Melbourne 24 June ...

Made it back safely to Melbourne. We are grappling with our body clocks and the contrast in the weather, moving from summer to wild winter in a day.

Our last day in Istanbul was pretty low key.  I visited the Little Hagia Sophia Mosque round the corner to say goodbye, said hello to a little goat who was happily helping to keep to grass down near the playground, and admired the get up and go of the Turkish older lady energetically working out on the public gym equipment outside the sports centre.  One of the nice things about Istanbul is that it doesn't seem to have become litigation shy, and public authorities provide public infrastructure like gym equipment which people use at their own risk.  And use it they do. Just about everytime we looked out the window there was someone, young kids, adolescents, older folks, happily pumping or cycling or swinging away. Didn't see too many - or any - obese Turkish people either.

The van ride out to the airport took us along past the Roman sea wall, and the sea end of the Theodosian wall, which is the second photo in the collage.  A nice farewell to Constantinople. The plane trip was about average as plane trips go.  I can't imagine getting on a plane again any time soon, but I guess the memory recedes and the desire to see new places takes over.

Melbourne is experiencing some wild winter weather and we've walked right into it. The weather in Europe was mostly settled and warm,  The top temperature here today was about half the overnight temperature in Istanbul, and there have been south westerly gales here, which are stops the water in Port Philip Bay ebbing out through the heads at ebb tide, and which pushes the water down to the south western edge of the bay, which is where we are. 

This afternoon at high tide, the water was crashing over the sea wall and around the edges, resulting in flooding into the streets around us. I think with global warming continuing unabated, thanks in part to the failure of our governments here and others around the world to take meaningful action, then we will see a lot more days like this. But it makes for a very social event.  I spoke to more of the locals here today than I have in years, as we all compared notes, watched kids splashing through the puddles and cars being towed out of the water.  

Overwhelmingly, everything went smoothly thanks to Anne's great planning. Top three experiences were the Museum of the Moyen Age with the Lady and the Unicorn, the Capitoline Hill and its Museum, and the Villa Cimbrone gardens. Bottom three were the last few hours of the train trip from Salerno to Catania, our hotel in Turin, and getting dumped at the bottom of the hill on the way to Monreale. Best food was Sicily. Number one thing I am glad we did was to keep our luggage to carry on size. We could have taken less without much difference in our comfort level, and next time I would travel lighter still. You see plenty of people struggling along with huge cases, and they make it hard for themselves and everyone else.  The other great thing was a smart phone and travelsim with data.  It was extremely useful to be able to get GPS directions to find hotels and other destinations.  

I think it will take us a while to process the trip and put it into perspective.  For the moment I feel profoundly grateful that we had the opportunity to make the trip, and that we've got such a great home and great family to come home to. 

Istanbul, Friday, 20 June, Day 58

We didn't sleep too well last night. The American lady in the room in the room next door who is travelling with her two young sons had some sort of emotional melt down last night. We had fallen asleep but got woken to crying and raised voices. None of our business but hard to get back to sleep afterwards.

The sky is overcast and the weather is cooler and windier after the storms of yesterday. We revisited a few shopping places to make some further contributions to the Turkish economy. In one shop, after some desultory haggling and concluding a purchase with a rather glum storekeeper, I said 'a pleasure to do business with you' as I handed over the cash. He cheered up and we all had a good laugh about that one. The Turkish people we have met all seem to have a keen sense of humour.

Shopping all done, we hopped on a tram bound for Kabatas on the other side of the Golden Horn, then caught the Funicular railway up to Taksim Square. There is quite a different vibe over that side of town. The restaurants are all a bit more expensive, but we had a nice enough lunch as we watched the crowd flow by down the street.

There is a little, fairly ancient, tram that rattles up and down Istikal Caddies, the boulevard that runs between Taksim and Tunel squares. A major function seems to be to provide a moving entertainment for the crowd of small children who run along behind and leap onto the back of the tram. They are having a good time, but it looks fairly dangerous. Notice small girl about 6 I think holding on with one hand, eating icecream with the other.

Istiklal Caddesi has all the brand stores you see in every other city - Starbucks, Gap, Top Shop, Zara, H&M - but it is wide, has almost no traffic apart from the tram, has a very relaxed and good humoured atmosphere, and it has amazing uniquely Turkish buildings.  At Tunel Square we caught another funicular down the hill, then caught the tram back to our side of town. We stopped off at the park restaurant for a farewell cup of tea and baklava, then back to our hotel for a rest.

Tomorrow we will be leaving on our homeward journey. We haven't had to pack for over a week, and I think as a result of our numerous trips to the Bazaars we both will have a serious case of expanding pack disease.

Yesterday at the Rustem Pasha Mosque, the man who watches over the place asked Anne what she liked about  Istanbul. "The history" Anne said.  Yes, the man agreed.  "The people are very friendly".  Hmmm, the man wasn't quite so sure about that one. "The children are very happy' Yes, they both energetically agreed about that.  The children are very happy.

We've both really enjoyed spending some time in this amazing city. But it will be sooo good to be home

Istanbul, Thursday 19 June, Day 57

This morning we decided to brave the Grand Bazaar again. It seems less frenetic first thing in the morning, and we enjoyed wandering up and down the passageways, charmed by the lovely arched roofs and all the glitter and colour.  We even bought a few things. We managed to keep our bearings in there, but got totally lost when we headed off for our next destination, the Rustem_Pasha_Mosque.

The tourist map of Istanbul only gives the names of some of the streets, and the streets with street signs seem to be not named on the map, and vice versa. Well, that's my excuse anyway. After passing the same place twice, we decided to stop for lunch, restore our blood sugars and get our bearings. The kindly proprietor saw us poring over map and guidebook, asked where we wanted to go, and told us to go out and to the right, which turned out to be 180 degrees off course, but he meant well.  Eventually we found the Mosque, after an interesting if accidental tour through the Spice Market, but it was getting close to prayer time when it would be closed to tourists.

Our other activity for the day was a ferry cruise on the Bosphorus and we wanted to get tickets, so we decided to return to the Mosque on our way home.  We memorised the location and headed off to the ferry dock.

Tickets in hand, we had had a very expensive cup of Turkish tea in one of the places under the Galatea Bridge and watched the water traffic. The ferry ride up the Bosporus was a very pleasant way to spend a few hours, good for observing both the wonderful range of  buildings that line the waters, but also the fellow travellers and the people at the dock where the ferry stopped going up and coming back. There are some really appealing looking houses, three story wooden structures with verandas and towers along the shoreline - I could imagine living a very pleasant life in a few of them.

When we got back to Eminonu, the sky was darkening and thunder rumbling. We did a much better job this time finding the Mosque, but timed our arrival for afternoon prayer time. While we were waiting in the sheltered courtyard, there were some mighty claps of thunder and flashes of lightening, and the heavens opened.

The Mosque is a small jewel.  Most of the interior is lined with splendid Iznak tiles in many and varied patterns.  The colours and patterns are as impressive and memorable as the best in Topkapi Palace.  The light was poor because of the storm, but this pic gives some idea.

After visiting, we sat and waited till the rain eased off, watching the water cascade down onto the marble paving of the courtyard, a peaceful spot to spend some contemplative time. When we did make a move, it felt as if half of Istanbul had had the same idea. The Spice Market was closing up for the day and there were crowds streaming in all directions. But we got on a tram OK, and off at our closest stop, and managed to get down the hill just to our local restaurant as the rain started pelting down again. So we settled in, resolving to keep eating and drinking till it eased off.

The restaurant is mostly outdoor seating under a grape vine, but they had a sort of waterproof covering that stretched over a frame over the top of the vine. It was like camping but with someone else doing the cooking and the washing up - what's not to like? We sat and ate and watched the downpour turn the road into a stream, and bedraggled people splashing past. By the time we finished dinner the skies were clearing, so we scurried home just before it started raining again.

The air feels lovely after the storm, and we are feeling tired but very happy.

Istanbul, Wednesday 18 June, Day 56

We got up and out the door earlier this morning, and it was amazing what a difference a half an hour makes to the streets. It was cool and quiet in the streets but the tour buses were starting to pull up near the Hagia Sophia as we passed there on our way to the Topkapi Palace. The Palace was begun by Mehmet II on the ruins of the Palace of Constantine. You can see the Roman foundations in some places, and the main road leading into the palace is the same road which has been there since Byzantine times. The complex is vast and confusing, probably deliberately so.

We started off in the Harem wing which had lots of small corridors and courtyards, and some lovely walls of ceramic tiles. It was a peaceful place to wander around for the first hour or so as we moved from building to building. It is situated in a magnificent location, but somehow didn't seem to.be making the most of it. The Alhambra in Granada is more beautiful I think.

After a while the crowds started to thicken and people jams were building in some of the narrow spaces. The queue for the treasury was stretching out well into the courtyard, so we decided to give that a miss. On the way out there was some sort of ceremonial procession of fierce looking Turkish gentlemen all with fine moustaches and clad in archaic costumes, clutching swords or long poles or playing instruments, all marching along in a sort of step where you take two paces then face 45 degrees off to the right, then swing round to face 45 degrees off to the left, and repeat. The procession came down the main processional avenue that has been used for ceremonial processions since Byzantine and Ottoman times - a nice bit of local colour.

We explored a new area of the city over towards Eminonu, the Sirkeci neighbourhood with lots of restaurants and little hotels. Looks like a lively place, a bit more touristy and a bit easier to get around than our side of town. We walked back through the Women's Handicraft exhibition, which has come part of our routine. There are interpreters who are there to help you talk with the ladies who have produced the items. Anne was looking at a pair of wool slipper like socks, beautifully knitted. They looked on the small side, and she asked the bescarfed Turkish lady via interpreter if they were for adult or child.  'Tell her to wash them at 90 degrees and they will stretch' came the response. The Turkish sense of humour is quite like the Australian.

Next we explored the Aresta Bazaar, which has a reputation for being more relaxed than the Grand Bazaar, and so it proved to be. After seeing so many cats in not so great condition, it was lovely to see this one testing out the merchandise outside one of the rug and cushion shops, and it gives an idea of how chilled the place was.

We had lunch there, then managed to find the entrance to the Great_Palace_Mosaic_Museum which display mosaics from a courtyard from the time of Justinian. After seeing so many religious mosaics, it was interesting to see the Byzantine craftsmen's approach to secular topics. A major theme seemed to be animals biting other animals, or humans. The artists did a good line in gore.

We felt we'd got our money's worth out of the Museum Cards, and retired home satisfied. We are regulars at the restaurant around the corner now, and headed down there for dinner tonight. Two brothers, one around thirty, the other just eighteen, are the main waiting staff. They are very serious, very handsome, and both speak fluent French and English. It is a very relaxing place and we feel very welcome there.

Two more days to go.

Istanbul, Tuesday 17 June, Day 55

My phone this morning gives me the current temperature for two locations, Istanbul - 22 at 7.30 am, and Altona -  11 at 2.30 pm. A reminder that we should enjoy these beautiful blue skies and warm days while we can.   A good thought to keep in mind as we puff and pant our way up the hill and walk to our first stop of the day, the Istanbul_Archaeology_Museums.  They are in a very good spot for an archeology museum, as this spot has been the focus for so many civilizations over thousands of years. One cabinet is filled with finds from an excavation to lay foundations for extensions to the Museum.  The Byzantines, and then the Ottomans have controlled vast swathes of the planet's surface and have both cheerfully appropriated so much, that the resulting collection is astonishing, the glazed tile gate from the temple of Ishtar, artefacts from Troy, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Phoenician as well as Greek and Roman statues, artefacts plus Islamic ceramics.

The museum also has some wonderful artefacts from the past of the city itself including a bit of one of the serpent's heads from the Serpent_Column and some links of the chain that was strung across the mouth of the Golden Horn to prevent hostile ships entering that body of water.

There is so much stuff that the surrounding gardens are stacked with statues, fragments of lintels some beautifully carved, columns and capitals. We had morning tea on a terrace surrounded by assorted chunks of antique stonework.

Use and re-use are big in Istanbul. I particularly liked a Herma that had lost its head, and had been reused as a baluster. A translation of its Greek inscription reads

For a beneficent god

For good fortune

For a fine season

For rain bearing winds

For  prosperous summer

For an autumn

For a winter

It always amazes me how you can find some object that speaks across the centuries, and you get a sense of connection. Today it was just abut the last thing we saw in the Museum, a Roman Gravestone for a dog. The dog on the stone stele was lovingly carved, a large shaggy thing, and the inscription read in part:

His owner has buried the dog Parthenope that he played with

in gratitude for this happiness (Mutual).

Love is rewarding, like the one for this dog.

Having been a friend to my owner

I have deserved this grave.

After a siesta back at the hotel we had a late lunch then set off for our long awaited visit to the Hagia_Sophia. It was the spiritual heart of Constantinople, and it has pretty much been the key destination that we've been heading towards since we left Melbourne.  I was moved to stand in the portico, to see the vast bronze doors and the marble steps worn down by centuries of footsteps, and then to be in that space that has been the location of so much. It is an imposing space and it has an extraordinary atmosphere.

You can see from the scaffolding that there are restoration works in progress. There certainly is plenty to do. More mosaics are hidden under plaster, paint is peeling, and the floor on the upper gallery is unnervingly uneven, as if a bit of the supporting structure has dropped a few centremetres. But for a building that has been in pretty much continuous use since 542 and that has seen so much, it is doing  marvellously well. It was a very satisfying visit.

On the way back to the hotel we bought a few things to bring home, then went out to celebrate a great day with some lamb cutlets and a small bottle of Turkish red wine at our favourite restaurant.

Feels like we're getting to the end, and we are wrestling with the question of which of the many pleasant activities on offer we should explore in our last few days here.

Istanbul, Monday 16 June, Day 54

This morning we visited the Church of Saint Saviour, otherwise known as Chora_Church. Getting there was almost as much fun as being there. We walked up the hill behind our hotel via a zig zag road that we've discovered which has generally good pavement, and reasonable gradient. We caught a tram to Eminonu, a major transport hub on the shoreline, then found our way to the Golden Horn Ferry terminal. The ferry we wanted had just left so we sat happily admiring the view of the Galata_Tower built in 1348 by the Genoese which still towers over modern Istanbul, and the buildings of Beyoglu across the water, and watching the busy water traffic. The ferry ride was a real hoot too, and I enjoyed sipping my Turkish tea while we sailed to our destination. The walk from the ferry follows the line of the Theodosian wall, so I was able to fill in a bit that I missed on my previous walk.

Having seen mosaics by Byzantine craftsmen in churches from Ravenna to Palermo, it was interesting to see a real Byzantine church. The mosaics are quite late, around 1320 I think, and you can see that the artform has moved a long way from the stiff stylized figures of Ravenna to something which captures a much more human dimension, an art which is rendering the world is a more natural way. One of the most beautiful panels is of the Holy Family.

It is had to get a picture that begins to do justice to this. I love the body language of Joseph and Mary with their heads touching, cradling the young child - the mosaic tells the story of Joseph's suspicion about the virgin pregnancy, and the bottom section is the reconciliation I guess.  I particularly liked the peacock in the bottom right corner. Instead of being just a bit of decorative pattern, as birds are used in other mosaics we've seen, this one is turning his head away from the action to nibble on a bit of tasty foliage, a wonderful bit of naturalistic observation. And the representations of the buildings beat Escher by 700 years.

After our necks were ready to seize after so much craning upwards, we had a leisurely lunch in a peaceful restaurant in a courtyard shaded by massive plane trees. Once again, we had an audience of attentive, hungry cats, who were happy to share some omelette and cheese pide with us.

The bus back to Eminonu was a hot and uncomfortable, but we got to cross over to the Beyoglu side and come back again. On our walk back through the Hippodrome we wandered through an exhibition of Turkish women's handicrafts, admiring some beautiful embroidery and lace work.

There were black clouds gathering and the sound of distant thunder so we headed back to the hotel expecting a storm. But when we looked out again after siesta, the sky was clear and the streets were dry. We had dinner at a basic little restaurant where you can select a range of side dish sized portions of various dishes. We had Turkish Irish Stew I think, and rice, with tea and a delicious pasty to follow. Very nice it was too.

After dinner we walked around some back streets, discovering an unmistakeably Byzantine church being carefully restored. We looped round to the sea front and discovered a little marina full of fishing boats, a sort of promenade with lots of fish restaurants, a whole bunch of shops selling fish all artfully displayed, and, not surprisingly I guess, a whole lot of stray cats. Everywhere we go we see cats, mostly in pretty poor condition.

We have started the 72 hour countdown on our Museum pass. Tomorrow I think Hagia Sophia and the Archaeology Museum.

Istanbul, Sunday 15 June, Day 53

A windy hot morning so we decided on inside and cool activities for the morning. First up we visited the Sultan_Ahmed_Mosque aka the Blue Mosque. A huge crowd milling about meant that it did not have anything like the peaceful atmosphere of the Little Hagia Sophia round the corner, but it is an impressive space none the less. Next we pottered round the Hippodrome, site allegedly of a massacre of thousands of revolting citizens ordered by Justinian  during the Nika_riots in 532.  Hard to imagine as it is such a peaceful and pleasant place today. The Mosque souvenir shops are a pleasant change from many other shops as you don't get hassled, so we bought a few things there.

Next stop was the Basilica_Cistern, another but more benign outcome of Justinian's rule. For what is effectively an underground water tank or reservoir, the Byzantines certainly put in a lot of effort. The columns come from all over the empire, and are recycled from other buildings. The capitols - mostly Corinthian - are very ornate, and you wonder why they put that much effort on to something which you wouldn't expect many people to see. But it makes a great spectacle today, and we enjoyed the vaulted ceilings and eerie vistas, the dark water with the occasional huge fish gliding into the patches of light, and, of course, the mysterious Medusa heads which form the base of two columns in a back corner.

Did the builders have a couple of columns that were just a bit short, and a couple of chunks of old Greek marble statue lying around that were just the right size to make up the short fall, or is there some meaning in the placement of the heads?

We walked back to our neighbourhood, past one restaurant proprietor who now knows us well by sight, and seems more crestfallen each time we don't eat at his establishment. We might have to have lunch there soon, or find another way to walk.  We hardened our hearts today however, and had lunch at the place in the park again, which is very relaxed and peaceful, and the food is good.

After a rest and catching up with some things, we headed out again, this time to visit the Grand Bazaar. We only skirted down the edge of it, but that was plenty thank you. We tried out our Istanbul kart, a myki like RFID card for public transport. It works really well. Tram stops are like mini train stations, with turnstile entry gates. Each gate has a burly security guard with a hefty truncheon, so fare evasion would be minimal. Recharging is easy and fast. You put your card on one of the recharge terminals, machine says something in Turkish. You insert note, wait 10 seconds, the machine says something else in Turkish and the new balance on your card flashes on screen. You take card and walk away. The whole transaction takes about 30 seconds. With a population of 20 million to move around the city, you have to have a system that works. You might think the same would apply for a city like Melbourne with 5.5 million people, but apparently not.

As we headed off down the hill a Turkish man said to us "You're walking like carpet buyers", a nice bit of wry humour. The people are often very witty, and extremely sharp.  Three different traders have identified us as Australians. I'm not sure what the tell tale characteristics are.

We had dinner at the cat restaurant, both of us secretly wanting to see the mother to be cat again so we could feed her, but there was a different cast of cats who were appreciative of some of our sea bream - as we were. It was delicious.

We got Museum passes today, which are valid for 72 hours from first use, so tomorrow we will start on the museum trail.