. On the way we stopped at Thermopylae, the site of the battlefield, where 300 Spartans lead by their leader King Leonidas together with 700 Greek forces took on a force of 150,000 Persians in 353BC. On being told to surrender their weapons, the Persians were told to “Come and get them”  King Leonidas and his Spartans fought to the last man.  A memorial to King Leonidas and his Spartans is erected at Thermopylae.

At Meteora there are currently six monasteries active, out of twenty four that were built ,  around the 11^th or 12^th centuries, on huge sandstone megaliths, ranging in height from 300 to 550 metres, today there is road access to most. We visited two monasteries, the last of which was The Monastery of Holy Trinity which was used for the filming of the James Bond film “For your eyes only”.  The monasteries that have gone from the scene were apparently destroyed through bombing during WWII

A 300km drive back to Athens concluded the tour, we were booked in to a different hotel in the centre of theAthens, to give easier access to the airport or our transfer to the island of Mykonos for a few days.

Photos

 3 -   Mykonos and the Cruise “MV Star Pride”

We flew to Mykonos and welcomed the hotel and surrounds for a well earned rest. The Alkyon Hotel is high on the hill overlooking the Town of Mykonos, the weather was pretty windy and the seas choppy, which put paid to a planned visit to the island of Delos, which is reached by small boat, Our room was built under the surround area of the swimming pool and we had great views over the town. Some photos give an idea of the Island, very much a tourist haven. Road rules mean nothing here, we were coming home in a taxi and I asked the question,  What do double lines mean here, surprise, surprise exactly the same as at home, but car were parked all along the double lines which meant that other cars on the road had no option but to drive on the wrong side of the road, only enough room for a motorbike without crossing the double lines. The drivers comment was “so what,  no one ever gets a ticket, so no one cares”. 
Photos 

Had to smile as we passed through the Athens airport a huge sign advertising  ”See Athens with  Mastercard welcome everywhere, museums, markets, etc”. 

My thoughts went back to our visiting the main museum, I handed over my credit card and was gruffly told “No Cards, Cash Only” this happened on several occasions at tourist venues.

You have to wonder at some people though, we were in line for tickets to visit a Castle in Navplion the original Capitol of Greece.  4 Euro entrance fee and the 6o+ year old couple in front of us handed over their “Student ID Cards” the attendant asked “where are these from”  “California” was the reply. They can afford to pay $10,000 for a cruise and come out with that. They got in for 2 euro each.

We have included some pics of our suite on the ship.

Navplion, was our first port of call, the original plan was for Monemvasia, but weather forecasts tempted them  to change.

 Navplion  was the original capital of Greece after independence in 1821, There were three fortresses built high on the hill above the city for protection, however after the first Prime minister was assassinated they moved the capital to Athens, so there is a lot of history here, but today it’s is a peaceful seaside resort area. A hop on hop ff buss was the way to get about, it took us up to the top the Palamidi Fortress  where we were left to explore the fortifications, built in the early 1700s

Overnight we sailed to Crete, another change of port though, we were to have docked at Chania, but with the strong winds Heraklion was seen as a calmer alterative.

Whilst it is the largest city and the administrative capital of Crete and also the 4^th largest city in Greece with about 180,000 inhabitants, but, it seemed a long way to town and we were comfortable not to find out. So we spent the day in the dock.

Our next overnight sailing was to Santorini,  getting there meant sailing into the largest volcanic caldera in the world. The traditional villages are built on the top of these tall cliffs overlooking the former volcanic crater, which is submerged by the sea, our ship had to be selective where it moored as much of the cadera is too deep for the anchor ropes.  We were positioned off the village of Fira where the only access back to the ship’s tender was, a very steep walk down the zig-zag walkway, the cable car , or the donkeys that are a feature of the island for transport and use the same zig-zag walkway.  We had booked in for a tour to the bottom of the island to view the archaeological diggings of the ancient city of Akrotiri. This is an advanced Bronze Age civilization where the village was destroyed by the eruption of the volcano around 1650 BC.  However , when the city was destroyed by the eruption and left it under a massive layer of Pumice, the inhabitants had already fled the city, for unlike Pompeii  there were no human remains discovered by the archaeologists working the site. To protect it, the whole site has been covered with a massive roof system that cost 40 Million euros. The country’s financial crisis has halted the Archaeologists work  for the time being,

A huge wine production area, Santorini has no vineyards, as we know them anyway, the grapes grow on individual bushes , planted in rows throughout the paddock, at this time of year the bushes where about 20 – 30 cms high, There is no irrigation, they rely on the soil retaining the moisture.  Many of the bushes are  over 200 years old.

Most of the houses atop the cliffs are white, as in Mykonos, often with blue trim , the blue has become to be known as Santorini Blue, however many residents do not like the colour, but believe it keeps away evil.

We were fortunate that we were the only cruise ship in the caldera this day, Staff recall times when there were 6 cruise ships at anchor, one with 5000 passengers. Ad it taking 1.5 hours in a queue to get the cable car to the bottom, a 3 minute ride.

Rhodes was our next port, where we docked at 8.00am.  It doesn’t matter how far or near the next destination is, they adjust the speed of the ship to get there at 8.00am.

Rhodes of course was the home of the “Colossus of Rhodes” a huge bronze statue that was said to stand at the entrance to the harbour with one foot on one side and the other foot on the opposite side of the entrance, it was another of the original “7 Wonders of the Ancient World”. After 100 years The Colossus reportedly broke up during an earthquake and collapsed, the bronze pieces were converted to other products or weapons.

The Acropolis of Lindos was the target of a tour group that we joined, about 35kms from Rhodes City, we drove past a very luxurious group of hotels, all locally built and owned, which are flourishing with the tourism influx . Lindos is a mall village at the base of a mountain, atop of which is the Acropolis of Lindos, to get there it was 300 stairs through the village and up the hill.  On top are the ruins of a 4^th century BC Doric temple of Athena Lindia All very interesting and draining with the number of steps. There is an amount of restoration work going on with some new columns being added to the site.

Rhodes also has an old walled city, still very much alive with over 2000 permanent residents. In the early days it was home to the “Knights of St John”, also known as” Knights Hospitaller” were among the most famous of the Roman Catholic Military Orders, during the middle ages, who were charged with medical assistance to people and pilgrims coming to the Holy Land or returning from the crusades.

If that all sounds familiar, it is apparently where the St John Ambulance got its beginning.

The Knights of St John were ousted from Rhodes by the great Arab leader, Sultan Suleiman and they moved to Sicily.   After 7 years, the King of Sicily, gave them Malta, 35 years later they were to successfully defend an attack by Suleiman, known as the” Great Siege of Malta”. 

After its beginning in 1099 The Order is still going today, with Englishman Matthew Festing the current Grand Master

Within the walled city, is the restored  “Grand Master’s Palace” another iconic building destroyed by earthquake, it was restored by Italy for Mussolini’s use, but alas as WWII went the way it did, he never got to stay in it. We were able to tour the palace on our visit.

After leaving Rhodes we had left Greece and headed toward Kalymonos, a Turkish island, where we went on a tour to St Savvas Monastery, perched high on a hill above Pothia. We toured the monastery and took advantage of the wonderful views over the city. A later visit to a sponge factory, one of the traditional products of the area.  The remaining sponge factory showed the  various type of sponges dived for locally and the processes involved in getting them ready for sale.

Kusadasi on mainland Turkey was our next stop, after a walk through the market place where you can expect to be accosted by all the (male) store keepers, offering all the best deals, inside the stores there were only male assistants who assisted . On reflection the only local women that we saw were those on the job, being taught carpet weaving.

We engaged a taxi driver (Ali Baba), who offered to show us all of the local sights for 50 euro, compared to 250 for the same places with the organized tour from the ship,  it was a good deal, true to his word we did visit more that the organized tour did and we were not hurried or pressured for time. A visit to the last home of The Virgin Mary, a 6^th century Chapel has been built on the 1^st century foundations of the original house, where a service is held each Sunday.  The site has been visited by 3 Popes since 1967.

 On entering the Chapel precinct, stands a Bronze statue of Mary which was installed there by the Vatican.  The ruins of The Basilica of St John, where the grave of St John is located  under what was the central dome of the Basilica, The Artemision, The Isabey Mosque

The ruins of Ephesus, Odeon Theatre, Hadrian temple and the Celsus Library. Of course there was the obligatory stops at a carpet manufacturing complex, a leather coat manufacturer and a manufacturing  Jeweler. All of whom plied for your business and welcomed you with their hospitality and a glass of warm apple & honey drink.  Annoying, but the same thing happens with the bus tours, so you live with it and only buy what you want.

The Library was to be the venue for a ship sponsored 5 course dinner in the Library forecourt. It was a memorable experience, we got there by 6  bus loads, arriving before sunset.  The sun went down not long after all 190 were seated. Subtle lighting was turned on, highlighting the Library remains and the surrounding columns.  A great day all round. Quite spectacular.

Our next port of call was Cesme, a Turkish Peninsular, popular for windsurfing, and favoured spot for the country houses for the well to do of Ismir.

We were content to stay on board and relax for the day.

A day at sea is our last day before docking in Istanbul and the end of the 1016 nautical mile cruise  (2115 Km)

However to get there we must pass through the Dardanelles, a 70km long and 2-6km wide strait between the Gallipoli Peninsular and the Turkish mainland, after the Dardanelles is the Sea of Marmora which then has access to the Black Sea via the Bosphorus. This waterway is fed with water by the emptying of three major rivers including the Danube as the waters make their way to the Mediterranean Sea

The Dardanelles was a prominent waterway during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915.

As we came to the lighthouse indicating the start of the Gallipoli Peninsular and so the start of the Dardanelles, the Ship broadcast the details of the Gallipoli Campaign over the speaker system. Which actually cleared up a lot of my uneducated impressions. The story as it was given, was that the Russians were starving for supplies in the Black sea area and the best access to them was via the Dardanelles, which was fortified on both sides at the section known as “The Narrows” by the Turks.

The decision was made to take the Gallipoli Peninsular and remove the fortifications to allow supplies to get through to the Russians.  The French attacked the tip of the Peninsular and lost half their troops on the first day, the Anzacs went ashore at Anzac Cove and the rest is history.

As we sailed into the Dardanelles several of the war grave monuments were prominent on the skyline of the peninsular.

There are in fact 31 war cemeteries on the peninsular to cater for the 100,000 soldiers who lost their lives here, including 55,000 Turks.

      Photos

 4  -  Istanbul

We docked in Istanbul at 8:00 am, we were all alone on the dock when we tied up, then the disembarking went on and on, by the time we were off and into the bus there was a huge liner docked in front of us and had already disgorged most of its 5000 passengers, into buses and out into the traffic. The Blue Mosque was a must see for everyone so the queues from the liner made it impossible, we caught up with some other sights before being dropped off at the “Pera Palace Hotel Jumeirah”

We have actually lobbed into a hotel of some note. The hotel opened in 1895 and was quick to fill the gap for travellers on the recently commenced “Orient Express”  The wealthy travellers from the Orient Express were transported from the train by porter carry cabs.

The hotel was the first building apart from the Ottoman Palaces to have electricity and hot running water to the guests, it also had the first electric elevator in Turkey. The list of famous people to have stayed here, included King Edward VIII, Emperor Franz Joseph, Agatha Christie, Ernest Hemmingway, Sarah Berhardt, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Alfred Hitchcock.

Agatha Christie wrote most of her novel “Murder on the Orient Express” from room 411.

So here we are in the only city in the world that sits on two continents, Europe and Asia, The Bosphorus, the 32 km long waterway that separates the two continents, runs  through the middle of the city. Well, geographically maybe, but it appears that most of the action on the European side.  The original city of Constantinople was centered on the European side and the ruins of the Walls of Constantinople are still a visible in many parts of the city.

We took an all day,  full  Bosphorus Tour, which comprised of a 90 min cruise to the Black Sea, stopping at several docks to pick up people using the tour as a Ferry, stopping for 2 ¾ hours at Anadolu Kavagi  on the point where the Bosphorus meets the Black Sea. So time to have look around and sample a Turkish lunch. Light houses were installed at the entrance to the Bosphorus during the Crimean War to enable the British ships to locate the opening.

There are two functioning bridges that link the two continents, however a larger more imposing bridge is currently under construction on the shores of the Black Sea, The end supports have been finished and the have started to suspend sections with cables coming from both ends.

On the return trip we passed Beylerbeyi Palace on the east bank and Dolmabache Palace on the west bank.

Once off the cruise we visited the Yeni Cami Mosque (the new mosque) built in 1660, which was close by. It has a reputation for having the finest quality internal tiles decorating the Mosque. There was a session going on inside, with the patrons all having washed their feet under the fountains provided outside, all kneeling and swaying with the call of the wailer,  I can only liken it to a Jimmy Barnes outpouring, (could never understand him either) .

After putting our shoes on, we ventured out into the bustling city of 14 million. We eventually located the Spice Bazaar and took to being jostled through with the crowd.

The aroma of the stalls was intense and there were stall after stall offering their spices, when the legs wore out, we headed for the nearest traffic to get a cab back to the hotel room.

After two nights at the Pera Palace we transferred to the Uyan Hotel as it both suited our budget better and was in a more appropriate position to the sights we wanted to see. In fact from the Hotel Uyan it was a five minute walk to the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, The Topkapi Palace, The Hippodrome, the Basilica Cistern, only a little further to the Grand Bazaar and the largest mosque of all, the Suleymaiyne Mosque.  We managed to take in all of those and actually did restrict ourselves to the three mosques, considering there is 2500 mosques in Istanbul, we did well to restrain ourselves. 

The Blue Mosque, built 1610, is so named because of the blue tiles on the interior of the building, Sultan Ahmet I, who built the blue Mosque was criticized for including 6 Minarets, as being presumptuous, as that was the same number as the mosque at Ka’aba in Mecca. The sultan overcame his problem by ordering that a seventh minaret be added to the mosque in Mecca.

The Hagia Sophia has had a checkered history, it was built in 537 as a Greek Orthodox Basilica, in 1204 it became a Roman Catholic Cathedral until 1261 when it reverted to Greek Orthodox , in 1453 it was converted to an Imperial Mosque until it was closed as such in 1931, since 1935 it is now a museum.  For nearly 1000 years it was the worlds largest Cathedral until 1520 when the Seville Cathedral took over the roll.

We used the Hop On – Hop Off Bus to make sure we were getting to see all of the touristy bits and rather freely used taxis to get around, Traffic had a huge effect on the costs of taxis, during the peak periods the taxi drivers want to quote a price rather than use the meter, and obviously there are good and bad taxi operators.

On one occasion (early Morning) we caught a cab to the docks and on the meter we paid 9 lire. The reverse trip in the peak of the afternoon was quoted at 70 lire, got out of that cab and into another where it cost 40 lire. We did have several occasions where we abandoned the cab as the price was too high, probably still paid too much anyway, you can only put up so much resistance.  We stumbled onto Mini-Turk which was a display of 1:20 scale models of most of the main buildings in Turkey, Mosques, Palaces, Castles and even ancient ruins throughout the country, it was a great find.

We caught a cab to the Chora Church, now known as the Kariye Museum, tucked away in a nondescript part of town near the Walls of Constantinople,  with rundown houses all around, narrow streets and lane ways, the taxi driver had his GPS on to get there but still had to stop three times to ask directions .

The museum is famous for it’s fine mosaics and frescoes. It is under repair and only a third of it was open, still worth the visit.

To get home we got a cab to take us via a road which follows the remains of the Walls of Constantinople, down to the Fortress of 7 Towers near the end of the wall.

The City of Constantinople was a triangular shape, protected on one side by the Marmara Sea, one by the Golden Horn, a wide river and on the third side, they built the wall in the 5^th century, lesser walls were built along the two waterfront sides to give added protection.

We arranged for a day trip to Cappadocia, we were picked up at 5.30am to catch a flight to Kayseri then a 60km drive to the Cappadocia area. The area surrounding  Cappadocia has many limestone pillars and cliffs which have been used over the centuries to provide an easy means of cutting out caves for protection. A lot were used to form pigeon lofts so they could harvest the pigeon droppings to use as fertilizer on their crops.

There have been 40 underground cities located throughout the Cappadocia area, only a few are open to the public. We visited the Kaymakli underground city, which was heritage listed in 1985, after a visit to a pottery maker and an Onyx processor, we were transferred back to Kayseri for our return flight to Istanbul.

On our last day we visited the Grand Bazaar and the Suleymaiyne Mosque, built in 1550, it is one of the most imposing landmarks on the Istanbul skyline, Touted as the largest mosque in Istanbul, it is actually smaller than the Hagia Sophia, but of course that is no longer a mosque. The biggest problem we found was getting to it, it seemed that there were only narrow lanes and road that gave access, so it was along walk in and out before we could get a cab.

The Grand Bazaar is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world there are 61 covered streets and over 3000 shops it started in 1455 and is now one of the most visited sites in the world , with 91million visitors each year.

Our flight home was with Qatar, which we both agree was the worst airline that we have used in our recent years of traveling, food was mostly inedible and the cattle class seating seemed particularly tight.

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