The Ham Nomads

27 Jun 2015. <TR> Istanbul —

Today was Warren's birthday, so we decided to take the train into Taksim, get out at Taksim Meydanı (Taksim Square), give ourselves a treat in one of the restaurants on İstiklal Cadessi, and then wander as the urge took us. Good plan!

One of the views from the bus on the way down to Hacıosman

Haven't seen this style of milk delivery at home since the fifties!

We went into the Sütiş Restaurant at the Taksim end of İstiklal Cadessi — a really good choice. The place reminded us somewhat of the old Russell Collins and Elizabeth Collins Restaurants in Melbourne (now, sadly, gone), which had exquisite food, an 'olde worlde' atmosphere, and a charm of their own. Süti¸ is much the same. Their claim to fame, perhaps, is their milk-based desserts. Warren had been looking forward to an old-fashioned rice pudding, but the fırın sütlaç was way beyond all expectations! Suzie settled for burma kadayif, a sweet shredded-wheat dish (of which our favourite küneffe is just one variety) — this one was filled with chopped pistachios!

Then it was time for a long, slow walk along İstiklal Cadessi. This is an old street, with a vintage tram running along it, from Taksim Square to near the old Tunnel, the world's second oldest underground railway , opened in 1875 — it's only about half a kilometre long, but it squeezes into the definition sufficiently for Istanbul to claim the second oldest subway in existence — the London Underground beats it by 12 years! This avenue is fully pedestrianised, so the tram has to make its way carefully, as pedestrian traffic here is as chaotic as the road traffic — but everyone is very tolerant, and it's all done in the most cheerful and friendly way! We watched as the tram made its way past a political meeting that had spilled across its tracks.

The shops in the street include restaurants, restaurants, and more restaurants, punctuated by top end stores, Turkish delight shops, souvenir shops, and ice-cream vendors.

Also along the street are numerous buskers, some good, others not. We stopped to listen to a group performing Turkish music — well! — a large crowd had gathered around them, and we saw them sell at least thee CDs while we were there. The girl in the group did the main vocals, and the way she played the Sufi hand drum was simply amazing.

We walked the length of the avenue — about 2 km — and by then we were nearing Galata Tower. This is one of the most striking buildings you can see from the Golden Horn (Haliç) and from the Bosphorus. It was built bt the Genoese in 1348, and replaces an earlier tower, nearer the waterfront, built of timber as a lighthouse in 528, and which was destroyed by the Crusaders of the 4th Crusade during the sack of Constantinople in 1204. We went into the tower and up to the top, where you get a wonderful view down to the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn. There's also a very good restaurant at the top — but, unfortunately after our escapade at Sütiş, we were only in the mood for tea and coffee!

Hagia Sofia from the Tower

The birthday boy in the Tower

Leaving the tower, we walked down little back streets full of musical instrument shops, until we came out at the waterfront, at the Karaköy light rail station. We hopped the tram back to Sultanahmet and got off, this time walking on the other side of the road from the mosque, and went to Yerebatan Sarnıcı (the Basilica Cistern). This large underground water storage was constructed in the 6th century under the emperor Justinian I. It's a fascinating place to wander. The cistern is virtually empty these days, the water in it being only about a foot or so deep. When full, it would hold about 80,000 cubic metres of water! At one end of the cistern are two pillars supported by reused Medusa heads — one is on its side, the other upside down. There are many legends about the reason for this, but the most reasonable explanation is that they best fitted as supports for the columns in these orientations!

After visiting the cistern, we decided to make our way home.

On our way back in the bus it had the temerity to rain, but it had passed by the time we got back to Kilyos Merkezi, our stop from which it is about 400 metres to our camp.

Back in the van, Warren celebrated his birthday with a candle stuck into one of the potatoes of his meat and veg meal!

Distance driven — today, nil; to date, 22,733 miles ( 36,586 km )