On the Bosphorus... or not!

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Awake at 7.30, and eventually into breakfast. Good views of the Marmoris and harbour from the 6th floor breakfast room which was very busy- so busy that when I got up to get some more, when I came back, someone else had nicked my table! Tomorrow, I will take a large coat with me, rather than just a book to keep my place!
Rather cloudy and overcast, so a walk past the University and up to the Mosque of Suleiman the Magnificent, described by Michael Palin in ‘Pole to Pole’ as the finest edifice in Istanbul. Unfortunately it’s undergoing restoration so much of the interior is closed and only a small side aisle is open (and the rest of the interior screened off with a rather fine temporary wall).

The tomb of Suleiman was open, amongst the graves of once important courtiers- their tombstones denote their height and rank.
Now Suleiman was Magnificent- but, as Palin points out, surely not this big!
A walk back towards the hotel took me to the Grand Bazaar, the traditional market alleyways of Istanbul with its carpet sellers, jewellery, leather goods, trinkets, Turkish Delights etc. A little confusing at first glance, but the DK guide has a good map to lead one through the different sections and avoid getting (too) lost. It was starting to rain and blow quite a strong wind when I left the Bazaar, so I headed back to the hotel to write up the adventures so far, prepare for lunch and the next stage of the day, a cruise on the Bosphorus.

Trouble was, it got rather wet over lunchtime, and by the time pickup at 1.40pm came it was very wet and very windy. The guide didn’t tell me that the trip was cancelled until the minibus had left, and having established that I couldn’t go on the replacement tour as I was down for that on Thursday, I rebooked for Friday morning when the weather forecast is rather better, and was then (eventually) returned to the hotel. Some replanning was needed whilst the weather abated, and by 4.30pm the storm clouds had passed, the sun was out, and I decided to head for the Galatay tower across the Golden Horn. This necessitated a tram journey- 2 minutes to the tram, buy a token hop on, pretend to be a sardine for a couple of stops, breath out for a few more stops, cross the Galatay bridge, disembark, find the Tünel, an underground funiculaire to a district slightly reminiscent of Montmartre, but with lots of music equipment shops- if I ever need to get a bigger mixing desk, I know where to go! A bit of wandering round, admiring the historic tram still running, asking the way and I found the Galatay tower. The only views to be had from the top were on an external viewing gallery, by now rather windy in this fickle weather, with a footway that sloped out and down, and a somewhat flimsy barrier. I didn’t manage too many photos before my middle ear told me enough is enough and I retired inside.
I walked downhill to the waterside, past lots more mixing desks, keyboards, speakers, guitar amps etc, found a chemist to buy a toothbrush (which I had forgotten to pack), and then across the Galatay bridge on foot, using the lower deck which is full of fish restaurants, and the lines of fishermen on the upper deck reeling in their catches! Dusk was in full flow by now, as was the evening rush hour, so back to the tram for another game of sardines- I’m glad I was by the correct side door to get off at my stop as I would have been totally stuck otherwise.

Photo gallery here.