3. Istanbul wanderings

It was quite strange arriving at an airport that I didn't know. There's usually a known routine when we disembark a plane: Singapore, Saigon, Phnom Penh, and Sydney are all so familiar, even Lombok, Luang Prabang, Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan had an expected Asian feel. I didn't know what to expect of Istanbul, and weirdly Ataturk airport arrivals reminded me a bit of HCMC. 

We got to the small Albinas Hotel about 4pm and even though we had been flying for 42 hours we left our bags in the room and went wandering. But after a quick sit down admire the Blue Mosque first - and the street from our balcony. 

Darkness didn't fall until 9pm so the sun was shining as we meandered the cobble stone streets. I was blown away by the serenity of Sultanahmet's backstreets, the picturesque balconies edged with colour, the age of my wandering.  I couldn't help but wonder who lived here when it was Byzantium or Constantinople,  when it was part of the Greek or Roman Empire, or when it was the capital of the Ottoman Empire in 1453. (I read it was the second largest city in the world in the 16th century, only Beijing was bigger). 

Sultanahmet is the old historic district and is usually quite touristy because the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace and the Cisterns are all circling Sultan Ahmet square.  We walked around the square about 6 times in our first 24 hours, sometimes we didn't mean to, we just got a bit lost and the minaret of the Blue Mosque  our compass bearing. 

Summer doesn't only mean heat, it means stone fruits! Peaches, nectarines, apricots and cherries became our breakfasts, as well as the dried fruits (which we followed to Jordan). 

We need towels for swimming but thought we'd get some authentic Turkish towels, so this was our first stop!

Sultan Ahmet wandering no. 1 take 1, take 2, take 3....)

Blue Mosque backdrop  Selfie No , and who could pass a fountain and not capture the moment? ..... or rather stop, pose and snap!



tram heading to Hagia Sophia



Refreshments and rehydration. The more snaps around the historic area, including the Grand Bazaar. The travel warnings have clearly scared off tourists, there were hardly any around as you can see in these photos of square and the bazaar. Mum kept commenting on how the emptiness, how surreal it seemed to her but also how sad for the Turkish economy. (note: this was before the Ataturk ISIS bombing!).





The Blue Mosque was closed to non-worshippers when we first walked past. It was Asr prayer time (that's the afternoon call to prayer) about 5pm, but we did wander around with the locals who were doing their ablutions before praying, and the kids who were dressed up for the service.

First dinner in Istanbul, after Mum's glass of wine! (even though it is Ramadan, Istanbul still provided alcohol for the non-Muslim tourists, unlike Jordan so Mum had a dry spell!).

View from our room .. over the Sea of Marmara.