Istanbul, Constantinople, no Istanbul, no Constantinople

Arriving in Istanbul, it was obvious that we had not seen anything like it. First of all and most obviously the buildings, and not just the famous ones, were unique. Also, and not in any way less unique, there was the traffic. There is something special about Istanbul traffic, also something that we havent seen before. There seems to be no rules regarding anything on the road be it other cars, pedestrians or animals. We made it through the worst of the traffic to the inner part of Istanbul called Sultanahmet, which is full of narrow, cobbled streets. It wasnt easy, since Turkey does not understand the meaning of the word "street sign". After driving a circuit of Sultanahmet 3 times, we eventually found our hotel, no thanks to a local who, when we were one street away pointed us in the wrong direction, thankyou. Walking in Istanbul is almost as hazardous as driving, as it seems everyone thinks they have the right to be on the road, cars, horses, buses and trucks alike. Luckily our hotel was not too far away from the major sights of the city and, thankfully, a pedestrian zone, although for the few cars that almost ran us over they were apparantly not informed of the pedestrians only rule. The major sights are mostly located in the same small area and they do not disappoint. The first sight we visited was the Aya Sofia, or Haghia Sofia. It is an amazing building which when you find out it is around 1500 years old only adds to the amazement. Inside it does not disappoint either, with frescoes from the original Christian church as well as artifacts from the Islamic mosque that it because in the 1400's when Constantinople fell. I dont believe that I can describe the place with any justice so I think I will let the pictures be the adjectives.
Next on the list is the Blue Mosque, which is directly opposite the Aya Sofia and look slightly similar, although oddly not blue. Outside it is truly magnificent, but inside it was slightly disappoiting, compared with the building across the square. It is still a working mosque and cannot be entered by tourists during the 5 times a day prayers. On that note, I was intrigued to find out that the call to prayers are now delivered through a P.A system rather than sung in person from the balcony of a minaret. Progress.
Around the corner from these two places of worship is the Archaelogical museum which is full of things that are usually found in a museum, but with more of an middle eastern flair. We spent a good afternoon wandering the halls viewing exhibits from Sumerian, Mesopotamian, Arabic, Roman, Byzantine, Assyrian and other long gone civilisations found in the middle east. It is a hugely interesting place but you do leave with your head full and a feeling of historical burnout.
One of the really cool things about Istanbul is that you can have lunch in Europe and dinner in Asia which we of course did. We took the ferry across the Bosphorous to the Asian side, which in itself is an adventure and as the sun goes down there is a great view fo the city. People in Istanbul dont think that trivial details like waiting for the boat to stop or actually to reach the pier should stop you from getting on or indeed off. We found a typical Turkish Lokanta, a small self-service type of restaurant that was off the tourist trail. There are around eight dishes available and the menu changes depending on what is in season. The chef is the boss and he had a character all of his own. The food was not too bad and was definitely unique.
One of the things Istanbul is famous for is carpets and the bazaar they are sold at. There are two well known bazaars in Istanbul, the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar contains carpet shops, t-shirt shops, jewellery shops and almost any other kind of shop you can think of. Although it is diverse it was also a little disenchanting. It didnt quite live up to the expectiations I had for it, still it was interesting and an experience to have someone try to sell us a carpet. The Spice Bazaar was another matter. It was vibrant and had the exotic aroma that I was expecting if slightly less pungent and concentrated than I though it would be. The colours were dynamic and the activity bee-like given that it is still used by people to buy spices aswell as a tourist attraction.
We decided that there is too much to do in Istanbul and we definitely need to come back. Next stop on the road is Canakkale and the Gallipoli battlefields.