ISTANBUL DAY 2

The photos attached show us having a delicious Turkish breakfast up on the roof of our hotel (overlooking the bosphorus) here in the old city,literally a couple of hundred metres from virtually all of the "main attractions" of Istanbul.

We've been here multiple times before ( last visit 10 years ago😁) so we've seen everything before.

The beauty of Istanbul (like most cities) lies in walking off the beaten track,away from the hordes of tourists,amongst the locals.

This morning,before breakfast,I did a little jog straight down to the promenade where the local men here (young and old) partake in the strangest "sport" whereby they don bathing caps and rubber booties and plunge into the sea.

Once in they make their way just 20 metres out,where a raging current pulls them at a rate of knots out ,parallel to the promenade,for about 2 km.Then, at a certain point,make their way back to the rocky shore and climb out.

They then walk in packs back to where they had entered and start the process again till presumably they tire ( or drown)😬

This is the same promenade shown in some previous photos I published yesterday,where they take part in the other national sport,.......fishing!

A couple of km along and the run takes me through the most amazing GULHANE park,.....the equivalent of GORKY PARK in Moscow or CENTRAL PARK in New York.

What struck me Was the pristine condition in this beautiful scenic park which ,just 8 hours before,had been frequented by thousands of people,both locals and tourists.

Cleaners were cleaning up the minor litter which might have been deposited last night,and all this at 7 am.

In SA it would've resembled a nuclear reaction and any "cleaners" would be arriving 2 hours later (at nine,if any of the trains were actually running) to lean on their brooms and have a "meeting" till tea time at 9:45!

So today,after breakfast,we headed down to the GALATA bridge to check out the bosphorus tours.

We'd missed the one we wanted which takes one right up past all of the main attractions,where one can disembark at the end,have a fish lunch,and take the last ferry back at 3:30pm.

We'll do that one tomorrow.

Decided to stroll through the spice market and,en route back to the hotel,found a brilliant place frequented by locals and had the most amazing lunch (see photos).

Virtually everywhere we travel It always makes sense to seek out the local establishments where one finds the best local cuisine at half the "normal" price.

This meal comprised of the most amazing bread with lentil soup and the tastiest cheese and salami "pide" I've ever tasted.

Washed down with a Turkish coffee which could put some serious hair on your nipples,.......all for the grand price of 26 TL ( R100/R120 with tip)

And all this whilst checking out the locals who were in and out for lunch from the surrounding area.

We'll be back!

ISTANBUL

ISTANBUL

I'm lying here in my hotel at around 6pm listening to the call to prayer,which sounds as if it's set up in my bathroom😜

Actually don't mind it though, even though it's coming from all quarters as we're located literally a stones throw from the BLUE MOSQUE and HAGIA SOPHIA,two of the largest and most famous mosques on the planet!

In fact one of the things I like most about Turkey is the fact that one undergoes a culture change when travelling to such places.

We went to the BLUE MOSQUE to check it out again,then later strolled down to the harbour along the main restaurant lined drag.En route we got ourselves a delicious "doner kebab" and joined the locals with a freshly caught fish roll with salad a while later.

Some people were a little concerned that we were going to such a "trouble spot" but , quite frankly I think we're probably safer here than at home?

Everything actually seems pretty normal here and the locals appear unconcerned at the recent troubles experienced during the attempted coup.

The lifestyle here in Istanbul is very much as I remember it from my last trips here,up to twenty years ago,with my last one bring in 2009😀

The people generally take to the streets on a daily basis and enjoy all that the city has to offer.

My frigging blogger app is playing up and not allowing me to complete a full blog before simply switching of before I can complete.

So I'me going into my iPad to blog but cannot presently seem to access my iPhone photos ( which are "Kak" by the way due to a faulty iPhone camera😂)

It's a case of trial and error and of doing the text on iPad and then attempting to use the shitty photos on my iPhone which takes virtually all photos completely out of focus.

So let's see???

Check blog😜🤑

Just checking for our upcoming trip to Turkey