It was lovely arriving in Istanbul to glorious sunshine on our balcony. We have been really fortunate on this cruise with our balcony in relation to the sun, and the views, we seem to have the best aspect every day. We have a tour booked for today, a walking tour covering the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sofia and the spice market. It was supposed to depart at 09:30 but there is a cycling event around the port area which is going to mean various roads are closed and a lot of traffic disruption, so our tour was pushed back to 13:00. This meant we had a free morning for laundry – yeah!!!!
Because it’s a port day breakfast is earlier and ends at 09:00 so after sorting out my laundry to be sent off in the 15 items for $52 promo and letting the butler it was ready for collection we went upstairs for breakfast. I’m either a bit boring, or I just really like Bircher Muesli, and I know which way Jane’s opinion on this falls, followed by another cheese, mushroom and chilli omelette accompanied this time with a bit of black pudding.
After breakfast it was back to the room and Jane’s washing, mine is fine, going to be laundered but Jane’s things are too delicate to be tumbled so they go in the machines as well as socks and smalls. There were two machines where the cycle had finished, so we emptied one for our use and set that off leaving the abandoned laundry in a basket by the machine. We set my watch for 39 minutes and headed to the balcony to soak up some sun and watch all the river traffic pass us by. Jane went and emptied out her machine when my alarm went off and by chance there was a dryer available so the not so delicate washing ended up in there and the more delicate stuff was returned on hangers to dry in the room.
We went for an early lunch, I was still full after breakfast, so I avoided the starter and just had the excellent Lasagne al Forno as the main, delicious as always. There was Mango Sticky Rice on the dessert menu so I was tempted to have that as well.
The documented procedure was a bit complex and referrer to Government ID, which worried Jane as she was unsure if this meant passports or driving licences but a quick trip to the concierge cleared that up for me, Jane was still uncertain though and fretted all the way out to the bus, as it was it turned out not to be complicated at all and involved nothing more than scanning a QR code at a turnstile.
We climbed aboard the bus as we headed over the Galata Bridge to our first stop which was the Blue Mosque. This was where I realised that a pair of cargo shorts, which being ideal for the weather, wasn’t ideal for visiting religious monuments. I was given an elasticated skirt to cover my offensive knees which worked quite well. We duly removed our shoes and wandered through the parts of the Mosque snapping pictures for the 5 minutes we were allowed in there. It was very ornate, but there was an underlying smell of feet, not surprising given all the shoe-less people in there.
From there we walked the short distance to the Hagia Sophia where you have to buy your knee obscurer rather than borrowing one, which in may case was €3 for a potato sack that came to about an inch above the bottom of my shorts, defeating the modesty requirements but nailing the fleecing the tourist requirements. St Sophia’s was much more interesting and much less smelly, but it was spoilt by the scaffolding in place for the restoration work, it pretty much covered the interior and exterior of the building. There was still a lot to see including Viking graffiti and Byzantine mosaics. I was starting to flag once that was over, there was a lot of very slow walking which I find very tiring, but after comfort break we headed to meet up with the coach which was going to drop us off at the spice market before returning us to the ship. This was a teeming, busting mass of people with huge crowds everywhere. The colours and smells were dazzling though and on another day I’d have loved it. I really fancied a coffee but by the time we found a coffee shop it was almost time to rendezvous with the bus.
By the time we’d got back to the ship it was pushing 17:45 and mindful of the 18:00 dress code we rushed straight to the Commodore Club for a much needed drink. Ankit, who seems to have adopted us, served up a much needed Doombar for me and a Cosmopolitan for Jane. I’d have loved a bath but I knew if I had one I’d have fallen asleep in there so after a shower it was time for dinner. It was the last night for the two couples either side of us which is a shame as they have all been excellent company, when we were allocated a two-top in the middle of three our hearts sank as this is our worst seating nightmare. If the couples either side don’t want to chat, then your only option is to talk to each other and Jane has heard all of my stories and doesn’t want to hear them again. It turned out that our fears were unfounded and couldn’t have met two nicer couples if you’d tried.
Istanbul – Blue Mosque