Istanbul Delights

We just came back from beautiful Istanbul a few days ago. Our first holiday overseas with Imran, who is almost 4. I considered it first after substracting the Singapore holidays because that island is just too near to be considered OBERSI. And I must say hyper Imran, although a handful was quite a delight!

We flew to Istanbul, via Arabian Airlines, a 3-hour flight from Jeddah. We read that the temperature would be in the teens so we did not bring with us any proper warm clothing. Just normal jackets for me and Nina, a windbreaker for husband and Imran, and denim jacket for Amir.

But it was cold... for the kids at least (between 8 and 12 degree during the day). Well, not for Amir who claimed he loved the chilly weather but guess who had to frequent the loo way TOO often??

It was a short trip, 3 days and 2 nights but I suppose enough to explore Istanbul. On the first night, we stayed at Best Western, St Sophia, just next to Hagar Sophia, which we did not enter because we figured since we have seen the interior of Notre Dame in Paris, how different can a church be? he.. he.. Plus, images of the interior can easily be viewed on the WWW. (Hagar Sophia was a church turned into a masjid then a museum and there was a long queue outside the ticket counter).


Hagar Sophia

Just across it is the Blue Mosque. Magnificient landmark no doubt. We also did not go in because moi was not in the "clean state" to enter a mosque. We planned to go again on our last day but we ran out of time so had to give it a miss. Next time lah...


The Blue Mosque at night

Next on our agenda was the Grand Bazaar. There was no plan to shop because just like any bazaar, items are not price tagged and showing a bit of interest would mean haggling for the best prices and I was really not up to this. Plus, I have been told by friends that what's being sold there ain't that cheap.



But I was so tempted to get my hands on those colourful Turkish lamps and Iznik handpainted ceramic ware but since we were flying back to Jeddah and not KL, why bother? Again... next time lah.





Nightime -- Nina went straight to bed which is very typical of this girl while Amir finished off his writing homework. Itulah dia when pergi bercuti time sekolah still on! Imran was glued to Tom & Jerry on Cartoon Network so, me and hubby went out for some night sightseeing, drank tea which came in very small glasses (not enough, if you ask me) and bought pizza and kebab for dinner.


Tea in tiny glass

Next morning, we went to Tokapi Palace - home to all the Ottoman sultans for nearly four centuries. Very Majestic and huge, one of the world's largest and oldest palace. I think it could easily take one whole day to explore this site, so we selected which sections we wanted to go and was done in nearly 3 hours.


Spring in Tokapi Palace


One of the memorable section was the Pavilion of the Holy Mantle, located in the palace's 3rd courtyard. Here contained belongings of our beloved Prophet (Peace be Upon Him) such as his robe, his two swords, his embedded footprint, hairs from his beard, and his letter to the Egyptian ruler. To see all these was enough to bring tears to my eyes. (Camera was forbidden in this courtyard but I saw a man using his mobile to capture pictures!)
There were also swords of the Caliphs and Companions and some pages of the Quran verified to be written by the Caliph Osman and Caliph Ali.

Our next stop was the Basilica Cistern. Entrance fee was 10TL (about RM20) for adults and of course, typical of us, we had to tell the ticket guy that our Nina, who is 5ft 4 inches- is only 12 so that she can go in FOC! This cistern, also known as the Sunken Palace was built in the 6th century during the Byzantine Empire which provided water to the palaces.


The Sunken Palace

Then we walked all the way to the other side of Istanbul, to the Galata Tower on the European side of the Golden Horn. It was quite a walk - fun to me and Amir but too exhausting for Nina. But going back to the hotel proved to be quite a challenge. After a stroll down Taksim St where we did some shopping, we kinda got lost and walked for miles, up and down some very STEEP roads, before we finally took the advice of two good Samaritans who said where we were heading was TOO far to walk but with the bus, it would take only less than 10 minutes! Lenguh kaki. The bus took us back to Eminonu jetty, across the Yeni Mosque and once there, the two boys wanted to pee and with our very lenguh kaki, we ran and ran looking for WC. And believe it or not, nak masuk kena bayar 1TL - toilet belakang pasar je tu! (that's like RM2 and I complained Sogo's 30 sen is WAY TOO mahal!)

From Eminonu, took a train back to our hotel, which is just two stations away. We stayed in a different hotel because Best Western's Thursday's night price is not as cheap as Wed's night so we checked into a cheaper looking hotel -- lupa dah nama -- for the same price as Best Western's Wed night price - 70 euro for a 3-bedded room).

Next day, our last day, went out early to buy the tickets for Bosphorus ferry tour. We were at the jetty 2 hours earlier than any other tourists!! Dah lah sejuk. The ferry "sailed" at about 10.30am and we reached the final dock of the tour 90 mins later, at Anadolu Kavağı, on the Asian side which was about 10 km south of the Black Sea. Along the way, we passed by some of the other Ottoman seaside palaces (very photogenic) and experienced two "false alarm" from Imran who said he wanted to poo-poo but it didn't happen! Not an issue if the toilets were cleaner and not the squat type!



One of the Ottoman mansions along the Bosphorus

Dah sampai Kavagi, we were given 3 hours to explore the small fishing town. 3 hours!! Nak panjat a fortress, ada orang tak keen sangat cos tak larat so we ended up killing time going in and out of souvenior shops, having lunch, berkejar ke toilet twice, once another false alarm from Imran and the other one, finally, for real! Again, it was a squat type toilet so really a big dugaan for a parent whose anak tidak tahu mencangkung!


Patiently waiting for the ferry

Imran, after one of his many bathroom stops.... :)

Then, it was time to fly back to Jeddah ....... back to wearing the abaya....... So impressed I was with Istanbul and its rich history, I bought Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul Memories and the City at the airport. Great book this one from a great writer ...

For more photos of Istanbul, you can click on this :

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=51983&id=1014574505&l=51f15b348a