Our self catering apartment was the one with the extended balcony in the red building. We did have a
sea view, as the ferry port was right in front of us. The area, which is the
old Armenian quarter of Fatıh, is very
central, but not very modern and, in fact, we saw quite a lot of urban
decay and lots of immigrants. We found it fairly dirty, as is most of Istanbul,
but friendly, and we felt quite safe. The railway station in the front had
recently closed, but express trains did go through now and then. We found that the
best route into the centre was to take the bus on the other side of the
station, which got us to the Galata Bridge in just a few minutes
The bus runs along the sea front on
Kennedy Avenue. They have a similar card system to our MyCiti bus cards, called
Istanbulkart, which you load up with Lira. It works on buses, trams and the Metro and
it is cheap, especially if you get pensioner rates!
We had decided it was time to see
Taksim Square and the Galata Tower on the other side of the Golden Horn so,
first, we took a tram
and then the 140 year old funicular up
the hill
It is only when you get to the top
that you realise how steep the slope is
And then in Istikial Street, an old
fashioned tram. The Turks relate this street to 5th Avenue, Champs-Élysées
and Piccadilly/Regent Street. It was more like Oxford Street, very busy; lots
of shops, but not much of the high end businesses
We arrived at lunch time and the
streets were full of business people looking for lunch
There are still some beautiful
historical buildings that haven’t been too commercialised
We found our lunch place, Ficcin, a Circassian
restaurant which had been recommended to us
It is in a small side street and the restaurant has taken over many premises on the street level, so the street is almost one restaurant
It is in a small side street and the restaurant has taken over many premises on the street level, so the street is almost one restaurant
This is the menu. Prices are
reasonable (one Turkish Lira is currently R4.50) and this was our first chance
to eat Mezze. Portions were generous
What we had. The best dolmades we had
ever eaten. Lynne does not normally like the bland, sour rice wrapped in
scratchy vine leaves. These were deep fried, slightly spicy, the centre was
mixed with meat and pine nuts and they tasted amazing. Some humus and an
artichoke heart in olive oil
Circassian chicken is one of their
specialities and comes as a rough dip mixed with walnuts, garlic and gentle
spices. We ate these with bread and drank the local beer Efes, which is not bad
Then came the last dish. We ordered
lamb and aubergine and we think the waiter was a bit squint, as we were served
the dish below, "Ficcin", a Circassian pastry stuffed with beef, served
with salad. It was delicious. This had also happened with the Circassian
chicken and they delivered a mashed red pepper paste with walnut, but we sent
it back for the chicken
At the next table, a father taking his
son out to lunch. And although it was threatening rain, most people
preferred to eat on the (rather chilly) pavement
A good selection of Turkish wines. They
are improving in quality but, this being a Muslim country, they are not easy to
find other than in tourist places. Yes, those grapes are plastic
Our bill with tip. R324 for this exciting
but humble lunch is not bad
The pictorial menu outside the restaurant
It makes things easier than trying to
understand impenetrable Turkish. But everyone in the hospitality industry there
does seem to speak good English, as well as German and sometimes French and Italian
Lots of dried fruit, exotic spices
and loukoum in a shop on the main street
Enormous dates and other dried fruit and
nuts. Prices are high
A "recycled" chair in an art
gallery. We were horrified at the number of plastic bottles we and everyone
else used, as you need to drink bottled water in most places and heaven only
knows what happens to the empty bottles. We tried to reuse as much as we could
by buying 5 litres and refilling our small bottles
The very good Uninvited Jazz Band
playing in Istikial Street. Busking is not frowned on
All the ice cream men wear this same
uniform. It seems very popular
as is fresh juice which you can have
squeezed for you in a minute
There are lots of entrepreneurs in
Turkey; it does look very poor behind the front fascia
Finally, we found the Galata tower, and
the huge queue. So we didn't go in because we had to make our way to the
airport and time was becoming short
Its history in Turkish
We had been told there was a winery
near to the Tower. It is actually a wine shop and wine bar called Sensus Wine
and Cheese beneath the Anemom Galata hotel
The owners say that they sell
many brands of Turkish wine but, in the tasting we had, we only tasted wine from
their own farms
Normally a tasting of these wines
costs TL50 and we saw that they were pouring very generous glasses. We spoke to
the young sommelier, Sinan Aksoi, who is part of the family and was educated in
the USA (so he speaks very good English) and asked if we could please do a
larger tasting, but of less wine. He agreed and we tasted 6 wines. The quality
was much better than we expected and many of the varietals we were tasting were
completely new to us. He only charged us TL30 for the shared tasting; we shared
one glass
The wines we tasted. The Cab Franc on
the left was classic, elegant and restrained on the nose but full of fruit and
chalky tannins; needs time but very good. There was a delicious white blend
with Narince, Colombard and Viognier which reminded Lynne of Cape Point
Semillon with a bit of Nuy muscadel added! Many have musty noses but are not
faulty, we think it is the grape varieties used. Many have a dry muscat
background. We didn’t buy any, but they were mostly very drinkable
Definitely a place to visit if you are
interested in Turkish wines. Sinan was extremely knowledgeable
about the wines, so was able to give us lots of information about the varieties, the locations and the growing conditions
It is a large shop, also a restaurant
And they sell cheeses. It is possible
to do a cheese tasting, but we did not have a lot of time and we were not that
keen on the Turkish cheeses we had tasted. They use an awful lot of cheese in
their cuisine. Mostly feta-like or cottage cheese or, sadly, rubbery processed
John managed to peer into the Galata
tower and take a photo of this relief
Looking UP!
And a poignant reminder of John's past, working in the photographic industry, on a defunct shop
We took the Metro back to our apartment
so that we could fetch our luggage
so that we could fetch our luggage
Later that afternoon we took a taxi from our apartment to the underground. We got stuck in a huge, nerve-wracking traffic jam, but
there was no alternative. You cannot wheel two large suitcases through these
busy streets
The Metro was the quickest and cheapest route to the airport, to catch our flight to Greece
Turkish Airlines’ planes are very modern and provide slightly more leg space than any of the other airlines we normally use. But the female staff are rather brusque. Someone should tell them that they ought to be nicer to the passengers. They do order one about a lot. And there are endless announcements on each flight, in Turkish and strangled English, that are hard to understand, and disrupt one’s watching of films
We arrived at Athens Airport at 20h45,
cleared customs and baggage by 10 and took the bus to Piraeus, about 50 Km away, where we were to
spend the night. It takes an hour at this time of night and much longer during
the day
The hotel was supposed to be a short
walk. But we had no idea where or how to find it, so took this taxi. He did three
complete circles until we got there and charged €20. Hmmm. Tourists are
such a target. We had an easy walk back to the port the next morning with our
cases and it took 8 minutes
Smart taxi and we couldn't spot the
meter. Which is why we prefer public transport when we can find it. For the amount
we spent on the taxi, we could have really upgraded our hotel room
The Eva hotel. Said in Bookings.com that
they spoke English. No, they didn't. Rude receptionist, a Visa machine
"Not working", which looked happily on line. They prefer cash so that
they can save paying tax. But we didn't have enough Euros, so John had to walk
unknown dark streets to the ATM, with a huge penalty for making a
withdrawal. The first room they showed us smelled like the smoking room in a
Gauloises cigarette factory. We balked and they moved us to this more fragrant one.
Wonder why they need wall to wall mirrors? OK, we know
It was cheap, and the sheets were
Egyptian linen and spotless. There was even silent air conditioning. We had to
be up at 6 to get the 7.15 am ferry to Santorini, so it was only somewhere to
lay our heads and shower in the morning. Onward to the sunshine. But breakfast
first in a cafe at the port
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