Byrdie has a tendancy to over indulge her sweet tooth, so yesterday (our first day in Turkey), she commented that she couldn´t believe she´d already got sick of turkish delight. The Turkish delight ıs delicious. and almost every place that sells them offers free samples... I can never say no to something free
Yesterday when we wandering around, we were surprised not to see many local women in the tourist areas. All men standing outside their shops, trying to get you in... They often think flattery will get them everywhere... but have good humour
Some comments so far ¨you don´t need baklava, you´re sweet enough already¨
¨how can i help you?... spend your money¨
almost all of them ask where you are from. and then ¨turkish love kiwis¨ etc etc- when you start to hear the same ´lines´ over and over, the novelty wears thin.
There are mosques everywhere. Byrdie laughed at me when we first got here i said that we could remember the street we were in because it had a mosque opposite it... About 3 times a day they do the call for prayer. which can be quite erry if you have mosques all around you...
Today we visited the Aya Sofya, a huge dome building initially built around 500AD but has had various renovations and additions over the years. I thought it was another mosque, so was suprised to see mosiacs of virgin Mary and Jesus. It was built as a christian church and then later it was conquered and converted into a mosque and the beautiful mosiacs were plastered over. They have since been partially restored...
We then did a mission to Kariye Muzesi, another really old building with lots of ceiling mosiacs- It´s about 700 years old. Again many of Jesus and Mary. We took the long way (ie got lost) getting there and found ourselves in all sorts of alley ways. Lots of women in birkha and no tourists... so was actually lots of fun.
We found our way to the Spice Bazaar, piles of colourful spices and the usual turkish salesmen. we bought some yummy prunes and dried apricots, which Byrdie has managed to almost polish off.
After that we took the public transport ferry. Much cheaper than the tourist ferry. Byrdie tried to save us a further 2.50 by waiting at the outside terminal at the other end, in the cold... but then a man came out and told us we had to pay...
Again we feel like we are constantly eating. so much good food... we have to remind ourselves that we don´t have to try it all in our first two days. We´re probably going to spend 3 weeks in turkey in total. Is it bad if we don´t go to Gallipoli? Everyone assumes we will because that´s what aussies and kiwis do.
Yesterday when we wandering around, we were surprised not to see many local women in the tourist areas. All men standing outside their shops, trying to get you in... They often think flattery will get them everywhere... but have good humour
Some comments so far ¨you don´t need baklava, you´re sweet enough already¨
¨how can i help you?... spend your money¨
almost all of them ask where you are from. and then ¨turkish love kiwis¨ etc etc- when you start to hear the same ´lines´ over and over, the novelty wears thin.
There are mosques everywhere. Byrdie laughed at me when we first got here i said that we could remember the street we were in because it had a mosque opposite it... About 3 times a day they do the call for prayer. which can be quite erry if you have mosques all around you...
Today we visited the Aya Sofya, a huge dome building initially built around 500AD but has had various renovations and additions over the years. I thought it was another mosque, so was suprised to see mosiacs of virgin Mary and Jesus. It was built as a christian church and then later it was conquered and converted into a mosque and the beautiful mosiacs were plastered over. They have since been partially restored...
We then did a mission to Kariye Muzesi, another really old building with lots of ceiling mosiacs- It´s about 700 years old. Again many of Jesus and Mary. We took the long way (ie got lost) getting there and found ourselves in all sorts of alley ways. Lots of women in birkha and no tourists... so was actually lots of fun.
We found our way to the Spice Bazaar, piles of colourful spices and the usual turkish salesmen. we bought some yummy prunes and dried apricots, which Byrdie has managed to almost polish off.
After that we took the public transport ferry. Much cheaper than the tourist ferry. Byrdie tried to save us a further 2.50 by waiting at the outside terminal at the other end, in the cold... but then a man came out and told us we had to pay...
Again we feel like we are constantly eating. so much good food... we have to remind ourselves that we don´t have to try it all in our first two days. We´re probably going to spend 3 weeks in turkey in total. Is it bad if we don´t go to Gallipoli? Everyone assumes we will because that´s what aussies and kiwis do.
3 comments:
Hi Joy Bells :) Hope all is good. I'm been checking your blog every day! Put some more piccies up and make me jealous!! x x x
Hey Joy,
Sounds great. Looking forward to seeing some photos of you two in Turkey.
Hope you're being careful. Watch out for those free Turkish delight samples. You never know.... some of them could be flavored with rohypnol instead of rose.
Have fun,
xoxo
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