Day 19 – July 1st - Istanbul
It was a challenge today to ‘get up and get going’. The days of heavy walking, especially on cobbled and narrow steep laneways, plus standing most of the day on our feet doing the tourist thing was taking its toll. This morning I had a 10am appointment with Mr Nafiz Guder, a Senior Adviser with the WWF, the World Wide Fund for Nature, an International NGO, but who is a member of the Turkish C20 Steering Committee (Turkey is host to the G20 this year, the gathering of the 20 largest global economies. Australia hosted last year). It was a goodwill visit, given my place on the Australian C20 Steering committee. Fortunately his office was within walking distance, but nevertheless it was about 2km by foot over the same cobbled, narrow busy laneways, and a steep climb out of our hotel.
Our first breakfast at the Basileus Hotel was quite sumptuous, although in contrast to the rooftop restaurant of the ‘Erguvan Hotel’ of our first night, this one was in the basement and beyond wifi, and no views of the city. The food was lovely though, but sadly we had no time to linger.
We set off at about 9:20am for the longish walk to the business area near the Spice Market. We tracked up the steep back lanes behind our Hotel, and into the Sultanahmet plaza, past the magnificent Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia (probably one of the greatest architectural feats of the Christian church), and then headed along the tram lines until we found Mr Guder’s building, which was about 100m from the entry to the Spice Market.
The elevator required much courage! It was a close cousin to a laundry service elevator. It was crowded with three people, close comfort even for two. It had two doorways, but no internal closure from the core of the building – those doorways had no doors, so you had no protection from the core of the building as the elevator went from floor to floor. We survived it! We spent an hour with Mr Guder, who was pleased by our visit as were we. It was good to bring some words of encouragement from our Australian C20.
We tackled the Spice Market, which was dominated by a rich variety of sounds, smells and tastes to the all the senses. The stalls were set very close together, and every shop seller wanted our business. Sadly we are not very good consumers, but we did buy some blocks of ‘Turkish Delight’ just to be nice. I also bought some excellent ‘Hugo Boss’ shirts which I must say are very nice to wear even if they may not be the genuine article.
Julie has been frustrated without a camera (she brought with her a professional camera from work, for an assignment she has in Moldova, only to discover that the lens is only suitable for close, detailed photography and is basically useless for tourist photography. So we went camera shopping, there being a number of camera stores close to the Spice Markets. She is now much happier with a very neat, inexpensive Canon with 18 zoom and is equipped with a wifi facility!
Our legs were just about worn off, but the afternoon was still young. We headed back to visit the ‘Hagia Sophia’ but not before going to our favourite restaurant that is shaded and looks across the square between the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, at the Basilica Cistern. Its lovely to sit and watch the lifestyles of the Turkish people. They do family life very well, although Mr Guder told us that one Turkish woman every day is killed in domestic violence (that probably equates to the deaths of women due to domestic violence in Australia where it is running at one a week!).
The Hagia Sophia has to be seen to be believed. In the Greek it literally means ‘Holy wisdom’ which was built in 537AD and served as an Eastern Orthodox Cathedral and the seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople until 1453 when it was converted to a Mosque by the Ottomans (except during 1204 to 1261 it served as a Roman Catholic Cathedral). In 1935 it was ‘secularised’ and opened as a museum and is no longer a Mosque.
It is gargantuan! Dedicated to the Wisdom of God (hence hagia Sophia), it is probably the greatest example of Byzantine Architecture, and at its best would rival St Peters in both size and architectural achievement, given the Hagia Sophia was built over one thousand years earlier. It is massive, with enormous domes inside, the height and extent of detailed work and beautiful fresco work that defies all logic in how such detail and structural complexity can be achieved by artisans in the 6th century. It was in nowhere near the condition internally as the Little Hagia Sophia, but nevertheless is an impressive tribute to those who planned it and worked to complete its construction.
We retreated to our Hotel, and were happy to ‘put our feet up’ for a few hours before going back to the Sultanahmet for dinner, at a small outdoor Turkish café that looked out over the plaza. We were literally outside the Blue Mosque. It was a wonderful experience to sit there for ages as the sunset closed over, watching as the plaza filled up with families who were flooding the place to eat together as sunset brought a close the the daily Ramadan fasting. It was basically ‘picnic’ in the park, as families spread blankets and squeezed into the grassed areas to enjoy the evening meal together.
It was the close of another great day. We have one more day remaining. We visit the Bazaar tomorrow. From the comfort of our room at the Basileus Hotel, we send our love. Until then…
KRA
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