Sadly, our time in Instanbul has come to an end, and I did not see half the things I wanted to. As I mentioned in the last entry, we intended to go to Taksim, Tunel, etc yesterday. I told you that those places were on the Asian side, but, because of my map reading skills, I was mistaken. In fact those places are on the European side, just on the opposite bank of the Golden Horn from Sultanahmet, the old city, where we are staying.
Here is a google map of Instanbul. If you blow it up, you can see that Beyoglu, and all those places I mentioned in the last blog, are clearly on the European side of the city.
We didn't know that a marathon was running, but the trams weren't, so we walked along the tram line, to the Galata Bridge and across to the other side of the Golden Horn, and Beyoglu. The walk was pleasant--everyone else was doing the same thing--and the roads were easy to cross; we weren't dodging cars (even on the footpaths) and trams. First intention was to visit Istanbul Modern, but the entrance appeared to be firmly shut. Oh well, I thought, perhaps they'll open again later when the the Marathon's over. We kept walking.
The runners (actually, only the walkers and laggers at this late stage) were still streaming by. The road was coated with empty water bottles and sponges, and crews of cleaners were clearing up. Then we noticed a group of tardy walkers ahead; they'd stopped completely and were all pointing their camera phones excitedly at something we couldn't see, just around the corner. When we came up to them, this is the sight that greeted us. (Just the stairs, silly, not me sitting on them. I haven't managed to be in two places at one time yet. That's spooky.)
(I hasten to point out to you, dear reader, that I had not been swigging the local amber as we walked. That was something the Clingon decided to retain in the image as a joke on the woman who bore him inside her body for nine months.)
I had intended to visit these stairs but had forgotten about their existence in the rush to see all the other features of the city. And here we were upon them without planning.
We walked up all those stairs . . . and back down again, when we realised we'd have trouble getting to Taksim from the top. My knees were protesting, we were sweating. We both divested ourselves of layers.
We stopped for tea at an expensive up-market cafe when we reached Taksim. And then we followed the crowds to Istiklal Cadessi, the most famous shopping street in Istanbul. Also devoid of traffic. Not sure whether it's always like that, or was only that way yesterday because of the marathon.
We had lunch, the trams started running again, and we got on. The Clingon was of the opinion that we had to change trams, so we got off that one. It filled to overflowing before he realised that he had made a mistake, so we walked back to Sultanahmet.
Called the airline to confirm flight and tried to do check-in on-line. The Turkish Airways website told me that my flight hadn't been ticketed. (I have a ticket number, and a reservation number.) Worrying! Didn't know what to do, so late last night I called the travel agent I'd bought the tickets from. He told me he'd check at the airlines and get back to me. When he did, he said that yes, the flight had been ticketed, but Turkish Airlines didn't know which plane was flying to Kayseri yet (???????), so they couldn't let us check in on-line. So anyway, that's the way it stands at the moment. The shuttle will pick us up at 9.00, in a couple of hours, and I hope I don't have too many (mis)adventures to report to you in the next instalment.
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