Goodbye Istanbul
By Delrondu | Confession, Snapshot, Travel18 Dec 2009
I am Mr. Consistency no matter where I go. Back home I will consistently wake up between 7am and 7.30am. Now half way round the world, I consistently wake up in this time zone between 5.30am and 6.am. Everyday without fail.
The difference, however, is that every morning I get to watch the sky turn from pitch black to a phantasmagoria of colours. The sea is almost just a stone’s throw away from this opening in the wall where I sit and write, and watch the sun slowly takes its ascent to greet my day. Only the fortress wall stands in between me and the sea, and some beautiful pictures of the naturally majestic beauty of sunrise which always remind me of you.
Slowly the morning comes to life. The tug boats and other sea travellers become visible as they continue their bustling. The Asia side of Turkey that has so far been only twinkling of white and orange lights take their form and reflect what the Europe side of Turkey is not.
On the first morning here in Istanbul, that was the only clear dawn I have had but as it was the first day here, I didn’t know where to go to take good pictures of the sunrise. And the following two dawns were cloudy and rainy unfortunately. Pity.
Breakfast was a whole new experience. After all the fantastic bacon and eggs and sausages in Athens, this was difficult as there’s no meat whatsoever. Instead, they have a lot of spices kept in huge jars with long serving spoons that you can add to your bread or yoghurt.
Two of the most popular sites are the Blue Mosque and the Ayasofya. They stand opposite each other with a park in between them. They are both humongous in size and dwarfed everything else around them.
Within their vicinity is the eerie Underground Cistern that ends with two heads of Medusa, one upside down and the other lying on the side.
