We headed off to Istanbul to take advantage of the Eid Al Fitr long weekend in October. It is the public holiday time to mark the end of Ramadan - the month of fasting for Muslims. Four nights in an amazing city! So many people, yet surprisingly clean - and all very friendly. The food was amazing. We expected things to be a little cheaper there - they were surprisingly inline with Aussie prices. There were a few local hideouts in long and skinny alley ways that we managed to find some decent priced meals though.
Our hotel was....interesting.... we changed rooms after the first night for a number of reasons - the most important being that the two single beds were bolted to the floor two metres apart. Not happy with that one. Eventually it sorted out, the new room was a suite and offered views of the Bosphorus. The rooftop also offered some good views.
The city of Istanbul is spread over two continents which we thoughts was pretty cool. Here we were walking along the Bosphorus Straight on the Europe side, looking straight over to the Asia side! Cool! We jump on the public ferry over to Asia and explored that area. It was much more quiet and seemingly less crowded in the streets.
The mosques were amazing, the artwork inside was one of the highlights of the trip. However, THE highlight was the Basilica Cistern built in 532AD. It was used to store water for the Great Palace and the surrounding buildings underneath the town square. It is 65m wide and 143m long, supported by 336 columns arranged in 12 rows. (thanks Lonely Planet!) There are two columns that have upside down Medusa heads at the bottom of them.
(lowlight - 3hr delay at airport getting there, 9hr delay coming back - don't fly Onur Air)
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