Cold Turkey

 Friday 2nd May 2025

It has been cold in Turkey ever since we arrived, only 14-15 degrees during the day. Thank goodness for puffer jackets. Every second person in turkey is wearing one. What did we ever do without them?  In fact, maybe they would make more money selling puffer jackets than carpets.  Just a thought.

Later today we are cruising on the Bosphorus River.  But first, a morning walk back to the Grand Bazaar.  

Today was even busier if that is possible. A very friendly cat screamed at me for attention or food. It got neither unfortunately.

a row of jewellery shops inside the bazaar 

and ceramic type shop

The happiest, most fortunate cat I have seen sitting outside his shop.

Nearby mosque

roasted corn and chestnut seller

And then time for our cruise on the river Bosphorus which separates the Asian part of Istanbul from the European side. Crossing the river is moving from one continent to another.  We were keen and looked forward to being picked up from our hotel and taken to the boat, do the cruise and back. Or something like that.

A lovely tour guy came to the hotel and suggested to our surprise that we were to walk with him to the shuttle bus which was taking us to the boat.  Not far, just a 5-minute walk.  NOT FOR ME IT ISNT!!!   (everything is 'just a 5-minute walk' but is more like 10–15-minute walk up and down steep inclines!)  Of course, we said no worries but thinking where the #$%^ is the taksi (in Turkish).

Off we went down a different street, over wobbly cobble stones, traffic and road works. Definitely took more than 5 minutes. Told you so.

There were only three of us and the driver on the bus until picking up another couple for the drive which was an hour in terrible traffic.

I forgot to take a photo of the boat but took some others to give you an idea.

the wharf

There were only about 20 people on the boat so plenty of room inside which was good as it started to rain. Another tour guy with perfect English and nice sense of humour did the commentary, none of which I can remember.

We were going to cruise down the European side and then come back up the Asian side.

A special mosque built to upstage the sultan's mosques which have 4 minarets. this one has 6.

A palace

A fortress

A bridge

We stopped at Kanlica, on the Asian side to try yoghurt. Yes really. It was nice but had a cottage cheese texture which was interesting.

I forgot to take any photos of the town or its yoghurt. But we did get a nice turkish coffee. All the restaurants appear to have the same cups.

And then interesting buildings on the Asian side which has the most expensive land in Turkey. 

This is an expalace now used as a hotel

Boris Johnson's grandfather's house. He was executed for treason. That is why Boris is in England, not Turkey.

A very enjoyable cruise and once disembarked, we were back to the shuttle bus. Unfortunately, traffic in Istanbul on a Friday afternoon is insane and it took more than an hour to get back to our drop off point. These are some photos I took whilst stationary 

There are some beautiful buildings and structures in Istanbul reflecting European, Ottoman and Asian influences.

Finally, home and time for dinner. We went to a nearby restaurant that had rejected us last night. They managed to squeeze us in tonight, but it was very full. Obviously, popular.  And would you believe the waiter not only understood gluten freeness but said his wife was also Coeliac. Unbelievable.

He confirmed my choices were gluten free and then brought out starters including some for me. Safe at last.

Vine leaves, olives and dip. Bread for Paul, cucumber for me.

Paul's beef something as suggested by the waiter

My chicken kebab with chips instead of rice. Paul stole a chip.

We even had desert and coffee and tea. Really liking the tea.

And that is the perfect way to end a meal and in fact the day.

Tomorrow the Hagia Sophia.....

Kidnapped, again

 Thursday 1st May 2025

You would not have thought it possible but yes we were kidnapped again today. 

But first, the view from the lift

On our way to the Blue Mosque, we were accosted by a confidant young man who assured us he was not a tour guide but would show us the blue mosque etc and how to get in. And yes he did have a family shop where we might choose to spend some money and hopefully buy carpets or other goods after the mosque.

He grabbed my arm to assist me down some stairs and would not leave us alone. He walked along with us giving us a rundown of the history and probably took us down a quicker way. 

Once there he said we would need to join a long line to get a scarf as I did not have one to be able to enter the mosque.  He also kept talking about his family shop etc etc etc.  He said he would meet us at the exit.  For a moment as we stood in the line, we thought he was gone and we were free but then he came back with a horrible scarf you are given at the door if you don't have one.  He tied it on my head. He owned us and because I now had a scarf, he was able to take us to another entrance where there was no lineup.  He was very clear that he would be waiting for us at the exit. Paul noted a wink between our guide and the entrance person.  Hmmm.

Once in, the first thing we had to do was take off our shoes. Great, I can't walk without shoes but thems the rules.

At least we were on our own now and were able to enjoy the interior of this amazing building. With a few hundred other shoeless people.

Paul  holding his shoes

Eventually we had to leave and re-shoe and then there he was. Our kidnapper who was not letting us go now. Paul said we may not buy anything but that was too positive.

Lovely things to photograph outside.

and look a cat

Of course he escorted us to his shop which was starting to look further than we would have liked. A bit scary but finally there.

The shop where we were held hostage

There were about 4 salespeople, one of whom spoke excellent English and who was intent on selling us as much as possible. I actually wanted a scarf and bought the least expensive of the ones I was shown, including silk, cashmere, special goat fur etc.  I also bought some earrings.  I did not haggle as much as I could have probably, but it was pressured.  Paul refused to buy any carpets and eventually we were able to leave having paid the ransom. Our original guide/spotter was much less friendly on our exit.

If we could have run, we would have run far, far away.  We decided we had been scammed but were lucky to have escaped without carpets and expensive jewellery and in fact with our lives.

It was great to be outside and free again

pretty

a graveyard I think

another cat

And then on to the Grand Bazaar, which was really close to our Hotel.  For a moment i enjoy the downward slope until i realise that we had to return which would mean an upward hill.

On the way we saw some lovely authentic Turkish/Ottoman buildings an

A cat shrine

You might notice that people have umbrellas and wearing warm winter clothes. This is because it is cold and raining a bit. We approached the Grand Bazaar with thousands of other people even though it was a public holiday today and some shops were meant to be closed.

Most of the shops are for tourists selling carpets, jewellery and luxury goods. Also, lots of turkish delight and lolly shops.  Many people out for the public holiday.

inside

We found a nice place for lunch on the way back to the hotel.  It seemed to have a variety of food and once in, we were taken to a buffet, and I was told what was and wasn't gluten free.  It gave me some confidence that they knew about gluten freeness.

My beef and veg was very nice

Paul's tandoori also very good.

And I even got dessert. Figs stuffed with walnuts

and a nice turkish coffee.

We enjoyed a quiet afternoon catching up on current affairs on BBC News. Trump has had a great 100 days etc etc.

And then we had a lovely walk foraging for a dinner venue. The first restaurant we ventured into was booked out and too full. Unbelievable but we found another that actually had allergy information including the presence of gluten displayed. YES!!!

Unfortunately, I didn't take photos of our fish dinners or even of my yummy gluten free rice pudding dessert. Just our drinks.

We met a nice french couple with reasonable english. The lady owned a company that made card dispensers.  She gave me one to look at and suggested I keep it.  Wow. They were very nice and generous.

We had a window seat upstairs and had a great view of the street.

one of thousands of carpet shops. Who buys these carpets?

And one last cat for the day.

Tomorrow we are doing a cruise on the river. We love a cruise!