Istanbul - 11 March

As we prepared ourselves by getting inot a tour group zone, already we have 'buddied up' with a great couple from America, Margot and Rolf, whome we joined and dined with in style the night before, following our tour orientation briefing. There are a great number of Americans on this tour with a sprinkling of Australians, News Zealanders and other nations. Amy will be pleased to hear that we have also met a young couple from Australia who are on their honeymoon having just married last week. The bride is of Turkish origin and the groom has a Greek background.

This tour group has two coaches but neither is full to the brim. Most on the tour are on a 15 day itinerary while we will leave the group after day 4 to return to Istanbul. Interestingly, a great many have taken the 15 day tour of Turkey as their Egyptian Tour had been cancelled. Egypt's loss, Turkey's gain. Although with the exception of those working in the tourist industry I am sure that the average Egyptian is pleased with the eventual outcome of their civil unrest.

Beginning the first day of our tour, the day dawns sunny with a little less wind and far less bitter cold. Istanbul looks distinctly better under the sun. Our hotel is quite close to the extremely busy Bosphorous Channel. We follow its shore line for a short distance and are amazed at the volume of boating traffic. The choas on the water is matched only by the traffic on the roads. Of course, Istanbul, previously known as Constantinople and even earlier in its history as Byzantia, is located on an important channel between the Marmara Sea and Black Sea. What better way to hold power and make money than to be in control of the gate on a major trading route. The buildings that we visit today represent power held by various empires through the history of Istanbul, especially the Ottoman Empire.

The first visit on our list was the Roman Hippodrome which was once the sight of Roman Chariot Racing. Not a great deal remains with the exception of an Egyptian Obelisk that was removed from a temple in Luxor, Egypt (between the museums and stolen objects we are seeing more of Egypt's ancient bits than we could have imagined). Following this we visited the stunning Sutanahmet (Blue) Mosque.

This building was completed in the early 17th Century. Though the outside of the building is impressive it is the interior that overloads the senses with its gorgeous and colourful painted ceillings and tiles. It remains a practicing mosque so we were required to remove our shoes before entering. There was some trepidation as we anticipated cold marble floors but it was carpeted so there was very little discomfort. Leaving the Blue Mosque we moved to Topkapi Palace which was once the home of the great Sultans of the Ottoman Empire. It was full of totally over the top symbols of power and wealth including a Harem, a massive diamond that was a cazzillion carats in size and religious relics such as the profit Mohammad's footprint, drinking bowl and clothing.

Lunch was spent eating very traditional Turkish food at the not so traditional Pudding Restaurant. I chose this spot for lunch thinking that it would be dedicated to sweet delicacies but I was dissapointed. Instead we chose from a variety of dishes on offer just to try something new.

If we thought that the interior of the Blue Mosque was stunning we were about to be 'blown away' by the interior of the very old Haghia Sophia known in English as Saint Sophias which is not a direct translation of its meaing at all. Starting life as a Christian church in the late 300s A.D., over the centuries it was rebuilt twice due to fire and the dome collapsing. Eventually it was modified to be used as a mosque. It's final reincarnation has been as a museum. When converted to a mosque the muslims plastered over the christian paintings and gold leaf mosiacs. These early christian works of art have now been rediscovered and the plaster removed. The gold leave mosaics covering the massive dome and ceilings do not dissapoint in their beauty.

Tonight we joined our fellow tourees to attend a Belly Dancing Show and Dinner starring one of Turkey's very best Belly Dancers. The meal was 4 courses. We had a bit of a laugh when no sooner had we been served a dish, taken a bit and about to take a second, than a waiter would be attempting to 'whisk' the plate away.

As I alluded to earlier, the traffic in Istanbul is chaotic with cars, trucks and buses narrowly missing each other as they navigate the clogged streets. Well, tonight on the way home we witnessed a car hit another. Both cares involved in the accident stopped but our coach did not and just drove straight through the middle of the scene of the accident without a backward glance. I would have loved to have stayed to see what happened next as there were some very angry mena getting out of the car that was hit and making there way to the guilty party for a show down.