It
took us three uninteresting cycling days and a two hour ferry to
reach the busy metropolis of Istanbul. We settled in a small and nice budget
hotel right below the famous blue mosque, in a touristic but quiet
part of the city and near the shore.
The
part of the city is called Sultanameth and is the historic centre of
the former Ottoman empire. Places like the Topkapi palace, the Hagia
Sofia and the Blue Mosque are just a five minutes' walk away.
We
stun with the breathtaking beauty of these places, as with the
millions of little shops in the bazars and streets. How on earth can
all these people make a living, selling similar stuff in similar
little shops for similar prices. As if every third person in this
city owns a shop and every second a restaurant or köfte büfe.
All
in all we find Istanbul a buzzling place, combining old tradition and
state of the art modernity, with very busy but also very quiet places
and, for sure, not unagreeable at all. Kind people and relaxed
atmosphere. Three and a half day of walking around and inhaling all
these impressions filled us up completeley.
Tomorrow
we'll use a ferry/cruise boat on the Bosporus to take us north out of
the city and towards the Black Sea. After disembarkation we'll only
have to cycle some 20 k before we'll reach our next destination, the
town of Riva on the Black Sea coast. Stage two of this trip will have
started then.
Below: View from Galata bridge and Water pipe ladies.
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