What an unusual birthday, in Istanbul on the Bosporos, our first official tour. We were really looking forward to it, so filled up with the huge selection of breakfast we have never witnessed due to always being the last to breakfast in the morning. We were picked up by a mini bus and to our surprise, we were dropped off at a cafe in Kumkapi, where we visited 2 days ago. 15 mins there we were then picked up by another bus. What transpired was that they used the cafe to collate people and then add them to further buses. Madness.
Our first stop was the spice bazaar, where we were 2 days ago again. The slight problem is that neither Phil nor I own watches, so the synchronise watches and be back on the bus in 15 minutes was a real test of our inner clocks. While others shopped, we went to the Mosque...I'm getting slightly addicted. The best bit was that there weren't any tourists there.
We joined the boat on the Bosporus, I couldn't tell you what I learned on the trip as the english and spanish translation was so faint. We passed bridges and the palace and to our surprise we were back at our original point. We thought we had a whole day cruise, so what followed was a complete surprise in every way.
Before lunch, I can only describe it as the weirdest spectacle I've ever witnessed. We were ushered into a shop with a cat walk, sstrobe lighting and Rhianna playing very loudly. Models walked down the catwalk and pouted, Phil and I just looked at each other completely shocked. At £900 a jacket, we declined.
Lunch was a con, it cost £4 each for a small beer, then we visited the palace on the side of the Bosporus. A gorgeous place with many rules. We covered our shoes in bags, couldn't hold handrails going up and down stairs...to be honest I'm surprised we were allowed to breath. However, it had the most amazing Sultans ceremonial hall with 5 tonne chandelier and small windows with a grill that hid the women that couldn't join the ceremony.
Back on the bus, this time to the Asian side for a fantastic viewpoint. The Asian side is much greener, and it was odd to be on a bridge between 2 continents. Then we repeated the crazy bus madness and had to get on another bus. The coach loads of cruise groups can get through the streets but this company seems to like going past the same monuments multiple times (we saw the Orient express terminus 4 times, the BJK stadium 6 times and the Galata tower 4 times).
A celebration dinner and drink and Nargile ended a great birthday.
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