Broadband?? Any kind of band would do!

Still out here. Just waiting for the generous people at Orange to provide me with the box to connect me to the outside world- for which I have already paid ten days' service.

Swine! I live at the address I gave you three weeks ago- why is the magic box with a courier down the road not in my house???

A Woman Alone..

...is not the same as a lonely woman, despite what some people may think. I would be interested to know if a man walking around the streets of Istanbul would get the same attention as me. Sure there is an element of 'my uncle owns a carpet shop' to the whole proceedings but it is definitely underlined by a fair amount of 'woman, you are woman!'

Now I decided that I would be good this year. Last time I was in Turkey I was horrified by the attention- this is flirting with an element of threat to it- but this time I promised myself that I would just enjoy it- while not too much and end up signing my whole life away to a Turkish waiter with a glint in his eye.

So I relaxed, I casually flirted, I even bought a damn carpet for goodness's sake! But yesterday I walked for around eight hours. Several of which were away from Sultanahmet- the touristy area around the Blue Mosque where I am staying. I walked down though the Grand Bazaar to Galata Bridge and along the other side of the water to the Bosphorous Strait and looked at the ginormous cruise ships hulked up there. I caught a funicular all the way to Taksim (one stop and no one took liberties with any part of me this time) hardly glanced at the gun shops and wandered around the bustling shopping area.

I walked down the hill and to the Galata Tower where, it is reported, someone flew several hundred years ago. The Sultan was so freaked out by this that he exiled him. There has been a tower on the same spot for one and a half thousand years- now that is a long time. It offers awesome views across the city though there is little to do up there in the daytime once you have been round it a couple of times.

I had something to eat under the bridge- not troll style but in one of the many restaurants there- peering through the fine mesh of fishing lines connecting the men above me to the water below. Back to the Golden Horn side of the city I stumbled across the Spice Bazaar more by luck than planning.

It is smaller than the Grand Bazaar but along similar lines. They were selling something being touted as Turkish viagra- not something much needed by anyone that I have met so far- which promised to enable a fellow to go at it five times a night without stopping. Pretty potent stuff by all accounts and not something that I want to be anywhere near.

A salesman made the mistake of thinking that if he slagged off my bag enough I might buy one of his:

'your bag is old, dirty and not handmade' he cried
'just like you,' I muttered under my breath

I pushed my way back to Sultanahmet where I was met by crowds of people who just wanted to ask me 'one question, I am not trying to sell anything....' I was followed for a while and finally got rid of one by blowing my nose and pointing out that I was busy!

Nearly back at the hotel I came across my favourite Turkish waiter- I always speak to him though have never eaten at his restaurant- he asked me how my day had been but seemed to notice the 'keep away vibes' that I had been radiating for some time. Something his friend further along the road had failed to do:

'just one question!'
'ask your friend, I have already told him all the answers!'
'YOU ARE NOT KIND'

and so another restaurant was ticked off my list of places where I will never eat.

Exhausted I crawled back into the hostel and the safety of the roof top bar- where I snuggled under a blanket and read a trash book I had found on the bookcase downstairs for some hours.

Ah, I complain but here I am, halfway to the Grand Bazaar again, something keep drawing me back and I am sure that it isn't the carpets:)

Not Constantinople

Ah sunshine, I had almost forgotten how much I love you! It is beautiful here in Istanbul. Getting to the airport proved to be simple enough but seeing that I had to get there around 5am it was all a little hectic. Rather than have a full night's sleep I just took an hour nap before getting on the night bus. Then another nap from Victoria to Luton and one more from Luton to Istanbul.

Then I arrived into the Asian side of the city and caught a bus back to Europe. I found my hostel easily enough by simple virtue of getting a (very expensive) taxi there. None of this was made any easier by the cold I had picked up and developed on Friday. By now I was a full blown sniffler and cougher. I took a (surprise surprise) quick nap before heading out of the hostel.

The hostel is literally about five minutes away from the amazing Blue Mosque which meant that I only had to negotiate my way past about ten carpet sellers to get there. Turkey is halfway through Ramadam and busloads of tourists come to celebrate at the Blue Mosque from all over Turkey.

There are many stalls set up near the mosque though the food ones tend to stay closed until after the sun has set. I must admit that I did a little shopping even on my first day. I walked around the nearest bazaar, ate some incredible Turkish food, spoke to quite a few carpet sellers and flirted my way past several restaurants. I collapsed into bed early though read until the wee small hours.

Yesterday I got up and missed breakfast. Every bed in the hostel has curtains around it which is lovely but tends to block out the sun a little, making staying in bed rather too easy. When I emerged I headed straight to Aya Sofya, a building which has been both a church and a mosque. Even now there are mosiacs of Jesus and his mum among the Arabic calligraphy. It is a big and impressive building. I walked around the balcony and took a million photos before craving the sun shine and leaving.

OK, I was just after something to eat and drink. Even though it is Ramadam it is still easy to find somewhere to eat, though I couldn't help wondering if the poor waiters were fasting.

After lunch I went to Topkapi Palace and wandered around the grounds and the old harem. Again many a photo was taken. A man adopted me on the way out and showed me around the Blue Mosque and the Sultan's tomb before, inevitably, leading me to his uncle's carpet shop.

The Blue Mosque- what can I say?? WOW! That pretty much sums it up. Visitors are welcome outside of prayer hours as along as they cover up, take off their shoes and stay behind the ropes. Fine by me. It is big, it is blue, it is a mosque, it has words handing between the minarets for Ramadam, words of tolerance and peace. Important words in a country where if you want to buy a gun you just head to the nearest subway station.

Ozkan, one of my old students who is home visiting his mum for a month, met me later and walked me around Sultanahmet and down to the water. We had a beer and got on the tram to Taksim. Well, the tram then the funicular.... it was crowded and the old man next to me took outrageous liberties with my right thigh and buttock- I am sure that sort of thing is frowned upon most of the time but even more so during Ramadam.

We went for dinner- iskender kebabs, which Ozkan was disappointed with and I was overjoyed by. We had more beer- turns out that here you can buy glasses that are bigger than pints! Ozkan, going against his doctor's orders (he had an operation on Friday) took a big beer and I took a pint (going against the orders on my cold medicine).

Taksim is immensely busy though Ozkan said that the traffic was made worse during Ramadam with everyone keen to get home to break their fast. Finally Ozkan had to admit that his doctor may have been right and he took me back to Sultanahmet before heading to his uncle's house. I watched the Ramadam tourist trade for a while before going back to bed.

This morning I broke my fast with a couple of sudafed tablets. The cold feels better today and I feel less tired.

I went to the Grand Bazaar. At first I thought that I was in grave danger as there were so many pretty things but then I saw a menu for a cafe. The food prices were the same as in London which put me off a bit to be honest. I sat out in the sun and had Turkish pizza in a more reasonably priced place.

Now I am heading away from the shopping (I bought NOTHING though I still have three days left and have shopped my heart out for the previous two days) and people telling me that they don't actually want to sell me anything, they just want to be my friend, old guys pushing me out of the way and young guys staring at my tits and saying 'oh my god' in English.

The hassling and hecticness is all part of the Turkish experience and lays a background as exotic as the call to prayer which echoes across the city five times a day. I intend to throw myself once more into the Ramadam crowds later and no doubt be befriended by several Turksih waiters- the guy near my hostel is immensely cute and had given me a hug the last couple of times that he has seen me though I haven't eaten at his restaurant yet.

I could tell you more, I could tell you about the Korean girl that is being bitten to death by bed bugs every night in the dorm, the sheer variety of ways that headscarves can be worn, the many and varied ways that people use to try and get you into their shops or the thrill of a cool Efes beer slipping down your throat as you overlook the Bosphorous and stare from Europe to Asia and back. I could but I am not going to. I am going to go out again into the sun and look at necklaces for me.

How happy a shopping girl can be!