Tuesday 1st April – Sunday 6th April.

I was a little,sad to be leaving Hun Hun and Thailand, as they had been a perfect respite after the chaos of India. But I’m heading somewhere new & exciting and seeing my Grantley! 😍

My bus to Bangkok was super easy, comfortable and I even managed to catch the earlier one, which was handy. The airport hotel was great, it had the biggest bed I’ve ever seen! Sooo comfy 😴😴

Nothing much to report on the flight, it left on time and I was looking forward to relaxing with a few films during the 7 hour flight to Doha. Well, that didn’t happen, there were 6 rows of seats whose screens didn’t work, and I was in one of them! 😩 TBH I ended dozing for a lot of the flight which is unlike me, then by the time they’ve fed you a couple of times, you e had a wee, a walk around and read your book we were there! 

Doha now has a very fancy transit lounge full of super expensive very high end shops. A little out of my budget, so I found a bench amongst the nice green foliage and drank my water and eat my packet of Lays!  😂

Second leg to Istanbul was great, landed on time, collected my case very promptly, then had a little bit of a faff trying to find the driver I’d booked, it was a rather convoluted process not helped by the fact the airport wifi wasn’t working. Anyway, I eventually met up,with him and he worked me through the night to my hotel in the centre of Istanbul. 

I arrived at around 9pm, after a 24hr journey, Grantley was arriving at approximately 2am, so I set my alarm and grabbed some sleep. 

Then around 2.15 there was a gentle knock at the door and there he was! My boy. It was amazing to see him after almost a year. 

We had a massive hug, a little catch up then got some sleep. 

We were up early the next morning, it was just fantastic to see him and catch up on everything.  We are both excited to explore Istanbul. 

The weather was a little cloudy and much chillier than I’ve been used to! Grantley thought it was great! 

Our hotel is in a really central spot for all the major sites, so we just headed out in the direction of The Hagia Sofia and hoped for the best. 

I knew that Istanbul was famous for its cats, but oh wow! They are literally everywhere, and they are well looked after and friendly! 😍 This is my dream scenario. 😂 They are so beautiful and so regal, they just sit where they like and wait for attention. 

There is a fabulous park just by our hotel, called Gülhane Park, and it was full of them. 😍 Kerry, you and Richard would absolutely love it! As would all my other cat loving friends. 

You end up being next to a beautiful, ancient, monument but being distracted by the cats who are siting all over it! 😂😂

Getting out earlyish was an excellent plan and we definitely missed the crowds and queues. 

The Hagia Sofia was magnificent, absolutely stunning. We visited the museum experience after (should have done it first 🤦‍♀️) which went through its full and varied history. Fascinating. 

After this we visited the Blue Mosque, or Sultanahmet Camii, again, absolutely gorgeous. This whole area is brilliant to walk around, so much to see and admire. We grabbed a beer on a fabulous roof terrace that had amazing views. 

Then we continued walking and visited the Grand Bazaar, which is huge! So many lanes going in all directions, so much stuff, so many people! It was amazing 🤩 

More walking and just discovering the area before another well deserved beer! Then the sun made an appearance. 💛

There was another Mosque we wanted to visit but when we got there it was closed for prayers. It’s close by so we’ll go back tomorrow. 

We had dinner across the road from the hotel, very tasty. 😋 

I will just say that the prices here are much higher than I’d anticipated. Obviously they can’t compare to prices in South East Asia, but even by European standards I feel they are high. Especially the costs of the entry tickets. But it is what it is, probably due to the instability of the Lira. 

It was a fabulous first day. The only slight issue was when I tripped up a kerb and really bashed my knee 🤦‍♀️😂 It hurt like hell, and got very swollen not to mention the embarrassment factor! Icing it helped! 

After an early night and a good rest we were up and at them again first thing. My knee was swollen and painful, but ok to walk on. 

Our first stop was the Basilica Cistern. An absolute marvel of Byzantine architecture and ingenuity. It holds over 80,000 cubic meters of water and covers over 10,000 square meters of space. It is the largest of the underground cisterns in Istanbul. I thought it was absolutely breathtaking. 

From here we walked up to the Topkapi Palace. Such a lovely walk past the Hagia Sofia and through lanes and past parks and lots of cats! 🐈 😻

The entry fee to the palace was very steep, we figured it would be worth it and it was. We spent a long time exploring the Palace, the grounds, the Harem. The views from here were also pretty awesome. 

I’m sure it wouldn’t have taken so long if I wasn’t hobbling a little! The swelling on my knee made steps a bit tricky, and obviously there were lots of uneven steps! 

From here we walked back down to the mosque we couldn’t visit yesterday, which again was closed for prays! We decided to wait and had a look round the Egyptian Spice Market….Bonkers Busy! 😱

The Mosque was beautiful, such gorgeous tiles, then right up on the ceiling of the largest dome was a little red, heart shaped ballon, that a child obviously let go! It was very cute. ❤️

I love the area around this Mosque and Square, it’s very busy with families, couples, cats and dogs just chilling! 

For dinner we popped back to a restaurant that had tried to lure us in earlier, with the offer of free baklava! We both opted for a kebab meal, I had chicken skewers and Grantley had Lamb. The food was good, and we did indeed have free Baklava! 😍

For our third day we had decided to cross over the Galatea Bridge and walk to Galatea Tower, then onto an area called Ortakoy. From here we were going to take a ferry to the Asian side of the Bosphorus. 

The weather wasn’t the best, cloudy and a bit damp and dull, but off we went. 

The walk across the Galata Bridge was interesting, it was Saturday and the bridge was full of guys fishing. 

We reached the Galata Tower and then continued our walk through the main shopping street, Ishtikal Caddesi, which was more European, but also interesting. We found an excellent exhibition about Palestine and its geo political history, fascinating and heartbreaking. 

Our plan to go to Ortakoy went slightly awry after we took a slight right instead of a slight left! However it was all good as we walked through an interesting, less touristy area. We ended up back down by Galata Bridge, where Grantley sampled a delicious, fresh Balik Ekmek, or Fish wrap, full of fish, salad, seasoning. It was really, really good! 

Then we jumped on the passenger ferry to the Asian side! This was so much fun. 

We grabbed a cheap posh chicken wrap for dinner. 

This might have been a mistake as I woke up in the night with the most horrendous indigestion, the worst I’ve ever had. I also just felt not great. 

I still didn’t feel ok in the morning. I’m also still getting pain from where I damaged my rib in Thailand!! 😩🤦‍♀️

Grantley took himself off for a walk and to visit the Archeological museum, while I rested in the room. 

When he got back we went out to visit another Mosque that we wanted to see, Süleymaniye Mosque. It was a bit of a trek up a big old hill, but we got there in the end. We then walked through the area around the university to have a look at an Aqueduct. Then strolled back down in to the old town. 

By the time we got back, I was feeling a bit rough, so took myself off to bed! 

To be honest, I think for me it’s been a big change in diet, from veggie rice and the odd Singa beer, to bread, cheese and meat! We’ve also been averaging around 23,000 steps a day! A few more than I was doing in Hun Hin! 

I’ve really enjoyed our time in Istanbul, I’ve loved the history, the vibe, the cats and I’ve especially loved sharing it all with Grantley. 

It’s been a blast. 

Tomorrow we are heading to Fethiye on the coast. 

Have a great week everyone.

I love & miss you. 

💛💜🩷❤️🩵💚

Books read.

Night Watching. Tracy Sierra. This is the book club book. It was better and different to what I’d originally expected. 

Tracey, you’ll be pleased to know I’ve started Birds without wings!