turkey

Istanbul – Crete

~ Bel Dunbar ~ 2 Comments

I’m currently sitting on the rooftop undercover area of our apartment in a small seaside village in Crete called Agia Pelagia. We’re here until Saturday and we’re in beachside holiday mode, brought on mostly by the weather, the proximity to the sea and the bottle of duty-free gin Rod purchased at Athens airport.

We arrived late last evening after a very long day of travel from Istanbul:

Fast taxi/uber (it’s the same in Istanbul) to Gayrettepe Metro where we caught the new M11 fast train to the airport, but not after I’d fallen down a few stairs whilst readjusting my suitcase. The suitcase skated at speed, down the steep stairs nearly taking Rod out. I managed not to face plant and held on to the handrail, my left arm outstretched behind me, my left foot somewhere behind my butt. Clumsy tourist.

Fast train to the airport. The Gayrettepe metro station is situated 72m underground and a series of escalators takes you to the platform. As usual, no sitting room on the metro, much to Hamish’s disgust.

Fast 1 hour flight with Aegean airline to Athens

Even faster 30 minute flight from Athens to Crete

Our host had booked a taxi for us to get from Heraklion to Agia Pelagia, which is a blessing, especially after arriving in a new country late at night. Our host, Nikko, is lovely and he has a bunch of things we can use at the beach (snorkels, flippers, kayak, lilo). I think we’re going to love it here.

I’ll recap our last few days in Istanbul.

Friday night after our ‘day off’ we walked up to Taksim square and had a look around. We really like Taksim Square – it’s got a great vibe, there’s a lot of walking space with no traffic, there’s parks and gardens and of course, lots of things to eat. You may have seen the Turkish Ice Cream vendor video with Hamish (that was in Taksim). We walked down the famous Istiklal street where Hamish had corn from a street vendor for the cost of 50 cents! We eventually sauntered back to our street, where we had dinner at Cafe Susam and where Rod finally could order a glass of wine!

Saturday we decided to visit Suleymmaniye Mosque (little sister of the more famous Blue Mosque) and walk around the Grand Bazaar. The mosque was beautiful and the views over Istanbul impressive. We needed to cover our legs (all 3 of us) and I put on a head scarf. After the mosque, I got us a bit lost, so we didn’t manage to find the Bazaar. Never mind, we headed home for an afternoon rest as we had booked a Bosphorus sunset cruise for the evening.

The cruise was a lovely way to spend a few hours – the photos speak for themselves I think. I talked to an American couple sitting next to me, proof to my doubting children that I can actually be nice and make friends. The sunset did not disappoint.

Sunday Rod and I left Hamish at home and headed back in to the city to find the Grand Bazaar. We noticed there were now two huge cruise liners docked, which added to the overwhelm of people in the city – many of them dawdling along the narrow footpaths to my displeasure. The Bazaar was OK, but I wouldn’t call it Grand. Rod purchased a rip-off Lacoste polo for 5 euro. The stall attendant pulled out a WAD of folding cash from his pocket, but didn’t have 45 euro change. He then just walked away. Like, literally with our euro and said nothing. Obviously he was going to find a friend to break down the note, but we just stood there like ‘noobs’ (as Hamish would say) waiting for him to return. He eventually, returned.

The afternoon siesta routine then ensued. Rod and I, keen for a last bit of exploring, walked to Galata tower (impressive, although not impressive enough to pay 30 Euro to climb) and made our way back to Cafe Susam for pre dinner drinks (we picked up Hamish on the way) and snacks.

If you have been considering adding Istanbul onto your travel wish list, but not quite sure, we recommend doing it! We went from Wangaratta of 20 thousand people to a city of 15 million overnight and other than me getting us lost of couple of times, didn’t have any issues or stress getting around. It’s safe. The locals are friendly, most speak English and the public transport system is the best. We used 1 Istanbul Card for the 3 of us and each fare is $1 – we used the trams and the furnicular; walking downhill in the morning and using the funicular to get back uphill in the afternoon. The hills and steps are steep, the footpaths narrow and the traffic busy, but what an incredible city – 5 stars.

Istanbul University
‘our’ street
Bomba
Hamish and I loved the lemonade

Istanbul – Gallipoli

~ Bel Dunbar ~ 2 Comments

Late Wednesday morning, we decided to head into the city and visit the Archaeological museum. We walked downhill and caught the tram across the Galata Bridge and through narrow streets laden with people and shops of all description, until we reached our stop.

Museums tend not to be too pricey, but this one cost us over $100! Rude! Rod got tickets and was upsold (without being asked) to 3 x tickets with an audio guide. Rod couldn’t access the wifi, Hamish didn’t have his phone, the ear buds wouldn’t connect. After 15 minutes of trying to pair the ear buds, I suggested we take them back and not bother with the audio guide, but instead, we were given 3 x hand held audio guides. Still unable to pair the ear buds, and watching a bunch of other people having the same issue, we finally walked inside this very impressive building (for the record, NO ONE was using an audio guide for the entire time we were there).

The museum showed the history of the area through many artefacts – some of them tiny, like gold coins and others huge, such as columns and statues. Only a few things were behind glass or barriers, so if we’d wanted to touch artefacts two thousand years old, we could have. Hamish rested at every seat or bench he could find – clearly preparing himself for another day of walking. We found a cool interactive ‘dig’ table, where you ran your hands over the ‘pebbles’ to uncover treasures.

After leaving the museum, we bought water and snacks from a street vendor (Hamish had simit – a round pretzel covered in sesame seeds & Rod had a slightly sweet cinnamon bread wedge, which I can’t find the name of) and sauntered through the absolutely gorgeous Gulhane park. This park used to be part of the palace gardens, but were opened up to the people of Istanbul in 1912. It was hard to believe we were in a bustling city of 15 million people; it was peaceful, lush and cool. As we were walking along, a lady said to Hamish, “You’re Australian aren’t you” I guess the Bunnings hat is a bit of a giveaway.

We left the gardens and headed towards the sea, finding a place to eat lunch. Hamish and I had gozleme (spinach for me, mince for Hamish) whilst Rod had a chicken wrap. Hamish and I ordered home made lemonade (which we’ve since discovered is a thing here: it’s sweet and very lemony) and Rod scanned the menu a few times to look for wine. None to be had in this Muslim country – Rod got an OJ instead. Locally, you can add dried red pepper (it’s like paprika) to your meal. Of course I did!

We had a bit of time to kill before catching up with relatives. We’d already walked quite some distance, so we thought a tram ride, look at a mosque, then a ferry ride back might be in order. This was my call and it was a bit flop! The mosque, whilst impressive, was a few km of uphill walk from where the tram had stopped – I could see from the look on Hamish’s face (and the fact he was laying down on the grass) that this wasn’t the time for that. I re-routed us to find the ferry which after another 30 mins of walking, didn’t exist. We caught the tram back to our earlier destination and got some cold drinks before heading back over the Galata bridge to find Stephen and Sharyn. Whilst waiting for them, Hamish sat on the footpath, but a lovely man brought him out a small stool to sit on. Side note: Stephen and Sharon had been upsold an audio guide for a site they visited too! They even had the same useless ear buds!

Thursday was our day trip to Gallipoli. This is something I had organised from Australia. We were picked up at 0600 our the front of the Taksim Hospital, because the tour bus couldn’t fit down our narrow residential street. From there, we wound our way through the streets of Istanbul picking up 3 x Kiwi’s, 2 x Americans and the rest Aussies. Our destination of Eceabat (right next to Gallipoli) is about 300km from Istanbul. The driver said we’d be there in 2 hours and whilst he tried his best, his formula 1 – level skills were not up to the challenge. We stopped for breakfast at about 9am where the boys shared a spinach spanakopita and an apple filled biscuit-like croissant. I had a Turkish breakfast, which I shared with Hamish (tomatoes, olives, cold boiled egg, cucumber, cheese, and something like quince paste). Once in Eceabat, we met the guides and had lunch (lentil soup, chicken on sticks, meat balls, salad and fruit that looked like honey dew, but tasted like rock melon).

We finally were on our way to some of the more significant sites at Gallipoli:

Brighton Beach (Where the ANZACS were supposed to land – gentle slopes, wide beach)

The Nek (Site of big Australian troop losses. Our guide said after the second wave to go ‘over the top’ a Turkish soldier called out to the Australians to stop what they were doing as it was a massacre. The Nek was made famous in the movie ‘Gallipoli’)

The ridge above AZAC cove

Lone Pine Cemetary (Another site of ANZAC battle and loss of lives. I spoke with the two NZ girls who were quite emotional reading the headstones)

ANZAC Cove (where the ANZACS landed)

Chunuk Bair (high ground in the middle of the peninsula, the original goal of the campaign)

Johnson’s Jolly (named for an Australian Commander who would say “Let’s Jolly up the Turks!” – the Turks call this Death Ridge or something similar)

Memorial to the Turkish 57th Brigade (The first Turkish casualties – 80 men defended to their deaths a summit above ANZAC Cove. Since then, there is no 57th brigade in any of the Turkish forces)

Trenches (you can see them everywhere)

After seeing and hearing about the sites and battles, we walked the last couple of hundred meters along the beach to ANZAC cove which really gave us a good perspective of what the ANZACS were faced with – sheer cliffs and no cover.

Our guide was excellent. He was able to give us the background to the conflict as well as the Turkish perspective. He is passionate about Gallipoli and even offered to help us find names of deceased Gallipoli relatives. The day was very, very long, we got back last night after 10pm. The trip back featured a new driver, with a signature move of coming to a screaming halt at a red light, reversing and then driving around the intersection via the off/on ramps. This shaved at least 2 minutes off our arrival time. For myself, I would have preferred a couple of days there exploring the museum and more sites. Rod found it a very emotional experience, comparable to our visit to the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam. We are proud to have visited to honour the troops of both sides who fought and died.

Today has been a day off. We have washed, shopped and relaxed. We will head out late this afternoon for a walk down the famous Istikal street and no doubt will find some delicious local fare. We’re grateful for Hamish’s smooth temperament and adventurous appetite; his answer to all food related questions is always: “Yes, I’ll try the local food!”