Istanbul so far....

My first day in Istanbul was spent with a lovely Japanese guy, Yota, exploring the city and trying out the Turkish ice cream. This is worth noting as it is not the ice cream that we all know as being cold. This is chewy ice cream that is unlickable, I don't like it!!

I had been given a contact of a chap called Tom in Istanbul, who I contacted as soon as I arrived. He is working for a magazine over here, which is about Turkish culture and art. At about 4 in the afternoon I received a message from him inviting me to an exhibition opening at an art gallery, a regular occurence for him apparently! He said that it was quite smart, so I was thankful that I had brought a dress in my limited travelling wardrobe, but I asked him whether flip flops were ok and he replied 'It is pretty smart but I'm sure that you can get away with flip flops!' This was a sure enough sign that my foot wear needed to be addressed, a quick foray into the bazaar produced a pair of pumps, which have now become my embassy shoes and are very useful.

I arrived with trepidation at the tube stop and met Tom. We then had another journey to the gallery which was quite far up the Bosphorus and had amazing views over the water to the Asian side and all the way down. We arrived to be greeted by 6 security guards, with police cars lining the road in front of the entrance, along with a few blacked out ones for good measure. We walked up this long winding drive way and as we turned the corner at the top we were faced with a bank of paparazzi all taking pictures of, none other than, the president of Turkey!!! There was a line of people desperate to shake his hand, it was crazy! He walked past us shaking everyone's hand around us and took a quick glance at us and decided that these grinning English folk weren't worth bothering with! I regret now not telling him about my ensuing journey. Then I proceeded to slip over on the grass bank as we tried to sneak away by the back route having to be helped up by one of the many security guards. The whole of Turkish high society were at the event, and I was very pleased to have packed a dress and bought the shoes. Free wine and canopes followed with alot of gossiping about everyone there! It was certainly a great introduction to Turkey although I think that is about as smart as I am going to get for the next couple of months. We abused the lashings of free wine and got suitably tipsy before we went of to meet some of Toms friends to drink more wine.

Humphrey had, what sounds like, an awful journey in to Istanbul which fills me with fear about the journey out. I met him at the hostel, him looking bedgraggled and very tanned and me looking drunk, although I don't think he noticed.

The next few days were spent sightseeing. Istanbul is full of history and amazing things to see. Topkapi Palace was first, the Palace of the Sultans although we couldn't get in to the main event, the harem, as the ticket machine was broken and they didn't have enough initiative to find another way for us to go in. This was the first time, of many, that we both said "It wouldn't happen in Britain!" Our afternoon snack was a wonderful fried mackerel sandwich, the incredible thing is these are cooked on little boats near the bridge and at any hint of a wake from one of the many ferries going past the boats sway intolerably, almost going vertical from side to side and the chefs throw the sandwiches to the customers, it is a sight to behold but they are delicious and fresh. We met up with Tom and his friend Lara this evening and had a lovely meze meal which maybe stretched the 'travellers' budget that we are on but it was worth it.

I will continue this post later...