So, the 12 day, Virgin Voyages, belt test and liver challenge comes to an end. Will we be back? In a heartbeat! But enough is enough for now.
Our new home here is right near the Old Town in Barcelona. Spent an awesome few days quality testing some local produce whilst wandering around this awesome City. America’s Cup was on outside the marina so pottered down there to watch the POMS try to end 173 years of America’s Cup hurt as they take on ‘the All Blacks on water’. Currently looking like that number will soon be 174 and climbing, a bit like soccer in some ways!
Had an epic flight/lounge combo to Istanbul before heading to the cab rank and a ride into town. Things went rapidly South as our driver pulls into a servo for a piss stop, leaving the meter running obviously. Eventually he reappears with a half scoffed pastry, a coffee and a couple of waters for his newly discovered best friends in the back. Caffeine levels restored, the Speedo shoots past 130, (In a 90 zone!), as he happily rings his chums and texts his latest Tinder potentials. Missing a turn-off before standing on the brakes and reversing back up the freeway was possibly his pièce de résistance as he hurled abuse at a rather startled motor cyclist nipping down the usually empty hard shoulder. The 9% credit card fee did little to calm the situation on arrival.
The roller coaster ride relieved us of a couple of thousand lira, but our new digs are epic. Holed up in Kadikoy on the Asian side of the City where the tourists are less and the general pace of things are a little more gentle.
Nipped out for a quiet libation or two whilst testing out the surprisingly tasty, free, vegan nibbles on the bar. Not a doner kebab in sight. Early to bed before the next day’s kebab hunt.
5 mins walk to the ferry, then about 20 mins pressing buttons on the ticket machine trying to extract a travel card or Istanbul Kart. All starts well in English before you stab the Istanbul Kart option and the machine reverts to Turkish. Turns out we needed to hand over a small stash of Lira and grab a card from the paper/ciggie shop outside. Then return to the machine and ask it to transfer a few more Lira to the card. Tapping the shiny new card on the turnstile turns the green tick into an angry red X. Tried this on a few of them before realising that meant, ‘please head on through’. Since when did a big red X mean ‘Go’? Didn’t get a thank you from the likely recipients of a free ferry ride either, will be stopping at the Lira eating machine on the other side of the Bosporus River for a top up.Ferry ride is great and Istanbul’s famous landmarks gently get closer.
Safely back on dry land and a couple of hundred Lira, (About AU$8), fed added to the card so we head off to the Grand Bazaar in search of nibbles. Not keen on repeating the taxi experience, so shank’s pony is our means of transport. Half an hour or so later and in we go. Holy crap! Miles and miles of twisty passages lined with all manner of highly honest looking humans purveying an unholy selection of floor coverings, jewellery, knock off bags, leather goods and a nasty looking selection of sugar based food. The ‘No thank you, we have our flights home’ line was wearing a bit thin with the carpet flogging chaps and the absence of our trusty SassArt friend meant we gave the very unlikely gold and silver a wide berth. Still not a kebab in sight!
Ventured back outside straight into a virtual spiders web of kebab stalls. Thought that nearly 20 bucks was a bit stiff for a few bits of chicken slapped into a pitta bread, but not nearly as miffed as some unfortunate soul being scammed of about 70 bucks for 2 of them with a handful of chips and tiny cans of sugary water. Took advantage of the ensuing melee by dropping somewhat less than they wanted into the bill thingy and disappearing back into the bazaar in search of the nearest flying carpet! Tally ho!
Our virtual carpet safely transports us from the clutches of the kebab scammers to Basilica Cistern. At a glance, this sounds like some sort of herb scented dunny. It is a tad bigger than that, James Bond rowed his way through it in From Russia with Love. This oversized dunny filling structure was built in 532 for slurping water rather than removing kebab detritus. Today there are only a few inches of coin filled fluids below a walkway through the columns of this underground storage structure. 1500 years later, we can’t whack up an apartment block that lasts more than a few years before it starts leaking. Seriously impressive and well worth the 40 buck entry fee. No kebabs down here either!
Back to the ferry, no free rides for other people this time. No sign of the kebab scammers over here, so let’s get cracking. Jax almost instantaneously procures a grilled mackerel number, I stuck with the more traditional version. Total for both kebabs, a couple of beers each and a bag of olives for the short walk home about the same as our previous dine and dash experience.
Spotted some unusual items on the way home. Could be handy if the chilli sauce intake continues to climb! Will see what tomorrow brings…
