Exploring Istanbul- day one Feb 12 2011




 

View from Galata Tower over Bosphorus



It has snowed a little today, Sat Feb 26, so it is a good day to catch up with a couple of blog posts.

I am staying in all day today, it is too cold and miserable to go exploring, but the last two weekends have been great. My good

friend, Liz Coughlan, whose husband David recruited me, has been very kindly showing me how to get around Istanbul on the various modes of transport.

There are manyways to get from A to B.

Taxi- lots of tiny little yellow taxis that are exceptionally mobile weaving their way through the traffic. You pay by the kilometre, because if you paid by the time taken it would be very expensive as sometimes it takes ages to get only a short distance.

Dolmus-(means stuffed) minibus- as explained in previous blog, these are an extremely efficient means of getting around, as long as you look out the window or shut your eyes, they are incredibly skilful with their driving. The traffic doesn't travel very fast in the city, but all the drivers seem to be able to weave, dodge, swerve, brake, honk and drive without too many accidents.

Train- there is an overland train system tthat runs trough the city , on both sides, the European  and Asian sides of the Bosphorus (stretch of water dividing the two sides of Istanbul). The train doesn't go over the Bosphorus and I haven't used it yet.
Trams- these run around the European side and are excellent for getting to different sites. I have purchased an Akbil which is an electronic ticket for use on the ferries and trams. You just have to top the up every now and then with more money, saves buying a ticket as you can get on and off transporrt where you like.
Ferry- there are many of these that go from different ports around the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn

(stretch of water between 2 areas of the European side).


Magnificent Haydarpasa Railway station
which was severely damaged by fire last year
. The whole roof behind the clock tower
 has been burnt. It is still used and in the process
of being rebuilt. This is on the shores of Bosphorus.

 Tunel- which is a cable car type thing that goes from one of the ferry stops, Karakoy up a very steep incline to Beyoglu which is near the Galata Tower. A tram will then take you to Taksim Square.

Saturday Feb 12- I walked to Liz's apartment on the beautiful shopper's paradise Bagdat Cadessi (Bagdat Avenue) there are about 4 kms of all the high end shops and many lovely restaurants and cafes.
The aim of my first few trips with Liz were to be familiarised with the transport and layout of Istanbul- not to actually visit any of the main sites as these, I will do at leisure over the next couple of months.
We caught a dolmus to Kadikoy Ferry pier and hopped on a ferry over to Karakoy on the European side.
Kadikoy was originally a separate village as were many other littleareas,but as Istanbul has expandded to about 16 million, it is now very built up and busy, It is a very cheap shopping area and plenty of bargains to be found. Good for shoes and bags, all the fakes I would imagine.
The ferries are very comfortable and waiters come around selling tea (chay) in the sweet little tulip shaped  

We sailed past Leanders Tower which is on a small islet in the Bosphorus it was built in the 18th century and in Turkish is known as "Maiden's Tower" after a Turkish legend.


Leander's Tower

 

Selimiye Barracks where Florence Nightingale's lamp is housed.
She worked with nurses here during the Crimean war
 when the British sided with the Ottomans to Fight Russia.


We alighted the ferry at Karakoy and caught the Tunel up the very sttep incline to Beyoglu. From there we began walking back DOWN the hill we had just climbed!!! The tiny little cobbled street we walked down was absolutely jammed packed with music stores, it was quite unbelievable anything from a grand piano, drum kits, guitars and other wierd and wondeful musical instruments that I had never seen before, were for sale here. Don't know how you would get a grand piano out on your vespa!!!!
We stopped and had a pomegranate juice, yum! at one of the hundreds of stalls that sell fresh seasonal juices.


BEWARE- Sharpening the knife to
slice meat from the kebap- looks dangerous


Partway back down the hill we came to the Galata tower which , it is advised, is a good starting point when visiting Istanbul. It is 60 m high and dates back to the 6th Century- boy that is old!!!!! We caught the lift to the top where there are a couple of restaurants. The viewing platform around the conical tower gives a splendid 360 degrees view which is stunning. It was so windy up there and the sun was shining very brightly over the "traditional" view of Istanbul, so my usually "bad" photographs will now be even worse, still I guess they're memories.
After visiting the Galata Tower we had delicious pizza lunch at a lovely restaurant- House Cafe- there were hundreds of restaurants in this area,and I imagine in high summer it would be exceptionally crowded.
We then walked down another beautiful old street - Istiklal Cadessi- on our way to Taksim Square.  Istiklal has many wonderful shops and many little streets that branch off it. It will be a wonderful place to explore on a weekend.  The street was very busy, mainly with Turks at this time of the year. They love to shop!!!! Guess living in an apartment, you would need to get out so shopping is a good pastime.The tram runs down the whole length, it is about 2kms long. Taksim Square is huge and would be where all the Turks would gather if there was to be a "people's gathering". A number of very fancy hotels are situated in this area. They would have lovely views over the Golden Horn and Bosphorus.

Liz helped me purchase my Akbil and then we caught a dolmus home, across the "first" Bosphorus bridge. There are 2 bridges and there are plans to build a third. Its called the "first" because it was built first. Fairly logical i thought!!! 

View from dolmus, travelling over the first Bosphorus bridge
on our way back to the Asian Side



I walked home and was there before dark which was good.

So now I can catch a ferry, tunel and a dolmus quite sucessfully!!!

Tram next week!!