Posted 17 Nov 2008 — by Sarah Eustance
Category Journeys
This cıty is so layered wıth history it seems almost too much to digest.
Sitting with the owner in the reception of an Istanbul hotel surrounded by traditional kelims and with our laptops on our knees, I ask him the password for the wireless connection. He leans over and types it in, saying it and spelling it out. He is tall with dark hair and a nose that begins to hook.
‘Would you like some tea?’ he asks.
Raisıng his hand and with a glance he tells the boy to bring it.
Later, at the Hagia Sophia, built as a Christian church for a Roman-Byzantine Emperor and then turned into a mosque, I read that it became a museum at the request of the father of modern Turkey, Ataturk.
Posted 16 Nov 2008 — by sarah
Category Journeys
Turkey’s been paying its final respects to the last veteran of the country’s War of Independence after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
A state commemoration ceremony’s been held for Mustafa Sekip Birgol who’s died aged 103.
Newspaper reports devote two long paragraphs to listing the government ministers in attendance.
Posted 15 Nov 2008 — by sarah
Category Journeys
Istanbul’s the first stop off on this trip I’ve been to before. It’s a relief to arrive here, not just because it’s familiar but the journey through Romania and Bulgaria has been long.
I’m woken at four am by border guards. They slam open the door of every single compartment and shine torches around the carriage. Apparently there’s a strong history of smuggling on this route.
Just over an hour later we get off the train at Kapikule on the Turkish side to collect police stamps in our passports and some of us pay for an entry visa at a small glass kiosk on the concrete platform.
The girl in the American couple behind me tells the boy, ‘It didn’t cost two-hundred dollars to get in and at least we’re still alive.’ Her scant comfort makes me think of my friends at the Syrian Embassy and their high visa charge for those coming from the ‘rich’ USA.
The whole experience makes me feel more like a refugee than a tourist.
Posted 14 Nov 2008 — by sarah
Category Journeys
I’m sitting on the roof terrace of a cafe in Istanbul’s tourist district – Sultanahmet. The Marmaris, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Topkapi palace are all in view. Beyond these is the Asian side.
