Germany – been there, ate the schnitzel. France – ate the croissants and got the T-shirt. Been to Sarajevo too. Next OE is to Istanbul/Constantinople/Byzantium because when a place has been such a centre of the world, there’s more than a wee bit to see and do and eat and drink.
The touristy Sultanahmet area is a necessary evil to crossto get out of the way early, so pop into the Blue Mosque, visit Haigha Sofia which way older than anything in eN-Zed and while there have a coffee down inside the Basilica Cistern which sounds like a toilet but it’s not. Back to the wharf and jump onto one of the huge black & white ferries over to Uskudar where you may see ‘Uskudar Man’, and earlier version of civilized man… standing in the centre of the road, suit & tie, but… trousers down so he could pick the nits out of his um… nether-regions. If you see him, please do pass on my regards. Uskudar is Istanbul’s Nana sort of, you know, oldish and conservative and the food, including the, doners are better. Find an old Nana restaurant and ask for sutlac. It’s just baked rice pudding, but it’s better than that. Oh and don’t call it a doner kebab – a doner is the spinny meaty thing and a kebab is chunks of meat on a skewer. Ask for a doner kebab and you’ll get two tasty treaty lunchtime treats, not one, but that’ll not be a bad mistake of course. Take a wee boat out to the Maiden’s Tower which gives a spectacular view back over to Topkapi Palace, which deserves a whole day all for itself. Maybe tomorrow.
You should take a bus north along the Bosphorus to Kanlica for yoghurt filled with icing sugar and a coffee while watching the Black Sea and Mediterranean shipping pretending to be rugby players in a rolling maul, sort of. And then take a short hike up the hill to the Hidiv Kasri, where you must visit the men’s toilet even if you’re not a man (these days, it’s just a matter of identifying as one, apparently). The toilet room is the size of a small apartment and has gold everything. Class! The Hidiv Kasri’s gardens are spectacular, especially at tulip time.
What to eat? Hmm… barbecued sheep’s lungs with onions on a bread roll, mussels that have been cooked and left to fester in the hot sun all day or a plate of sticky drippy super-sweet baklava with a toe-curlingly strong Turkish coffee. My preference is the latter.
Istanbul’s more crowded than the Invercargill Showgrounds on A&P weekend so take a quiet day out to Buyukada where there are no cars, just very stinky horses pulling carriages up to the top where a picnic among the pine trees is a good way to enjoy some quiet and later as the sun sets behind Topkapi and Sultanahmet work your way slowly to the bottom of a brown paper bag of warm pistachios while sitting on the jetty waiting for the ferry back over to super-crowded Besiktas.
And this has barely scratched the surface of one of the world’s best OE destinations. Like Arnie, we’ll be back.
eN-Zed 