J and moi shopping hard at the Grand Bazaar
After wending our way around the countryside, we flew back to Istanbul (after a few of the girls did a quick trip to the post office to make sure their bags weighed the regulation 20kg!)
A huge stack of simit on the tram! J was *trying* not to be tempted, but they smelled so good!
Our last few days were just as frenetic as the previous ones, although we did manage to fit in the occasional hammam and massage.
The Spice Market
We explored both the Grand Bazaar for costumes, tiles, fabric and jewellery, and the Spice Bazaar, where we bought teas and kilos of Turkish Delight, thinking we’d all eat it before we left, but no…
Some of the varieties of fresh honey Turkish Delight
Teas and spice mixes at the Spice Market
We visitied a few more of the must-see sights, like Topkapi Palace. I’d been there before, but it is still incredible on multiple viewings!
Window at Topkapi
Drama queen…
We also visited the Hippodrome and the Obelisks (and shopped for touristy gifts at the fixed-price shops around it). The Museum of Islamic Art that we visited last time around this area is still closed for renovations, but we went back to the Topkapi area and visited the Museum of Archaeology instead.
Obelisk (and Asterix?)
The Cistern is always amazing, and we all had goosebumps from the atmosphere when we went down there, even those who’ve been multiple times in the past. Unfortunately it was a lot more crowded that I remember, which did diffuse some of the eeriness, but it was still amazing!
The Cistern
Medusa’s Head
On our final night as a group, we went out for a cruise dinner on the Bosphorus. Unfortunately it didn’t start out very auspiciously, with our bus being caught in dreadful rush-hour traffic, but we got there in the end.
triple trouble
The dinner consisted of some nice meze-style entrees, followed by generally bad mains (overcooked or undercooked chicken or kofta, depending on preferences) accompanied by stale bread which kept being taken away from our table and taken to other tables (we didn’t miss it!) After we finished picking at our meals, we were taken upstairs to the open deck, where a Turkish show was performed, with a mix of bellydance and some traditional dances of various kinds.
Dancing on deck
The traditional ones were pretty fun, but the show as a whole seemed to reflect the atmosphere of the whole night – going through the motions for the tourists. There was also free dancing time on the dancefloor, and we realised why there had been signs on the dinner tables saying that single men were not allowed on the dancefloor without a partner – it was a bit of a meat market! Most of us were very happy when the boat returned to port and we could leave!
Mmm… pudding
The last day was spent pretty quietly – although a few of us finally managed to get to the amazing pudding shop (not The Pudding Shop I mentioned last time – this one literally just sells puddings and cakes of various types) for morning tea. It was all incredibly rich, and we wished we’d gone there before to try more of the dishes!
The local Maccqas speciality. None of us tried it. Appetising??
We all wished it was not to say goodbye to Istanbul, but at least most of us were flying out to Santorini for some fun in the sun before going home.
A vending machine selling books at the airport. I knew this place was awesome!!
Two Weeks Away 