Janie’s diary (see above) confirms how we flew out from Heathrow to Istanbul on 8 November and had arranged to be met at the airport and taken to our first hotel, the Sokullu Paşa Hotel.
It also shows that we booked a flight to Izmir lunchtime 11 November, with the Avis desk awaiting us there.
Our flights back to Heathrow on 18 November were 10:00 Izmir to Istanbul, then 13:45 to Heathrow arriving London at 16:00 GMT.
We had not arranged any accommodation for the Izmir week; we were playing it by ear on a fly-drive holiday. Seems fair enough in November, frankly.
Part of our purpose was to see Ros Elliot (who lived/lives near Izmir) and her plans were a bit up in the air, so booking ourselves up ahead of time would have been a bit daft.
Janie and I spent 10 days in Turkey that autumn. Unusually, I didn’t keep a written log, so these Ogblog pieces come from the photo-log we made up on our return and some additional memories that survive.
On arrival from London at Istanbul airport, we were met and taken to our Istanbul hotel, the Sokullu Paşa Hotel. That place is well located in the historic district of Istanbul, so we simply found a local restaurant that first evening and enjoyed a traditional Turkish meal.
The Sokullu Paşa HotelOur “Old Town” neighbourhood
Our first proper bit of touring, the next morning, was to the Cağaloğlu Hamam, a traditional Turkish bath dating back to the mid 18th century. The headline photo shows me outside the place.
I kept the leaflet they handed us – see below.
I think that’s me relaxing after my steam and scrub
Janie and I both enjoyed the benefits of that place. We had to go separately, of course, but both procured the full works – i.e. steam and scrub.
Comparing notes afterwards, both of us were scrubbed by a big burley person who might be mistaken for being scary. In fact, my abiding memory of the place was a brief chat with a fair-skinned fellow with a Germanic accent who arrived slightly later than me and who had, like me, procured “the works”. I’ll never forget the nervous expression on his pale face when he saw the giant masseuse arrive for me and start scrubbing, as he knew that his turn was soon to come.
In truth, I think I like my exfoliation and massage to be a slightly gentler treatment than the traditional Turkish, but it was a wonderful experience to have the full hammam treatment in such an historic venue.
The Blue Mosque
After the hammam, we went off to see the sights for a couple of days! I’m not entirely sure which sights we saw on which days, but I have a feeling we went to see the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia on that first day, leaving the rest of the Istanbul touring until the next day.
Inside Hagia Sophia
My photo notes remind me that we ran into one of my mates from Lambton Place health Club in Hagia Sophia, but I’m scratching my head to try to remember who it was.
I’m pretty sure we ventured a bit further form our hotel for dinner that second night, finding a place with a stunning view across the water that refused to be photographed with old-fashioned flash guns.
Topkapi
The next day we spent a lot of time in and around Topkapi Palace.
Views from the top of TopkapiHarem with a viewThe Pavilion of Murad III – beautiful tiles but I couldn’t find the honours board
We also visited the Grand Bazaar that day.
I’m pretty sure we found a local eatery again on our final night – again finding it easy enough to follow our noses (possibly with a little help from Lonely Planet) and find excellent food at unsilly prices.
