6/2/25
It was another late and pancake filled start to the day. We had veered off banana pancakes and back to crepes. We ate them with lemon and sugar, sliced cumquat, banana and apple. We fiddled with the bikes a little bit too, trying to decide whether to remove the chain and rear derailleurs. In the end it seemed prudent.
The wintery northern winds had descended and it was cold but at least it was bright. Today we chose to visit the touristy headland that is the area of Sultanahmet. First we headed to what is known as the blue mosque. It was very evident from the shops and other people that we were in depths of the tourist zone.
It was free to get in the blue mosque. You have to be completely covered up and take your shoes off. They allow you to borrow headscarves, but Frankie just put her hood up instead. It was a very grand building with huge columns. We wondered if they were solid or hollow. You couldn’t go past a certain point unless you were praying. For some reason a guard started clearly people out a few minutes after we arrived.
We had passed the Hagia Sophia mosque on the way up and it’s very close by. On google maps it said it was also free to go in, but as we got closer it became obvious it wasn’t. It was stupidly pricey and cost €25. To hell with that. They even charged you to borrow headscarves.
Instead we took the metro out west to see the Byzantine walls. It was ridiculous how big Istanbul was. Everyone says it’s huge but once you’re looking at metro map and travelling out it puts it in perspective. A nice man stopped us on the platform and told us how much he liked English people.
Just past the metro station was Yedikule Fortress. This was one end of the remaining city walls. They were crumbling but no less impressive. It was a bit odd how little attention they received. You could imagine them in any other city being a prized possession. Unfortunately, they were next to a very busy, and smelly, highway. Also we were heading north, into the wind. We tried to keep warm but it was a struggle.
After a bit there was a renovated section. It encompassed the Belgrade gate and had a couple of visitors centres. But it wasn’t a through way. We hadn’t got very far along the 6km of wall, but gave up and got a bus towards the Valens aqueduct. The bus journey was fairly violent. The driver didn’t really have the same care for whether passengers had found a seat yet, elderly or not.
There were two more mosques that we aimed to see. It was crazy how many there were in close proximity to each other. It’s like having cathedrals on top of one another. It had started sleeting or raining or some combination of the two. We took refuge in the Suleymaniye mosque. Built ‘by’ Suleymaniye the Magnificent in just 7 years with over 3500 craftsmen involved. We were there for at least half an hour, maybe more.
The rain had kind of stopped and there were nice views over the Bosphorus. On the way back to the main road we found a shop that sold sellotape. We could have also visited the Rustem Pasha mosque but we’d had enough of the cold now. Even our English blood couldn’t stand this bleakdom.
Craving something good for dessert later, we walked back through the Egyptian bazaar to find the lokma stall and bought the sugary soaked goodness. We spent a while walking around looking for a laundry bag. The big red and white patterned bags were ideal to use as a temporary suitcase. But we couldn’t find one.
For dinner we found a packet mix of çig kofte. It wasn’t quite as good as the one we’d bought but it was tasty. We served it with fried aubergine, broccoli and cabbage. Wrapped up in lavas, with lashings of pomegranate syrup. It’s customary on çig kofte.
We ate our dessert while watching a film called Leave the World Behind. It’s an apocalyptic thriller, but not scary, more intriguing. We had to turn it off when it had an hour left, we were too tired to stay up any longer.
Surly They Won't Make It 