Istanbul - 10 March

Urrr...make the snow STOP.

This morning was an early flight from Athens to Istanbul, Turkey. Glancing out my window as we settled into the 1 hour flight I could see, in the gaps between the black clouds, a Turkey covered in a blanket of snow. We were not dissapointed when we landed in Istanbul as it to was white with snow and bitterly cold.

Today is where we join a 4 day tour which will include Gallipoli and Troy. The hotel that they have chosen for us is the Conrad Hilton Istanbul. Both Ron and I commented that we felt extremely uncomfortable at this 5 star behemoth with its well dressed residence and over the top helpful staff. Give us a 3 star in a dodgy location, with frayed carpets and grumpy underpaid staff any day!

Settling in to our room with its mongrammed bathrobes, slippers and complimentary water, we had that moment of disorientation that you experience if you have not visited a city before. Of course, I failed to 'read up' on Istanbul so wasn't even sure what famous sights there woudl be to visit, with the exception of those listed on our tour itinerary. To rectify our ignorance Ron popped down stairs and gathered tourist information.

Taking advantage of an afternoon, our first jaunt out of the hotel and in to Istanbul was to the Archaeological Museum.

This trip would prove that we were not acclimatised to the bitter cold and that wind chafe is a hazard not worth experiencing again in a hurry. Having done over the museum and wondered the Topkapi Palace grounds we sought transport home. The journey from our hotel to the museum had been by taxi costing 14 Lira. Not bad really as that is about $12. For our journey home we enquired of a taxi driver the cost of taking from Topkapi Palace to the Conrad Hilton, the same distance of 6.5km as our earlier taxi ride, and was quoted the lofty sum of 45 Lira. When our response was one of outrage he told us that there was a 5 km traffic jam to navigate. Well he could navigate it all on his own as we beat a hasty retreat to a warm cafe for a cup of Turkish tea and a good discussion about how we would get home. The cafe owner came to our rescue and provided information on traveling by tram then taxi to the hotel. The tram cost 1.75 Lira each and the taxi ride was 4 Lira. Didn't pass a 5 km traffic jam either. Another lesson for the day, don't just except that there is only one way to 'skin a cat'.