Or maybe “Sir, how can I make you give me your money?”…. The traders of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar have centuries of experience in convincing visitors to part with their hard-earned cash. We experienced this, and much more, during our pre-cruise tour of Turkey’s capital city today.
We rocked up at Atatürk airport yesterday evening, and after a mammoth 1.5 hr transfer (one long traffic jam from start to finish) we made it to our hotel on the Asian side of the Bosphorus. A quick kebab sloshed down with raki and we were ready for bed… knowing we had only one day to tick off as many tourist destinations as possible before boarding the Pelagia tomorrow.
Of course, Taksim Square didn’t quite make the list; but as anyone who has visited Istanbul will tell you, there’s more than enough to see in the old town of Sultanahmed without needing to venture anywhere near the action. So that’s what we did… Aya Sofia, Blue Mosque, and of course, the Grand Bazaar, where Matthias did his best to get a good deal on some treats for special ones back home (no more details just now!!).
The combined total of kebabs eaten among the group grew steadily through the day, as we did our best to prepare for the long hard weeks at sea. The best of these were certainly had at the recommended Ciya Sofrasi restaurant back on the Asian shores in Kadiköy. Rough guides do come in handy!
Tomorrow we will be picked up at 8 am and taken to the ship, where we will start to prepare the labs in time for departure in the evening. Then we will sail through the Bosphorus and out into the Black Sea towards our first station. We’ll be keeping a keen eye on developments in Turkey before our return on June 23.
See you next time!
Tom
See you next time!
Tom