Chester & Wales

This weekend we drove to Chester to stay with some friends of Andrew's parents (Morgan friends).

They have a lovely townhouse on the river not far from central Chester.

On Saturday morning we went on the City Sightseeing tour around the city. It's a great way to look around the city and hear a bit about it (without reading the books!)





Following the tour we walked around half of the ancient city walls.

Then we went for a drive into Wales, checked out the canal and climbed up a hill where there were some ruins.








This is the view from K&G's deck over the river and into town. Lovely!



On Sunday, Andrew went with Keith to a car show while I headed into town with Gill. There were Morgans of course!





We had a lovely weekend and were well looked after by our hosts.

Istanbul & Home

A leisurely start to the day today. It would seem the hotel staff were feeling the same way. We arrived for breakfast on the roof terrace shortly after 8am when it was supposed to start. By 8:15 most of the food was out on the serving table, but we weren’t in any rush, so no worries. There were threatening clouds but we were pretty confident it wouldn’t rain on us.

After checking out we headed for the Basilica Cistern which is a large underground cavern for water storage in Roman times. It has 336 marble columns, each 9m high, impressive vaulted ceilings, two carvings of Medusa’s head and even some fish swimming in the remaining water.

After a break from walking, we headed for the Museum of Islamic and Turkish Arts?? Parts of it were really interesting, especially seeing some very impressive carpets and illuminated Koran manuscripts. We also saw Deniz our tour guide as she was taking another group (more Aussie’s I think) around Istanbul.

One last Turkish coffee and a doner kebab later, we headed back to the hotel to collect our bags. It was a long haul up the hill again with our packs to the tram, and we were sweaty and tired. We stopped off at the Bern Otel (where we stayed with Kumuka) to collect the clothes that Grace left on the coach, then finally to the airport on the Metro.

Airport prices were unbelievable! We had an ok pasta for 10 Lira which isn’t too bad, but drinks were 2-3 times normal, and an ice cream that would have cost 2.50 on the high st was 5-6 Lira. Not surprisingly we didn’t spend much time in the shops. It was a good flight home apart from the controls in our seats not working. No sound for the movie, no light control, no attendant call. We complained but all they could offer was single seats in other places. When the food came (good food and great chocolate coated profiterol dessert) the attendant gave us extra Gin & tonic and two small bottles of champagne for our troubles. Maybe she was hoping we’d get drunk and fall asleep!

Tube and train, tired walk, home to our lovely, a’hem, airbed. It seems to have gone so quickly, but a fantastic (funtistic) trip with some great people.

Bursa to Istanbul - Last day of tour

Last day of the tour. We said goodbye to our three Turkish Australians in Bursa, as they were travelling to the south of Turkey. The rest of us headed for Istanbul, including a ferry across the Izmit Harbour.

Traffic was pretty crazy getting through Istanbul (but not as bad as Ankara!) We were dropped near our original hotel where some of the others were staying. After more goodbyes we headed towards Sultanahmet on the tram (it was good now that we knew how things worked) and on to our hostel. The lady had overbooked hoping that we’d take up the offer of moving to another of her hostels nearby. We reluctantly agreed and we went there by car. The location was not as good because it was amongst more residential properties, whereas the original hostel was surrounded by cafes and shops. It was ok in the end and not too far from the main streets.

We met some of our tour friends for more Kofte (Meathballs) for lunch. As we were choosing a place we heard out tour guide calling out to us, “good place to eat!!”. We said goodbye to him again. He was so friendly and helpful throughout the tour. Nice meatballs again, then we all went our separate ways.

We hit the Grand Bazaar (Kapali Carsi) again, this time ready to spend some money. We found a nice cushion cover and bought some apple tea. Other than that Grace was looking for a silk scarf and we had to fend off lots of eager sellers.

After that we walked to the waterfront and visited the Misir Carsisi (Spice Bazaar). Grace found her scarf and we escaped with a few Lira to spare. We walked back to the main street in Sultanahmet and checked out a few restaurants. One was quite expensive so we kept walking but a man asked us if we were interested in eating there. I shook my head, so he asked “is it too expensive”, so I nodded as I walked away. He called out “go to McDonalds, it’s better there”. Not sure if that was meant to be a joke or just plain rude. We have had similar things in the past. One minute they are eager for you to eat there, the next they are rude to you.

We found a jacket potato stall near the hippodrome, along with hundreds of people and lots of other food stalls. We bought some food and looked for a place to sit. As we walked around we saw everyone sitting in groups with food and drink in front of them but no one eating. It was almost sunset and time to break the fasting for the day. We felt bad sitting amongst them and eating so we waited, the longest 20 minutes of Andrew’s stomach’s life, until the call went out. It is a special family event when you get to eat at the end of the day. Apart from children and some tourists, nobody touched their food or drink until it was time.

Back to our hotel to pack and get some sleep.

Ankara to Bursa

Nice late start today which was good after a late night at the movies.

Pretty much a day of driving with a few (almost desperate) comfort stops. Several beers were consumed on the bus today, to reduce wastage of course. Can’t leave them behind and let them go bad!

In Bursa we stopped at the Green Mosque. It was prayer time and they were reading out part of the Koran so we couldn’t go inside for about 45mins. Instead we just peered through the door and looked at the outside.

After checking into the hotel the group went across the road and looked around the silk markets. After several purchases they were closing up so our wallets were saved.

For dinner we went to our tour guide’s favourite Iskender Kebab restaurant for dinner, our last group dinner. The area we are in is very strict on Ramadan so there was no alcohol at the restaurant and no bars around, so we stocked up and the liquor store and had a few drinks in a hotel room.

Cappadocia to Ankara

Our first stop on the road was an underground city. There are over 300 in the area. We saw bedrooms with no doors, round entrances with circular doors (like in the Flintstones) that can be rolled into place, wells with water, open holes above for ventilation and even an elevator shaft. Apparently the porous rock absorbed smoke from cooking. They made wine in a hole in the ground. The underground cities were fairly easy to construct as the stone (some combination of volcanic remains) was easy to chip away. The cities were only used in dangerous times such as invasions by Romans from West and Arabs from East.

Further on the way we stopped at a salt lake which we walked on. It covered such a large area, up to 50km, and all you could see was white plains disappearing in the hazy distance. During the winter the lakes are about 1.6m deep with (salty) water. During the summer, most of the water evaporates and leaves the thin crust of salt.

Lunch was more pancakes.

Once we arrived in Ankara, we headed straight to the Ataturk mausoleum with his symbolic tomb. The magnificent building is constructed of marble and gold/precious stones ceilings, all sourced from Turkey. Under tomb there is a museum dedicated to Ataturk and his work.

Our final stop was the Anatolian civilisation museum which contained many items from the history of Turkey, including a large room dedicated to stone carvings. We were all tired by this stage, and the museum staff were very close to home time (and eating time), so we felt a bit pressured and couldn’t take in all the information.

Dinner was another average hotel buffet. After dinner we went to the local mall for desserts. Just after we found the food area there was a power cut. We headed for the supermarket for water and food to take home. Shortly after, the power came back on. We decided to watch The Dark Knight on large IMAX screen.

Cappadocia

We had an early start for hot air ballooning today. After some tea and cakes, and a long wait, we were ushered into a van which took us only 500m up the road where a balloon had just landed. They re-stocked the basket with full (hopefully) gas cylinders while other people climbed out and we climbed in. Shortly after we were floating in the air and flying high above the amazing area with awesome views. We took off next to the Open Air Museum (where we will go later) which was a great example of the amazing caves and paintings on the rocks. Once up high we could see similar landscape for mile and miles, along with probably 30 other balloons in various places.

We had a pretty rough landing near some tomato trees. The poor guys who had to chase our balloon were running towards us, dodging the trees and grabbing the rope we threw out. It looked like they were losing a battle of tug-of-war the way they tried to stop us from moving, but it was quite windy so we kept sliding on the ground. We finally came to rest, but on the edge of a mound and probably would slide onto more tomatoes. They decided we should take off again so we climbed into the air and the guys ran to the truck to catch our next landing spot.. This time we ploughed through a tree and scraped our way up a slope, trying to land on the flat top. After some scraping, sliding and tugging we came to rest near the edge of the hill, slightly precarious, but safe enough. It was certainly an experience. As soon as the balloon was deflating, one man was putting the table out and pouring the champagne, as tradition would expect, then we were issued with ‘certificates’!

Finally, back at the hotel we had a quick breakfast and then were off again with the rest of the group. There was lots to see today. First stop was an area called 3 Beauties, three tall rocks with ‘heads’ on top.

Next stop we took a bit of a walk amongst the rocks. After some steep climbs and a dead end, we arrived at Camel rock, a rock formation that kind of looks like a camel!

The next area was covered with lots of tall stones and some church caves. Our tour guide didn’t want to tell us what they looked like, but guessed we would figure it out once we saw them!

Next was a pottery workshop which was in a cave. We had a demonstration of how pottery is moulded, painted and shown a large display room. We were all very tempted to purchase, and some people became pottery collectors, just like that. We were keen on a large vase, but at 900 Lira (over £400) we weren’t so sure. Instead we bought a small bowl which will remind us of all the lovely things we saw J

Lunch was a quick meat pide at a small local restaurant. Then we popped into a jewellery showroom. We had a quick talk about some of the stones they used then we had more time to spend money. After our efforts at the pottery place we had limited time for the jewellery (luckily!)

Back at the Goreme Open Air Museum our guide showed us around the chapels and other caves in the rocks. There were some amazing paintings still on the insides of the chapels.

Up the road at Captain Osmans we had a great view over pigeon valley, then stopped further up the hill at a small village where we had a magnificent view over the landscape. Here we saw caves that were still being used today.

Tonight we went to Turkish dinner with entertainment (in another cave). Firstly there were Whirling Dervishes, then as the food and drink was served we saw Turkish dancing, belly dancing and actors getting prepared for their wedding, all the while dragging members of the audience to participate!

We were all very tired after the long day, so by 11 we were glad to be heading back to our hotel rooms.

Antalya to Cappadocia

As we had been warned several times, today was going to be a long day. Our final destination was Urgup in Cappadocia.

First stop was an area with lots of fruit stalls on the side of the road where we bought some tiny bananas.

Next was Konya where we looked through the Mevlâna Museum, the former lodge of the whirling dervishes. We looked through the monastery with the impressive tomb of Rumi, artefacts and writings from the Koran.

We stopped briefly at a lake discovered by Ilker himself! It’s by a caravanserai which is being restored, but Ilker found the lake whilst there. It is deep hole in the ground and the water is up to 900m deep.

Later we stopped at another caravanserai called Sultanhani on the road to Aksaray (that used to be part of the Silk Road). This one was very commercialised with lots of shops surrounding it. These places were walled hotels for travellers to stop with their camels and offered a safe place to stay the night. They were locked after sunset and under the protection of the government.

12 hours after departing we made it to our nice boutique hotel in Urgup, Cappadocia. Ilker took us to the ‘posh’ restaurant that he promised for another nice dinner. Oh, so much food, and most of it meat!

Kas to Antalya

An earlier start this morning for our drive to Antalya. On the way we stopped at Demre where we saw St Nicholas’ Church. This is the St Nicholas who is now known as Santa Claus so there was a statue of Santa. The church was partly ruined, but much of the structure was still intact and several mosaics and paintings. St Nick was also the patron saint of Holy Russia, so there were masses of Russian tourists and even a Russian shop nearby.

We also stopped at a café on a hill with a great view and had nice pancakes (pretty much like crepes). Mince and cheese, and lemon and sugar with a Turkish coffee. The coffee very strong and slightly sweetened, as long as you leave the sludgy dregs at the bottom.

3 of our fellow travellers were due to finish the tour this afternoon and fly out tomorrow, but the couple realised that their flight was 1:30pm today, not tomorrow! Our tour leader managed to organise them a taxi from Demre direct to the airport in Antalya which got them there in plenty of time, but they missed the church and pancakes! We only arrived in Antalya at 2pm so they wouldn’t have made it if they‘d stayed with us. The third one to leave (the Kiwi guy) quickly checked his itinerary and confirmed that his travel agent was actually thinking when booking his flights.

Antalya is quite a large city with thousands of hotels. It has a long beach so is popular with tourists. The city is not that nice, especially compared to the cute towns we had just visited. We walked to the waterfront (actually the cliff top) and back but it was too hot to do anything and our hotel doesn’t have a pool. The beach is too far away.

Later, Ilker took us for a walk to the ancient parts of the city which was interesting. One of the highlights was Hadrian’s Gate, the same Hadrian that built the wall in England. After more kebabs for dinner and Turkish ice-cream (not so chewy this time) we headed home for bed. We have a long day tomorrow.

Kas and Gulet Cruise

Today we had a bit of a sleep in, before our day out on the boat. We drove for around 50 minutes to the port town of Kekova where we were departing from. The boat was meant to be a traditional Gulet. The boat had a nice covered deck with seating and a partly covered roof with sunbeds.

Not long after departing, we were stopping for our first swim. The water was an amazing turquoise blue colour and very clear and warm which made it beautiful for swimming in.

The second stop had some ruins on shore. Mostly just remaining walls from houses. At the third stop we had a wonderful lunch of bbq meat and other homemade food. The boat was run by a husband and wife and their young daughter was on board too. He prepared the bbq off the back of the boat and cooked while she served the other food.

Our 4th stop another cove like area. More swimming! On the way we saw parts of the Sunken city of Kekova and some ruins through the glass bottom of the boat.

Near the end we cruised past a village on an island with a Castle on top of hill and more tombs.

Tonight we had a group dinner at a local restaurant, then looked at more shops!

Fethiye to Kas

Today was a big day for us, as we had decided to go paragliding over the blue lagoon area. It was an early start, followed by a rather disconcerting drive up the mountain on a Land Rover. There were 9 of us on the seating out the back, 6 guides inside the truck and 3 more guides on the roof with all the parachutes etc. The road was dusty gravel and narrow most of the way, with steep cliffs on both sides.

Grace was feeling a little nervous as she is afraid of heights, but it all turned out to be easier than we thought. The parachute is filled with the breeze then once it’s in the air you only need to run a short distance, sometimes only a few steps, and you’re in the air! Then you can sit in your harness and enjoy the calm floating / flying in the air. Apparently we cruised at about 45km/h. The view from the air was amazing, and the way we just sort of floated in the air was a great experience. Near the bottom they had a bit of fun and did some spinning. We felt quite a lot of force while spinning, but it’s a weird sensation because you don’t have any solid objects nearby to judge your speed, only the feeling of blood rushing to your feet!

Our first stop today was the ruined city of Xanthos. It has an impressive Roman theatre, Lycian pillar tombs and some remains of mosaic floors. Again, the finest remains are in the British museum, but at least this has meant they have been kept safe.

Next was Patara beach, the longest beach in Turkey 18km long. Once again warm water, but very hot sun. After a swim we relaxed at the café for lunch. Patara is the birthplace of St Nicholas (Santa Claus).

We also stopped at a beach with the most amazing turquoise water. Deniz challenged us to walk the 100 or so steps down to the beach and write KUMUKA in the sand!

Finally, in Kas we jumped in the pool at the hotel as soon as we arrived. Such relief after the long hot day (and washed off the salt!).

We had a nice dinner at a local restaurant with a very friendly host. We had seafood again since it is fresh here. After dinner we did a little shopping around the markets in town.

Kusadasi to Fethiye

This was our first day with our new tour guide Deniz (which means ‘sea’ in Turkish). First stop was the local bus station to drop Ilker off. After that we headed to Dalyan (with a couple of stops as we have a few sick people on the trip at the moment) which is a little fishing village. We had Pide (Turkish pizza) for lunch at a small cafe. It was so hot today that we just wanted to sit under some air conditioning somewhere, but couldn‘t!

After lunch we all (except one sick person) got on a small boat to Iztuzu Beach (known as Turtle Beach) where turtles come to breed. On the way we were lucky enough to briefly see a turtle which some fishermen were trying to attract with bait (but not trying to catch). We could also see tombs carved in the cliff faces which people had carved for tombs, some unfinished. The boat ride took us up a river to the beach and there were lots of reeds in the water so the channel was very hard to follow. Our captain was very experienced and knew exactly which way to go. Once at the beach we headed straight for the water. The water was really warm, and there was a bit of surf, but lots of fun. After that it was a boat ride back to the pier, where we got on the bus again to head to Fethiye.

Dinner tonight consisted of picking sea food from a fresh seafood market and asking one of the surrounding restaurants to cook it for us. A bunch of us decided to get some prawns, calamari and fish to share. The food was good when it arrived but service was very slow (Turkish time).

Selcuk to Kusadasi

Our first stop this morning was Ephesus not very far away from our Selcuk hotel. The city of Ephesus was built 3 times because of the changing geography so the one we are seeing is the second Ephesus.



Some of the highlights are Hadrian temple:



the mosaics:



sculpture of the goddess of Nike:



the toilets:



Celsus library:



brothel, and the theatre which sits 24,000 people and is still used for concerts.



Our guide demonstrated the amazing acoustics by singing for us too!

After Ephesus, we made a quick stop at the Temple of Artemis near Ephesus which used to consist of 127 columns, but now all that remains is 1 column. Most of the remains can be found at the British museum in London. This is because back in the days when the excavations were being carried out, the Turkish Sultan gave permission to the archaeologists to take what they discovered (except for anything precious e.g. gold, precious stones). This appears to be fairly common with a lot of the sites in Turkey.

Lunch was back at the restaurant next to the hotel which consisted of a buffet with similar food to dinner last night.

We then made our way to the leather factory, where they began by giving us a fashion show of their products i.e. jackets. Andrew and another girl from the tour got picked to go up onto the catwalk to show off a couple of jackets. After that we made our way into the retail part of the store which had loads of jackets and other leather items for sale. They demonstrated one of their waterproof jackets by pouring water on it.

Then it was straight to the the hotel at Kusadasi which had a pool so we went for a swim (much needed as it was a hot day). After lazing around by the pool we got ready for dinner and managed to catch the end of happy hour at the pool bar. We also took a quick walk down the road to catch the sunset, then had dinner (another buffet) by the pool.





After dinner we headed into town for some drinks at a local bar. Ilker was leaving us to sit an exam in his home town of Izmir, and his wife Deniz (another tour guide) was taking over for a few days.

Canakkale to Selcuk

An early start today as we headed to Troy. The original wooden horse at Troy was a bit disappointing, although we got to climb inside it and peer out the windows. The replica at Canakkale that was used in the movie was better.



The remains of the civilisation of Troy were not particularly interesting, as it was mainly foundations and walls. We did learn however that it is a city that has been built on 9 times on top of each other since about 3000 BC. The period of Troy that we are most interested in is period no. 6 which is around 1250 BC and that recorded by Homer (the Historian, not the Simpsons). This was when the story of the Trojan horse (if real) is believed to have occurred. Watch the movie for a version of the story.



As we were about to leave someone noticed a kitten on the ground which we would have otherwise run over. We think the mother dropped it in a fright. It was so small (and cute), probably only a few days old and still blind. It was calling out for it’s mother. We realised that it would probably die if left so we dropped it off at the local shops where someone would be able to take it home and look after it. Now it should grow up to be a nice house cat rather than a scavenging wild cat.



After Troy we got lunch at a roadside stop, where we had lamb doner kebabs and ayran. Then we headed to a carpet manufacturer where we got a lesson on carpet making. The host explained about natural vegetable dyes versus chemicals and showed us how silk is obtained from a silk worm cocoon.

He also showed us how the knots in the Turkish rugs are constructed. Then we got showed an amazing array of carpets and kilim, large, small, wool, silk, different patterns, colours etc. It was amazing. We found a runner we liked so we got it for our front entrance hallway, after some bargaining.



Then it was time to head to the hotel in Selcuk. We passed through the city of Izmir on the way which is where our guide is from. Apparently the ladies are very pretty in Izmir. Asking someone “are you from Izmir?“ is a complement. The hotel had a pool so we all went for a dip when we got there before having a buffet dinner which had a wide range of food, including some nice desserts (sweet, wet biscuits and cakes, and rice pudding). After dinner, we picked up some drinks from the local petrol station and hijacked a fellow travellers room for some entertainment, which ended up in watching the Turkish version of Deal or No Deal (which dragged on for ages with commercial breaks)!

Istanbul to Canakkale

An earlier start this morning to go to Gellibolu (Gallipoli). A mid morning toilet and coffee stop. Along the way we got told about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (Ataturk meaning father of Turkey). Mustafa was the person who brought democracy to Turkey and tried to move Turkey forward as a country, by introducing surnames for the people, the metric system, giving women the right to vote. The Turkish people love Mustafa Kemal, his picture is on every Turkish note and coin.

Gallipoli is a fishing town. We had lunch there (more Turkish meatballs, among other selections) and browsed the markets. There is always a great selection of fresh fruit and veg which they claim is grown naturally with no chemicals.



Out from the town we visited the information centre and museum, then drove to Anzac cove which is actually not where the soldiers landed but a few meters away from it. The land is very hilly there and understandably difficult for the soldiers to make much progress towards their ultimate goal (Istanbul). In reality the soldiers were actually meant to land much further down the peninsula where the land is flatter and the route inland much easier. After the cove we checked out a few memorials. The Australian memorial called Lone Pine - so called because of one pine tree which was there during the war and is still there now -, the Turkish memorial and the New Zealand memorial at peak of Chunuk Bair - where some New Zealand and British soldiers captured the area and held it for a short time.



We were constantly getting in and out of the coach to visit these sites on a very hot day and the air conditioning struggling. It does, however, make you feel for the soldiers who were fighting there through the summer.

After Gallipoli, we crossed the Dardanelles channel on a ferry to Canakkale. We saw the replica of the Trojan horse which was used in the movie Troy and had dinner at one of the cafes along the waterfront. We were hoping to get some Turkish pizzas and pide, but unfortunately the oven was broken so it was a more grilled meat for dinner. We found our tour guide with some of our other travellers at a bar and joined them for a large (2.5l) beer before heading back to the hotel.

Istanbul Day 3

We made it to breakfast this morning. It included fried eggs and potato, boiled eggs, cheese, meat, olives, tomatoes, bread and cake!

We joined our tour group for our city tour. Our guide took us on the tram to Sultanahmet explained the history and showed us around the hippodrome.



After that we visited the Blue Mosque, where we got to see the amazing colours and impressive roof. It is called the Blue Mosque because of the blue colour of the tiles which make the whole place glow blue with the sunlight.

From there we visited the Topkapi Palace which was the first Ottoman palace built from 1466-1478. We saw several areas, including a Chinese porcelain display, the treasury with many valuable gold and diamond items, a display of on the prophet Muhammed, portraits of the Sultans…

Very hungry we all went for lunch and out tour guide recommended a few places that made Kofte (meatballs). They weren’t really ‘balls’, rather long sausage like things, but tasted really good. We also tried some baklava which was quite sweet but very yummy.

From there our final stop was the Grand Bazaar (open today!) which is one of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world. At first it didn’t seem that big, but after walking down a few lanes and seeing even more and more lanes we realised was huge. It has over 3000 shops, 61 streets and 22 gates, so it’s not surprising that our guide told us not to get lost! The merchandise wasn’t very exciting though. Many shops looked the same, selling either souvenirs, jewellery, leather products or packaged food.



Feeling rather tired from all the walking we headed back to the hotel for a rest before going out to Taksim Square with the group. We caught a minibus taxi so we got to experience the crazy driving in Istanbul, but we made it there safely. We had a look around the main street, restaurant and bar areas and a fish market, before having dinner at a place recommended for its pancakes. Unfortunately we didn’t know what we were doing so when we ordered the mixed platter of food and pancakes turned up, we didn’t know what we were supposed to do with the pancakes… We stuffed them with food from the platter and it was all good. After dinner we had Turkish ice cream from a guy who liked to tease his customers with the ice cream and cone before giving it to them. The ice cream was hard to describe, but ‘chewy’ and ‘sticky’ were the best descriptions we could think of.

We then headed to the bar area and saw our tour guide watching a football game so we joined him for a drink before heading back to the hotel in another crazy Turkish taxi van.

Istanbul Day 2

Today we made the most of NOT being on tour and slept in, although the 5am call to prayer from the local mosques woke us up! We well and truly missed breakfast (which wasn’t a surprise). We finally got ready and walked up the road, picking up some unknown Turkish food things on the way. We found a camera shop which sold us a power cable for Andrew’s camera charger (which he forgot to bring). We walked up the Sultanahmet area where the Blue Mosque etc are located.



There were lots of decorations and stalls being set up to celebrate the start of Ramadan. Everywhere you looked you could see a Turkish flag. It could create a challenge when all of the people start fasting during the day. Maybe we’ll have to join them?? And Starve??

After a lot of walking down streets and past markets and shops, we sat down in a square for a break. Just as we were about to leave, an English teacher approached us and asked if we could talk with some of his students. There were about 5 of them but more turned up. Some of them spoke English quite confidently but others were very hesitant and shy. After a while they took us to a café to try a local drink called Ayran, basically yoghurt or buttermilk and water. We also had a shish kebab which they payed for since we were their guests. We walked with some of them to the Grand Bazaar but it was closed on Sunday.



Back at the hotel, after freshening up, we met our tour group. The group is only 14 people, mostly Australians, 2 Irish, one Kiwi and one American. We had dinner with the group at the hotel restaurant. Since it was organised by the tour the food was pre-selected and not as nice as last night’s meal, but still ok.

Just as a final note, the weather here is great, although a little windy today, it was sunny, and it's only going to get hotter as we travel down the Mediterrenean coast.

Istanbul!

We had an early start from Chelmsford this morning to get to Heathrow. As we didn’t want to pay the exorbitant amount for the Heathrow Express (no more staff discount), we decided to just catch the tube instead which took us just over 2 hours door to door. Once there (Terminal 5!) it was very quick through security to airside, where we spent all our time in WHSmith looking at books till it was time to be at the gate. We boarded quickly but then got delayed for some unknown reason.



4 hours on the plane and an very protracted descent finally got us into Istanbul. Only after landing did the First Officer make an announcement and apologise for the circling over the ocean. Apparently it was busy and we were diverted about 70miles for a 40 mile approach. We needed a Visa for Turkey. Well, Andrew needed a Visa on his Irish passport, NZ doesn’t need one. We managed to figure out the metro to get to our hotel. A quick shower and we were back out to try and find our way to meet Chris & Sandy at their hotel. We figured out that Grace had printed off the wrong information for their hotel but thankfully the Lonely Planet had a map which had the name of their street on it as well as the nearest tram stop. So onto the tram we got. Several stops later and some wandering down side streets we found their hotel as they were walking out the front door. What great timing!

We wandered down the road and found a restaurant for dinner. We had a salad mezze and a mixed kebab platter which was good though way too much food. It’s typical around here to have people trying to tempt you to eat at their place. I’ve also noticed that the men like to look or should I say stare at the women, which is disconcerting when it first happens but I think it’s just something that you learn to ignore - hopefully. After dinner we went for a walk along the waterfront where people were setting up stalls to sell their wares. Lots of different types of items being sold from clothes to shoes, bags etc etc, including food, though none of it interested us.

We walked across the bridge where there were lots of men fishing over the side with huge fishing rods, catching tiny fish (some of them nothing).



Another thing we have noticed is the number of mosques around the city. As we landed it was easy to see them as each has a tall spire which stands out from the rest of the building.

We headed back towards our tram stop and picked up some water (can‘t drink the tap water). It was time to say goodbye to Chris and Sandy.

Moving out of London!

Well, Andrew has accepted a new job in Harwich and we are moving to Chelmsford.
After a couple of weeks of looking i.e. going up to Chelmsford on 2 no. Saturday's and viewing loads of places..., we have finally accepted a 2.5 bedroom house, yes it's a house, double storey and all with a back patio. We are due to move in later this month, but for now there is lots to sort out including buying some new furniture, as the new place is unfurnished. The priority is a bed and the rest can wait.
Anyhow, we are still way behind on our blog and have a lot of catch up to do. Hopefully we'll be able to do something before our Turkey trip in September.