Classic Oriënt Express 2009: Day 8

I recently found my old travel diary again and started reading it.  Seems that I made 2 very nice trips in the past, which I think may be very interesting for my blog.  Thus I decided to copy what I wrote about these train journeys through Europe on my blog.

This is the eighth day of my Oriënt Express Journey.

This morning our train arrived very punctual at Istanbul Sirkeci Station, though we expected otherwise.  The train trip was very exhausting.  Together with my Slovenian compartment-mate and a British traveler of the compartment next door, we have been playing cards all night long.  As we would pass the border a bit after midnight, we decided to stay up and play cards until we would be in Turkey.  Though the Brit and I preferred to catch some sleep before the border (as the night would be very short if we stayed up until the border), the Slovenian convinced us to stay up, by saying that the train would have at least 2h delay upon arrival in Istanbul.  A quick calculation thought us that with this delay we would have enough time to sleep after crossing the border.  So back to our card game until we got to the border.  At the border everybody had to get off the train for passport control and to buy a visa.  The queue disappeared quite fast and our train was able to leave on time at the border and the next morning we were on time in Istanbul.

My first impression of Istanbul was amazing.  I guess the train is the best way to enter the city.  Before the train arrives at Sirkeci station, it drives all around the old city.  At one side of the train you see the sea, and on the other side you see the old city.  The Sirkeci-station is placed right in the back garden of the Topkapi-palace.  Very impressive!

After arrival I went to my hotel to drop off my luggage.  My room wasn't ready yet though.  I started to make a walk over Kennedy Cadessi (next to the seaside), bringing me back to Sirkeci station.  I walked through the Topkapi-palace gardens, where the flowers were blooming and wild cats were entertaining the people in the park.  I noticed that there are lots of wild cats roaming the streets of Istanbul and it made me miss my cats back home.

I started my visit of the Topkapi-palace and saw several treasuries as well as the scary circumcision room.  From the inner gardens of the palace I had a very nice view over the Bosporus and at the Asian side of the city.  Inside the palace building I noticed that the ceilings were very beautifully painted and that the walls had very nice tiles.  Before leaving the palace, I visited the temporary exhibition on Sultan Selimhan III.

I didn't realise it, but I spent several hours in the amazing palace and the time to check-in at the hotel had already passed.  I made my way to the hotel, which luckily was near to the palace.  My room was ok, but not very luxurious and my 'private' bathroom was in the hallway (though I had a key to lock it, so it was really private).  I put my luggage in the room and tried the television, which was out of order.  No problem, as I wasn't here to watch television.  I returned to Sultanahmet (the old city) and walked around the Aya Sofia.  I couldn't enter though as it was closed today.  I also walked around the blue mosque and passed the 2 obelisks.  All of these I would visit tomorrow, when the Aya Sofia would be open as well.  I walked on to the Galata-bridge, where I saw a lot of fishermen fishing.  After crossing the bridge I got to "Tünel", which is one of the very first metro-like public transport systems in the world.  When I got to the other terminus of Tünel, at Iskiklal Cadessi, I walked past all the shops.  In this street I saw that there was still a very old vintage tram running to Taksim square in the modern part of the city.

Near Taksim square I visited the Aya Triada orthodox church.  Istanbul has seen many religions in its history.  I then went back towards the Galata bridge, passing the Galata tower.  In Eminönü (at the other side of the Galata bridge) I ate a very delicious fish sandwich.  This made me feel very hungry and I quickly found a restaurant which served me an exquisite bream with Turkish salad and baklava for dessert.  When I got the bill I almost fainted, luckily the food was really good.

After my overpriced diner I got lost in the big bazar, or rather big maze, where vendors tried to sell me all sorts of things, sometimes in a very aggressive manner.  By the time I found the exit of the bazar it was time to go to bed and catch some sleep for another busy day in Istanbul.