istanbul

Istanbul. If you read Jon Courtenay Grimwood, then you'll have a very specific image of Istanbul in mind. Think El Iskandria, and its multi-faceted shabby splendour, and you have Istanbul in mind. Its a city unlike anything I've ever seen before, full of strangeness, but in a way, strangely familiar. First day there, we had breakfast on the hotel terrace. The view was magnificent, overlooking the Bosphorus and its endless train of small ships fading into the hazy distance. The weather was great too, there was no need for jackets, and it was clear. First stop for us was the Sultan Ahmet Camii (Blue Mosque), built for Sultan Ahmet I by Mehmet Aga in the 17th centuary. It is fairly unique in Islam, in that it has six minarettes. At the time of its construction, this was seen as an affront to Meccah, which has seven. Each of the minarettes has two or three balconies where a Muezzin would sing Moslems to prayer each day. These days, they have been replaced by large loudspeakers, which takes away from the experience a bit. The interior was fantastic too. one hundred and ten thousand tiles from Iznik went into its interior, and it has to be seen to believed. I'll get some photos scanned soon and upload them here.
We were staying in Sultanahmet, right in the centre of the city. The Blue Mosque firms the backdrop for breakfast on one side, and the bosphorus on the other. One day, we took a walking trip around the city, and ended up on the Galator bridge and walked into Asia. Chalk up another notch on the belt for that one, as we hadn't been in Asia before. The scene on the bridge is chaotic; fishermen cover almost the entire length, with poles sticking out like a forest. The fish they catch are sold in the market on the asian side. We had lunch there yesterday, and although it was raining, it was incredible. Anna had sardines, and I had prawns. The freshness of the food, and the setting amongst Turkish fishermen, made it complete.
I had written pages of notes for this, and I'll post them later. Suffice to say, Istanbul was a fantastic holiday. I recommend it to anybody.