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!