Istanbul - 26th to 28th of August 2011

Istanbul, the start of our week-long tour of Turkey. Well, when we finally got there that is, after being bumped by Emirates to the later flight. We only arrived at our hotel by early afternoon, were we met our buddy Nicola, who had arrived earlier in the day (without her bags). Not such a great start, and only time for a quick walk around and a local dinner.

With only two nights in Istanbul, we really only had one full day to explore. So we were up at a decent-ish hour to wander over to the Topkapi Palace, the official and primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years from the 15th to 19th centuries. It sits on a great spot overlooking the Maramis and the Golden Horn, so got our first look at wider Istanbul, the joining place of Europe and Asia.

From there, it was around the corner to the Haigia Sophia, originally the cathedral of Constantinople when it was built in the 4th century, until it was converted into a Mosque in the 15th century.

And next door to the Blue Mosque, relatively new at only 400 years old. It's referred to as the Blue Mosque due to the blue tiles on the inside, although we thought it should be called the feet mosque due to the smell (they make people take their shoes off and carry them around inside the mosque, so it doesn't have a particularly pleasing aroma...)

After a full on morning we were ready for some lunch, and found some at the nearby Grand Bazaar. Its a very old indoor market, very colourful, and actually quite pleasant compared to some of the markets we've been through.

A few shawls and knock-off belts later, we got the tram over to the newer part of town for a walk down the main shopping strip. More sunglasses, shoes...Half way down the strip is the Galata Tower. Built in 1348 as part of the fortifications of Constantinople, its not the tallest tower in the world, but still offers great views back across the Marmara and Golden Horn to the many mosques of the Istanbul skyline. Back to our hotel to get dolled up before a gourmet dinner, followed by a few cocktails at one of the many rooftop bars that are the place to be in Istanbul.

Having spent a day and a half in Istanbul, we realised how crazy the drivers are. So it turned out very nicely that we weren't picking up our hire car in downtown, but rather out at the airport. No dramas in picking up our beast, we hit the road west around midday...