Europe - 1st to 8th May

1^st May

After a sleep in and a leisurely breakfast Colin, Sally and I caught a taxi into Veliko Tarnovo, a medieval capital above a sharp s shaped gorge split open by the Yantra River.

On arrival into the city we asked to be dropped off at Tsarevets Fortress, a mammoth fortress shared over the centuries by Thracians, Romans and Byzantines.  The area comprises a high wall surrounding the fortress with the remains of over 400 houses and 18 churches within that were largely built between the 5^th & 12^th centuries.

One of the most unusual sights within the complex was the Patriarch’s Complex with its surprisingly modern, nearly colourless, historic murals and a suspended altar.

From the Tsarevets Fortress we walked to the old trade street, Samovodska Charshia, which sheltered skilful craftsmen through the Revival Period and even today many of the houses and workshops are have been fully restored.

Lunch was at a local pizza restaurant which served some amazing combinations of pizza e.g. cheese, apple, raisin & walnut.

Mid afternoon we walked through the more modern part of Veliko Tarnovo before catching a taxi back to the camping ground.

Tonight for dinner we ate at the camp restaurant, which was serving a traditional beef roast with all the trimmings e.g. roast potatoes, yorkshire pudding, gravy and all followed with apple crumble.

2nd May

This morning we woke to a lovely sunny day so Colin and I decided to bike to Arbanassi, a 10km journey (1 hour) all uphill!!!!!!

Arbanasi, five kilometres from Veliko Tarnovo, sits high on a hill with a fine collection of spread out old walled churches and villas, some of which serve as classy hotels.

One of the most amazing sights we visited was the 16^th century Nativity Church.  Inside the church it bursts with ceiling to floor colourful murals depicting 2000 religious scenes including the evocative ‘wheel of life’ and a man headed serpent in the Garden of Eden.

The return bike ride back to camp was made in 30 minutes as it was all downhill J

Our afternoon at camp was spent reading, updating the blog, downloading and naming photos.....very restful.

In the evening the camp organised a Texas Holden game of cards for all the campers.

3rd May

Today we left our peacefully, countryside camping ground and made our way to the border of Bulgaria and Turkey......an early start to a grey cold day.

Calypso and fellow passengers had a 2 hour wait at the border being processed before we were eligible to enter Turkey and head on down to Istanbul where we are staying for the next four nights.

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and second largest city proper in the world with a population of over 13 million.  This also makes it the largest metropolitan city proper in Europe and the second largest metropolitan are in Europe by population.

The city covers 39 districts, is located on the Bospherous Strait and encompasses the natural harbour known as the Golden Horn.  The historic areas of the city were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1985.

The history of Istanbul generally begins around 660 BC.

Calypso entered the outskirts of Istanbul at approximately 9.00 pm but we didn’t arrive at Hostel Orient until 9.45 pm because of the heavy traffic.  By the time we unloaded our bags from the truck then booked into our rooms we were exhausted and hungry so headed off to a nearby restaurant for a nice Turkish meal before bed.

Distance travelled:-495 kms

4th May

We woke to the noise of heavy rain falling outside our room so decided to have a late breakfast, clear emails and talk on Skype before heading out at midday.

At 1.00 pm a small group of us walked to the Grand Bazaar and then as Colin and I had been there twice previously we decided to head off with Sally to a outdoor Wednesday covered market at Faith Pazari.

Faith Pazari is the largest open air market in Istanbul.  It is a market that is spread over 17 streets and seven avenues and sells clothing, household gadgets, seasonal fruit & vegetables, eggs and nuts.

The surrounding streets of the market are filled with deli’s and butchers selling cured salami’s, pastrami’s, cheese, yoghurt and honey.

Colin, Sally and I enjoyed two hours of being amongst the locals (few tourists) shopping for their weekly supplies.

We returned to the hostel in time to meet up with several others in the group to walk to the Kumkapi fish market restaurants for dinner.  The fish market has many eateries frying or grilling fresh fish at rather an expensive price but delicious.

After eating our meal we walked the 2 kms back to the hostel.

5th May

We were on the move around mid morning this morning.  The first thing on the agenda was to post a parcel back to New Zealand then catch a ferry to the head of the Golden Horn to explore a less touristy part of Istanbul.

The Golden Horn is a narrow strait that carves a seven km path between the historic peninsula of Old Istanbul and the lower slopes of New Istanbul.

Ferry stops on our 45 minute journey included:-

• Kasimpasa – a suburb dominated by assorted military installations and where you will find the city’s largest Turkish bath.
• Fener – where the Kadir Has University can be found along with a small archaeological museum that was once a vast tobacco factory.
• Balat – once the heart of Jewish Istanbul and home to the beautiful late 17^th century Ahrida Synagogue.
• Haskay – where Turkey’s first and best industrial heritage museum can be found.
• Sutluce – on the northern shore which is dominated by a new conference centre which was once a slaughter house dating back to 1923.
• Eyup – where all of the city’s fezes (men’s hats) used to be made.  It is home to the Eyup Sultan Camii, Istanbul’s most holy shrine.

We ended the tour by taking the cable car to the top of  Pierre Loti Hill and having coffee at Pierre Loti Cafe, the site where the famous French novelist Pierre Loti used to come and admire the view.
 

Colin and I then slowly walked back to Istanbul via:-

• The Ottoman graveyard
• Eyup Sultan Camii where we saw several small boys in colourful circumcision costumes.
• Balat where we strolled the pretty little market streets and admired the newly restored rwo houses – a UNESCO project.
• St Stephen of Bulgars gothic church.
• The 5^th century Byzantine city walls of Istanbul.
• Late 4^th century AD Bozdogan Aqueduct.

At the end of our walk we entered the Spice Market, one of the oldest markets in the city. Smells of the exotic east wafted passed our noses as we examined each stall holders goods of spices, dried fruits, nuts and seeds.

 The day ended at with us eating a delicious fresh fish grilled sandwich near the Galata bridge then returning to the hostel to have a warm cup of coffee.

6th May

 Rain, rain, go away......we woke to a very dull, cold day in Istanbul and by the time we had had breakfast it was pouring with rain so the morning was spent in the hostel updating the diary, talking on Skype, naming and uploading photos to the web.

Early afternoon Colin and I returned to the Spice Market to buy a few spices for when our cook group has the next cooking day then we walked a short distance to the Rustem Pasha Mosque.

The Rustem Pasha Mosque is famous for its large quantities of exquisite lznik tiles, set in a very wide variety of beautiful floral and geometric designs.

From the mosque we meandered the narrow streets and alleys filled with clothing and household wares until we came to the Grand Bazaar where we spent several hours just wandering and enjoying the hustle and bustle of people buying from local merchants.

Late afternoon we met Sally, Russell, Sylvia, Sandra & Keith and walked across the Galata Bridge to Beyoglu, known as the European or New City.  There we strolled down the Istikal Caddesi, a pedestrianised thoroughfare with a parade of smart shops, large embassies and churches, elegant residential buildings and fashionable tea houses and restaurants before having dinner at a small family run restaurant then returning to the hostel via tram to have an early night.