Blue Mosque - Istanbul

[Eddie Clamp]

A holiday without diving :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvPOs8nFtCM

[MattS]

Brings back the memories. I lived and worked in Instanbul for a year back in 92. Mind you my lasting memory of the Blue Mosque was food poisoning from one of the cafes near by :mad:

[Gary Pittaway]

That’s a shame. I went to Istanbul a few years ago and I have to say I had a great time. Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia (amazing history) the Grand Bazaar, underground water supply catacombs as seen in 007 James Bond movie from Russia with Love, a river trip on the Bosphorus. East truly meets West. A great place to visit and soak up the culture.

Then off to the coast for a spot of diving......;)

Gp

[Eddie Clamp]

Hagia Sophia visit at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9ryAp7Iaxs
:)

[Eddie Clamp]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_L1OiA-33s

[ChristianG]

Istanbul is, when I'm in "really old" mode, my favourite city on this small planet. I well remember taking a photo outside the Spice Bazaar (I do hope you went there?) and, when I got back to Oz to review the photos since developed by my parents, realising that the Galata Tower (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galata_Tower) was perfectly framed in the background. And there I was thinking I was taking a simple picture of one of our two doughty coach drivers who'd got us all the way to Istanbul (and beyond) from the Uni of Besancon in France.

I just love the Turks and their way of life. One of my best friends is a Turk I met at the Uni of Besancon when he appeared in my class there brandishing a German/French dictionary - which intrigued me. He used it because (then) there was no Turkish/French one. It turns out that his German was better than mine (I'm a native German speaker), his French was better than mine, my English was/is better, marginally, than his but he also speaks excellent Turkish (of course), Armenian and Greek and can make himself understood in most of the romance languages (as I can, but he's not grounded in them, as I am). The Turks are like that, very multilingual, perhaps even better than the Swiss.

[MattS]

Istanbul is, when I'm in "really old" mode, my favourite city on this small planet.:smile: I fondly refer to it as the best city I lived in and the worse I ever had to work in. Every day a new adventure.

It turns out that his German was better than mine (I'm a native German speaker), As the sole Brit working in an otherwise Scandinavian team, the linguistic dancing before settling on a common language always fascinated me. Danish in the apartment amongst the Swedes, Danes and Norsks. German in the office with our Turkish counterparts. Course being a Brit I demanded everyone speak English in my presence and used the international language of arm waiving and repeating myself loudly when they didn't.

The Turks are like that, very multilingual, perhaps even better than the Swiss.I pride myself in having learnt to badly order a beer in 6 different languages :D

I was in that job for 5 years, setting up offices across Europe with an occasional jaunt to Hong Kong. The interesting thing was when I finally chose to give it up, rather than move to Moscow full time, it took about 3 years for my vocabulary to recover. Seems I became the master of pidgin English.

Off to have dreamy memories of eating under the stars on the banks of the Bosphorus.

[Eddie Clamp]

Istanbul is, when I'm in "really old" mode, my favourite city on this small planet. I well remember taking a photo outside the Spice Bazaar (I do hope you went there?) .

Christian - your merest wish is my command :p . A short vid of both bazaars with a visit to the lovely station there included.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZlHpjv5MMc

[Eddie Clamp]

:smile: I fondly refer to it as the best city I lived in and the worse I ever had to work in. Every day a new adventure..


Cheers Matt

I first went to Istanbul in the late 60s. Working in Sinope for some months we were just passing through ;). Used to catch the white ferry from the city which dropped us off there.

Got to go to Samsun, Trabzon and eventually to Ankara. Great memories.

Also visited Istanbul a number of times while a member of the grey funnel line :cool:

Our trip was to show wife Sue the wonders of a lovely city.

[ChristianG]

Off to have dreamy memories of eating under the stars on the banks of the Bosphorus.
Oh yes, we did that too and quite often, with my friend Ahmed. We also often ate at one of the restaurants under the Galata Bridge. Spectacular views, particularly of the Topkapi Palace and the fish wasn't exactly half bad either, very simply cooked (as fish should be) but excellent and well-priced although I wonder whether "well-priced" is still on the menu. Heck, even the Turkish wines are drinkable and they're probably better now than they were then.

[ChristianG]

Christian - your merest wish is my command :p
Thanks Eddie, I remember that train station quite well because the next time we went to Istanbul (principally to visit Ahmed) it was by train. I will long remember that journey from Athens but I really don't ever wish to do it again. :eek:

[MattS]

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