Czech maaate!!!

Beer is half the price of coca cola here.  No wonder it is such a popular destination with Australians.  No, I haven't made a friend, I just wanted to use that blog title.  I am not, however, the only middle aged man in shorts, so you could say I have a lot of mates for a change.
Got up early to go and see the Charles Bridge in an uncrowded state this morning.  It worked, you don't need to be there at dawn, just 7:00 to 7:30 worked for me.  No doubt my children would miss out on this stunning Prague experience if they came here, unless they stayed up!!!

                                                  Palace side towers and some statues Charles Bridge


It is a stunning bridge, built under the auspices of the ubiquitous Charles the lVth, a Hapsburg Holy Roman Emperor with a fondness for Prague.  There are 28 statues along the length of the bridge, 14 on each side, opposite each other.  There are also pretty impressive towers at each end.

Came back to hotel for a cuppa then off to Kutna Hora (don't run that through your spellchecker).  This is a pretty, relatively unspoilt medieval town about an hour from Prague.  The main claim to fame there is the Kostnice Ossuary.  This is an old chapel with lots of pyramids (well 6) and statues etc made out of human bones.  There is not the expected story of slaughter and prejudice behind it either.  It was an overcrowded and popular place to be buried apparently, because an Abbot of the associated monastery brought some earth back from Golgotha in the Holy Land and sprinkled it over the graveyard.  So, plenty of spare bones.  One display is especially gory though, it is the skulls of Hussite rebels and you can see serious wounds to many of them.

                                               Bone pyramid, Kostnice, Kutna Hora

                                                  More bone sculpture, especially for Connor

And a special photo for Josh too, my Czech cuisine dinner.  Three kinds of meat, two kinds of sausage and three kinds of dumplings, with gravy, fried onion and cabbage.  I didn't even get half way through and still my inside stomach is way too big to fit in my outside.

Off to Berlin tomorrow to see what is left of the wall and then the overnight train to Krakow in Poland.

Up the forest path, by the castle wall................

Up the forest path beside the ruined castle wall towards the twin dark towers.

How did your day start?  I went on the walk recommended by the landlady.  Down to the river, across the river by the railway bridge and up the steps to Vyserhad, the other, ruined, castle.  The graveyard and forest here was one of the magical areas in Prague she told me.  It certainly was beautiful, peaceful and a little special.  The views were lovely and the atmosphere special.

Then I followed directions to the botanical gardens (nice but still botanical gardens) and on to a special old church with new towers.  Found a 14th century monastery with faded and chipped frescoes on the walls.  Only three other people there, very quiet at Vyserhad too.  Magic!

From there, through the New Town (14th century) to the Old Town, where I managed to catch the 1.00pm chiming of the 600 year old astronomical clock.  First the death figure rings a bell, then the figures representing greed, vanity and something else dastardly start shaking their heads.  Then little doors open and the twelve apostles make an appearance, two by two.  Finally a trunpeter from the top of the tower blows his trumpet and the gathered crowds applaud and cheer.  Magic!

Found my way then to the Jewish quarter and bought a ticket to the museum which consists of several sites.  I started at the Pinkas Synagogue.  Here the names, dates and home locations of the known Bohemian and Moravian Jews who perished in the Shoah are recorded.  They are written on the walls of the synagogue, it looks like wallpaper, it is quite moving.  This is all that is left of well over 70,000 people.

Up the stairs is the childrens' art work from Terezin.  Here in this ghetto/camp outside Prague, the Jewish people tried as hard as they could to make their childrens' lives as healthy as they could, with education and games and theatre.  A lady artist taught them art and managed to hide and save over 4,000 of their pictures.  She did not manage to hide or save herself.  Some of the pictures are on display.  Some are dark and depressing, some depict good and evil, some are of the camp.  Many are hopeful and bright, picturing things from the past or hoped for in the future.  I remember one of the group of pictures about what the children remember of the good days.  It was a picture of a woman and a girl, the girl is pushing a toy pram - written on the picture is the word 'Mama'.  It is signed Eva Fry, in a child's writing.  Of the over 8,000 children who passed through Terezin, only 242 survived.

I fixed an i-pad

My camera cannot do justice to the beauty of Prague.  Standing in the middle of a no-name bridge at 8:30 in the morning with the church bells ringing, it was sublime.

                                View from the Castle, you can see Charles Bridge

Can’t top that start to the day I thought as I wandered back to the Hotel to do my washing.  Then I find that doing the washing is free, and they do it for you, leaving plenty of time for an early start to the sightseeing.

Now over 12 hours later and Wow, or RFA (obviously that means ‘really fantastically amazing’ because that is the kind of language I use).  This is a beautiful city.  The hills, the trees, the buildings ………..amazing.  headed off for the Sandeman’s free tour.  It was very good, with a knowledgeable and humorous guide.  I trained to Republic square and had to find my way to Old Town Square, which I did, aweing all the way (that is walking around slowly with mouth open making quiet noises of amazement and appreciation – occasionally bumping in to rubbish bins and slow moving old folk.)

                                                                  Old Town Square ?

The tour showed lots of impressive sights and told many stories of Prague’s history.  There is a church for instance where the mummified hand of a thief still hangs 600 years later.  Also interesting is the approach the Czechs have taken to invasion in the last 100 years or so - they remove the street signs.  The guide was into what he called ironic juxtapositions.  He showed us two examples 1) Hugo Boss, the designer of the SS Waffen uniforms, with a shop in the Jewish quarter, and 2) The Communist Museum in between a McDonalds and a dodgy casino.  The sign for the museum is fantastic, it is a very special babushka doll thing.

After the 3 hour tour, back to hotel room for a cup of tea and a rest.  My washing done and all dry for me.  At the request of the owner and a befuddled guest I fix the problems the guest is having with her i-pad.  Quick rest and off to the Museum, not all that amazing like many Museums, but gives a great account of the history of the people and the place which I like to know.

Went from there to the Castle district.  Some pretty amazing stuff but \\i didn’t like it as much as the Old Town and New Town, where tourism is big but life seems to go on alongside it.  Most of the \Castle district seemed to have no purpose but politics (hidden) and tourism.

                                                Part of Wenceslas square              

After that I had to change at the station at Wenceslas square so went up for a good look.  I reckon the saintly gent it was named after would be ashamed of it.  There are some interesting buildings and it is huge, but mostly tacky stuff and Maccas and Marks and Spencer etc.

By the way, I fixed technical problems with an i-pad.
(ps this is Sunday's blog: internet troubles)

Prahahahaha - or, "beats fahrting around Vienna"

It costs $2.40 AUD equivalent for one fahrt on the metro in Vienna, and $7.60 for 24 hours of unlimited fahrts.  In Prague it is $1.80 equiv. for 75 minutes free travel,  90 cents for a short trip and $5.45 for the 24 hour thing.
I went shopping as I have an apartment type thing.  Really good, like a kitchen/breakfast room with a bed in it and a bathroom next to it.  Internet works, well stocked crockery etc., microwave, hotplates, big fridge.  Tea, coffee, dishwashing liquid etc supplied.  Neat, clean - I think I will like Praha.  Anyway, shopping - box of brekkie ceeral, milk, butter, fruit juice, loaf of bread, fried rice for two nights, frozen veges, two small cakes (you've got to love a place that has alcohol flavoured custard slices), small bottle coke, packet of choc chip biscuits, packet of peanuts, banana  - all for $21.25 equivalent total - for two dinners, four breakfasts and some snacks.  Prahahahaha.

Vienna was nice and had some great art and architecture.  Didn't get to a concert because of thunder storms.  Rainy this morning too so didn't get to see anything much.  I did buy a strudel for the train though.  It turned out to be strawberry and custard, yum.

The Czech countryside is pretty, especially Moravia, past the border where it is quite hilly and very green.  Lots of villages in the hills and forests.  I saw a deer on the edge of the forest.

                                            This is where the deer was before it ran away

My sitting companions jumped up but were too late.  They were a French Geologist and his girlfriend both very interested in Tasmania.  I say girlfriend because she was very attentive to his needs and wants, feeding him delicacies and offering him first bite at her's.  They didn't say what she did but they had been to a conference in Vienna and were having a holiday in Prague.

Also passed through Brno and the original home of Budweiser I think.  If I am not wrong I read that Czechs are the least rteligious in Europe but they love their beer.  It is really difficult to read the amount on their coins so you just have to guess.  I forgot to put my Euro coins away and wondered why I couldn't get the train ticket machine to work!!!!  Go figure.

                           You can get really fresh fish in Prague - this is in the supermarket


Good internet at this hotel, good everything it seems so far.  Pictures added to last two blogs

Lots of Schloss

Never hard to find a rubbish bin in Vienna, and no-one crosses against the lights.  And they really are a big people in general and active. But no internet in the hotel?????  Go figure.

How many palaces does one family need?  Apparently some Frederick guy got appointed Holy Roman Emperor so he was too busy to rule the Austrian Empire so his wife headed up Austria as well as Hungary.  Don't know what was happening with Hapsburg Spain or the Netherlands at the time.  Her name was Maria Theresa and she is really big in Hungary I recall.  She had a daughter, well 11 of them, but one she married off to the French king to cement an alliance - Marie Antoinette.  Wonder if mummy got the guilts when little Marie was sent off to the guillotine?

                                                            Schloss Schonbrun


On my walk this morning I noticed a lot of places where very large dogs had weed against the wall.  Told you this wasn't a great neighbourhood. dogs I don't think.
Went fairly early to Scloss Schonbruin, the Hapsburg summer palace.  Pretty big and quite nice, no where near as fancy as the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul or Versailles.  Marie Antoinette must have thought she was better off than Mum.  The gardens at Schonbruin are quite special, including a fake Roman ruin, apparently they were all the rage back in 1750.

                                                    Fake Roman Ruin


Went to Stepensdom after that, the big church.  Wasn't that impressed, they have a clever way of adding colour with cellophane over the windows.  Probably not cellophane but looked like it.  St Peter#s church just around the corner is much nicer.  I love the green roofs on many buildings here though I think it means they have oxidised.  Back to the hotel for a rest after a piece of strudel.

It is interesting what you see off the beaten track.  I found the tivoli last night and found a big out of the wazy market this morning, just a local one, no tourists no english speakers.  I got a potato salad with viener and vegetables, half a kilo of cherries for the train tomorrow, a piece of sacher torte and a can of drink all for 6 euro.  Bargain.

Was also lucky enough to be in Stepehensdom when some sacred singers were practicing for a big concert.  They were amazing as were the accoustics.

After lunch I went to Schloss Belvedere, the big art gallery nowadays.  I thought Klimt's scream was here, but it is the Kiss that's here.  I preferred the Bride.  There was a really impressive Paris Making the judgement too.

                                           Vienise looking corner of Vienna


Then to the Hofburg on the way back.  Didn't go in to any paying parts, having given Vienna's preservation fund enough for one two day trip.  Then wandered around from Volksgarten to Stephensplatz past all the really expensiver shops and lots of people.  Looking for a free concert tonight, but may stay in for the tennis if the rain that#s threatening turns up.

I need a baroqua

                                                   Now there is pictures here is my schnitzel


Not for my dinner, that was fantastic.  I got back to this decidedly dodgy neighbourhood, - think slot machine palaces, internet cafes and sex shops, after a walk around the ringstrasse.  As the supermarket closed, I went looking for somewhere to eat I chanced upon a pub with counter meals.  Well it called itself a palace, the Tivoli in fact.  All velvet, polished wood, brass and glass.  Ordered a schnitzel and beer.  It was amazing.  Huge schnitzel served with a delicious potatoe salad and garnish, and a half a litre of beer.  I am so full.

Anyway, back to baroqua.  No pictures by the way until I get to Prague, the hotel's wi fi is down and there is only a machine in he lobby with no usb ports.  Baroqua!  Went for a walk around the ringstrasse, obviously a sub way ride away from this neighbourhood, it is packed with these huge baroque buildings.  Well I like baroque as much as the next bloke but after the Parliament, the Rathaus, the University and several other museums I am already overdosed on baroque.  So I need a baroqua.

                                              The Rathaus


Arrived a little late on the ferry.  Hydrofoil actually, a nice 6 or so hours along the danube.  Only two castles and a couple of major spots, Bratislava being the main one.  Quite leisurely and comfortable.  I managed to get a great seat right up the front where I could see both sides, a middle aged couple on the other aisle and just me on the two seats on my side.  Then a large American yoof plonked himself beside me, treading on my bag on the way past and proceeding to rearrange himself in the seat.  Plenty of seats everywhere, no manners!

                                              Parliament - I thought that was the rat house


Arrived here in Vienna about 4.00pm.  Then found way through subway to hotel, reminds me of the Vienise hotel in the The Hotel New Hampshire.  Still, it is a comfortable room and breakfast is included.

Calculated risk worth taking

This is my goulash.  A risky meal I'll admit under my recent circumstances but well worth it.

Tentatively made my way around the castle district this morning after a light breakfast.  Never straying far from home base.  The quaint medieval buildings are quaint.  St Matthias' church is well worth a look and I went to the National Art gallery in the palace.  Most of the interesting stuff was from the early part of the 20th century I thought.  The views over the Danube and Pest from the Castle are spectacular.

                                              View of Parliament from the Castle

Grabbed a bite to eat, a pretzel and can of coke, and came back to hotel for a rest.  After lunch caught a train across the river to Pest.  The subway is old compared to most places but reliable.  The cars and roads and buildings seem the same.  Just a little older and down market from more southern and western Europe. Checked out where my Danube ferry leaves from then went to the National Museum.  This was arranged in periods of history from the 11th century on, and was interesting.  After that walked to the old Synagogue which is the biggest in Europe and of course the site of great tragedies in the 1930s and 40s.  There are touching memorials there and guides tell some of the story.  The visit fits in with the theme from Israel's Holocaust museum, to be extended in Poland.

After the synagogue I caught the metro on the oldest subway line in Europe to a park and walked back along Andrassy Avenue which is World Heritage listed. At the top end of the avenue is heroes square, which is very impressive.  Far too much for one photo on my camera.

                                               Part of Hero Square


Then went to St Stephen's (the founder king/saint).  Very impressive, they have a lot of king saints in Hungary.  Consumate politicians the cynics would say.  The churches are quite dark in their decorations, deep reds and browns for a lot of it.  It is also quite common on the older buildings to have decorative patterns on the roof tiles.  Unlike I have seen anywhere else.

                                               Chapel icon inside St Matthias


Then in amongst the old and beautiful you get these communist era flats.  Really shows why they are called a block of flats.

Communist era flats, NO they are not built on their sides, it is just the photo! This one has been gussied up.

By the time I got back to the hotel around 7, I was definitely feeling hungary (sorry) and decided to have some goulash to try.  It was good.

emergency on plane

Best hotel breakfast so far.  First one with cereals, cakes and eggs and bacon (not travelling first class here folks).  Didn’t have the eggs and bacon but had cereal, fruit, bread roll, small chocolate croissant, small apricot pastry.  Didn’t get hungry til well after 3pm.  Last night had a splendid seafood risotto, spoiled only by a 3 euro covercharge.  Lots of baby octopus, dead this time Josh.

After breakfast had to make my way to Cenacola Vinciano to see the Last Supper.  They let 25 people in every 15 minutes.  It is very tightly controlled.  You enter a chamber on time, then when all are in the doors close and the door to the next chamber opens.  This goes on through three chambers.  Slow or reluctant people slow the whole group down and cost you viewing time because the doors will not close until everyone comes through, and the next set of doors will not open until the previous set are closed.  Two young women held us up as they would not enter each chamber, hanging back to wait for us to move forward.  I resisted the urge to yell “could you kindly manouver your ever so slightly on the large side posterior through the chamber entrance so that we may all embark on this wonderful cultural experience.”  or similar.

                                               Cenacola Vinciano

The fresco is in the refectory of the old 15^th century convent, on one wall.  On the opposite wall is a fresco of the crucifixion by a different artist.  The other fellow used traditional technique and his work, though far less impressive, has lasted much better.  The last supper is still magnificent.  The two most striking features are the realistic perspective and the emotion conveyed by the composition of the figures.  Jesus has just announced that one of them will betray him.  Thomas is raising a finger, about to question…. (don’t we know that position dear), James the greater seems to be confidently assuring Jesus that he will take care of things, a group of three at the end seem to be having the “ah you just can’t trust everyone these days” conversation, etc.

It really is magnificent, the other one is good but pales in comparison.

After that, back to the hotel for my one hour free internet and then off the Castle Sforza for the museums.  The art museum was closed but the others open and only 3 euro total to go to all as a consequence.  Castle museum very interesting, with crypts and coffins and decorations and tapestries and armour and weapons etc.  This also had the Michealangelo exhibition devoted to the last few years of his productive life.   There was also a museum dedicated to the prehistory and early history up to the Roman conquest of the local area.  I found this very interesting.

                                               Madonna and child c1500  (based on???)

                                                        Isis and Horus c 1500 BCE  (interesting huh?)

I also enjoyed the Egyptian antiquities museum.

Everything went well getting to the plane and boarding, taking off and receiving the snack.  Then an emergency struck.  Just as the stewards were slowly making their way down the aisle serving drinks.

An emergency of the extremely urgent, potentially explosive kind.  Must have been something I ate or the suspect water I drank.  As the steward got to me and just edged his trolley past my arm rest, I leapt from my seat, pushed past him and bolted for the first class convenience room.  Phew!

Second emergency just after we landed and got bussed to the terminal.  I was very nervous on the mini-bus to the hotel.

Medieval Sforza weapons, not to be used for speeding up stubborn fellow tourists, or for clearing a speedy path to the dunny.

Hotel is very nice, looks like it will have a good breakfast, I may not be able to eat it.  Had a quick look around the Castle district as hotel is in the Castle Garden.  Old buildings. cute and quaint, a real difference to the communist era architecture we passed a lot of on the way in.

Hope touring is still on the cards tomorrow, there is a lot I want to see.  Perhaps they sell adult nappies in Budapest, you never know.

pizza happy meal for bambino only

How is this for a day?

After a leisurely breakfast  stroll around the Como lakefront.  Head back to the hotel and pack before strolling to the train station for the train to Milano.

Arrive at Milan hotel, check in and head off for a stroll to the Castle via park.  Stop to admire the architecture and get to the park just in time for gelati.  Give the exotic flavours a miss for once and go for vanilla and chocolate, mmmmm delicious.  Stroll around park eating gelati.  Arrive at castle.  Very impressive, museums are closed so very few there.  Discover that there is a Michealangelo exhibition and an ancient Egyptian gallery.  I have three hours to spare tomorrow, so, bonus.

\

                                                                                                Castle Sforza

Having filled tomorrow I decide to go to Il Duomo for a fine weather look.  On the way stop for a slice of pizza  (third day in Italy and first pizza or pasta! How’s that Connor?)   The lady says I cannot have a pizza happy meal because they are for bambini and I am not a bambino.  The other ladies talk her into letting me have a small slice of pizza. Walk one of Milano’s prime shopping streets to Il Duomo.  Also go through the Palazio Real, and anything else free.

                                                          

Walk through Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle and think of those who would love to be there.  Doesn’t do anything for me.  Grab a peek at La Scala to see if there is anything on and duck down to the bargain tickets office just in case.  All sold out.

                                                        Il Duomo

Catch metro back to my stop and walk to Cenacola Vinciano where last supper is to get my bearings for tomorrow.  Church attached doesn’t look much but has some amazing paintings including a Deposition by Carravagio.  Very dark.

Should I have pasta for dinner?  Or Gnocchi?  Or maybe risotto?

                                                       shopping Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle - who cares!

           

PS I keep going to pee in the bidet.  Not that you needed to know.

Spell checking of this post is dedicated to my darling daughter.

Well, at least there is some washing I won't have to do.  Luggage arrived at 6:50pm today, and I got caught in a thunder storm which means the clothes I have been wearing should be clean too.

                                                                                Como


In my stinky clothes I went on a tour of the lake.  Bought a day tripper ticket and off I went.  It took a little over two hours to get to the mid-lake where I got off at Bellagio.  The sides of the lake are filled with beautiful villas and small villages.  The wooded slopes are steep and they seem to get higher as you go north.  There was a little snow left on some.  Unfortunately my phone camera confuses background mountains with the sky and you can't see them.

Walked up and around Bellagio and had a lunch of beans and tomatoes.   Then caught the ferry to Villa Carlotta.  Apparently it is named after either a famous transvestite from Sydney or the daughter of a Princess of Nassau.  It is quite ornate so I am going with the Sydney transvestite.

















Looking down on the gate from the Villa Carlotta

The gardens are incredible as is the inside of the villa and the views.  Spent another couple of hours on the lake and got back to the hotel at about 6:20 to find no luggage.  Went out to buy a clean whatever I could find on a Sunday evening and got back to find luggage.

PS - guess who must have been a stowaway in my luggage?

I'd forgotten how beautiful northern Italy is

Here I am in Como, two plane flights, two train rides, phone may be stuffed, thought I'd lost my credit card and the airline did lose my luggage.  Am I annoyed?  No!
Northern Italy is so beautiful and this must be the jewel in the crown.  The lake and the villas and parks with the Alps in the background (or at least some seriously high hills.  Bella.

                                                        Might not look fantastic but  it sure did taste good.


I am in my room eating a stew of beef, olives, peppers and potatoe bought from a stall by the waterfront, part of a fair promoting local produce and art.  This stew is accompanied by a glass of cheap red wine from Sicily and to be followed by a large piece of coconut tart, bellissima.

villa on the waterfront

Half way through my trip now time for some reviews, interspersed with a few photos of Como.

Best airline, was going to be Lufthansa until they lost my luggage.  They have comfortable seats and good food and seem to be mostly on time.  Steward staff are tagged with their initial and surname, showing what a serious airline this is.  Mostly though, the bread roll was nice.  Imagine that, a nice bread roll on a plane.

                                                           same shot without the close up


Worst Airline  Spanair.  Late, late,  late.  All the time late.  And one of my flights changed four times before I had even left Australia.  And they bullshit about the lateness that is the worst thing.  "only a little late" they say when the plane hasn't even left its previous destination yet!



Best Hotel    Definitely the Hostal L'antic Espai.  A bit fusssy and frilly but really comfortable and the best breakfast by far.  Plenty of it and actually things I wanted to eat.

Worst Hotel  I have been pretty happy with them all, so will have to go with the Alcazar.  The whole "waiting for the tour group to finish" before you can have breakfast did p me off a bit.  The down side of being treated like an honoured guest is that you get what the host thinks is OK not what you want.

Best airport got to be Ataturk in Istanbul.  It is a bit outdated and tired but has comfortable seats.  What more do I need to say.  Everywhere around the airport, comfortable seats.  People have to spend long times in airports, why can't others pick up on this.  This reviewer isn't the only one a bit short on padding in the seat area.

Worst Airport  Athens. Nothing can make up for that appalling airport bus ride.  People do it everyday to work, no wonder they are always rioting  Cloth covers hide the hardest most uncomfortable seats this side of purgatory, and the suspension on the buses is shot.  You cannot be expected to ride this bus after or before a long plane ride.

Best tourist experience  Can't choose between the awesome sights of the Judean desert on the Masada and Dead Sea tour, and the amazing cruise up the Bosphorous to the Black Sea.  It is a tie.  The desert probably slightly more spectacular but the cruise better run and organised.  still I am in Como and am going by ferry tomorrow to a couple of villages and the Villa Carlotta, so watch this space.

                                                   building by the waterfront (Lake Como - in case you have forgotten)


Worst tourist experience  United tour of Nazareth, the Galilee and Tiberius.  Late, boring guide, pissed us about.  The places are so interesting I would still do it again, but he didn't even stop in Tiberius!!!

Best self-made experience Finding my own way from the Lion Gate to the Jaffa Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem, on second visit to the city.  Closely followed by my beef, olive, potato and pepper stew + glass of cheap red I recently enjoyed.  I tried to save the coconut slice for later but failed miserably.

Worst self-made experience  Every time I have gotten annoyed about some triviality or stressed about some deadline and forgotten what amazing places and experiences I am having and how lucky I am to have them.

Best attraction    They are all wonderful, but probably the Museum of Catalunyan Art in Barcelona.  Great art, great building, great view.

Worst attraction  Don't be silly there aren't any.  Though there was this fellow in Istanbul that the bus passed as he dropped his dacks to defecate in the street.

Best technology  Skype.  Couldn't cope without daily chats with family.

Best moment  Walking along the Via Dolorosa and overhearing a preacher telling his troop "that we all have our crosses to bear and only love can help us overcome them".

A bazaar day

An interesting day today filled with bazaars, epicurean delights and psychological foibles, or for the negatively inclined - cheap markets aimed at ripping off the tourist, pigging out and an indecisive nutcase.

First stop after the usual breakfast thing and finding some fresh orange juice, was The Cistern.  Sounds exciting I know.  After breakfast I check out the thing on top of the toilet.  Not unusual for a regular fellow like me I can assure you, but no, not that cistern.  An underground water storage facility built during the reign of the Emperor Justinian.  So that's pretty old.  I don't know why they say it was built by Justinian.  A Roman emperor is hardly going to be a brickie's labourer on the side (from what you read they might have had the odd brickie's labourer on the side - but that's another story and this is a family blog).  We don't even know if Justinian even asked for a big cistern, or if he even checked it out, or if he was regular in his bowel motions after breakfast.  We just know it was built while he reigned and stored fresh water.  Now it has about a foot and a half of water in it and a lot of fish.  It is like a huge underground cathedral, about the size of the MCG.  It is really quite an impressive sight and experience, under the ground in this cavernous but clearly man-made structure.

After that the Grand Bazaar.  Pretty big bazaar, in fact the biggest undercover bazaar in the something (Istanbul, Turkey. the Middle East, the World??????)  I can't remember and it wasn't that impressive.

                                                 Entrance to Grand Bazaar


 After all, a bunch of folk pestering you until you buy something or manage to get away from them.  A bit like taking a large family with you to the supermarket really.  Most of it was modern manufactured crap anyway.  Fake adidas, fake nike, fake fakes.   Some interesting stuff though and I considered getting Connor a fake pretend magic lamp, but I didn't.

Then out the other side of the bazaar and to the university.  Nice gate.

                                                university gate


Past the Old Bazaar on the way back, much more interesting looking but dark and full of dead ends.  You could hear the wild call of the lost American bargain hunter as it became separated from its herd and called for its loyal mate.  (Named Abner, don't ask me why).
Had a fresh anchovy roll with lettuce on the way back.  Good stuff.

Next was down to the Egyptian spice bazaar via the Asoras Bazaar.  The Spice bazaar was much more interesting.  Lots of stalls wirth spices and lollies as well as the usual souvenir junk and bargain junk.

                                                       Lollies left, spices right


There were also many animal stalls, mostly pets as they sold pet food with the animals, unless that was stuffing of course.  I even saw leeches for sale.  Not something you see every day.  Usually you have to breed your own.

                                                                                     Leeches, 

Bought some dates, much nicer than the Palestinian ones which were dry and stringy.  Also had some turkish delight.  |A normal rosewater one which was delicious and a coconut milk one which was deliciouser even.  Had an ice cream when I had walked back up to hotel level.  turkish ice cream, very nice, different flavours in the one cone.  Fruity fruits, chocolatey chocolate, vanillary vanilla - you get the picture.  getting pretty full by now, but still have the turkish rice pudding delicacy to try.

Tomorrow I have to be a t the airport for my flight and have to leave a bit early to get the best transfer.  Trouble is the breakfast doesn't start early enough.  This afternoon has seen a real time-consuming battle between "anally retentive don't want to be late" Russell and "super tight can't miss a free meal"' Russell.  Fortunately "problem solving" Russell has found a way to achieve both aims, but he is a bit worried about his various psychoses, especially the "referring to himselves in the third person" one.

Sydney eat your heart out

I reckon Istanbul has miles more waterfront real estate than Sydney.  Haven't seen their opera house though.
Went on a Bosphorous cruise as far as the black sea today.  Really good sights as well as the real; estate.

Climbed a fort that the Turks built to invade Istanbul.  Just as well after all the food we ate.  Morning tea was tea or coffee plus two savoury biscuits, two sweet biscuits and two pieces of cake.  Each!  Lunch was a metza plate of assorted vegetable stuff, followed by a Turkish barbecue.  On the way back it was a big plate of fruit.  Each.
Didn't need dinner but have forced myself to try some Turkish baclava.  Yum.

On the cruise we saw the maidens tower which is in the Bosphorous, but closer to the Asian side than the European side.  The fiancees of the Sultan were locked up  there until they were married.  Then we went past a variety of palaces, then stopped for a famous mosque which was quite beautiful.  Then on to the afore-mentioned fort to build up an appetite for the afore-mentioned lunch.

                                      view down from BHU Rumeli fortress
After/during lunch we sailed to a fishing village further up the passage before finally sailing on to a village on the Black Sea.  I really wanted to go to the Black sea and now I have.

                                                        Black Sea

                                                     Wuss in very cold Black Sea

Some interesting things I found out or saw today, numbered one, two, three (because there are five of them.
1) It was Turkish National day.  I swear all these countries are just declaring these days in honour of my visit, there seems to be a national day everywhere.  This one lead to heaps of crowds and a two hour bus ride from the bolat to the hotel, but no shooting so far.
2)There are lots and lots of cats in Turkey and they are not scared of people or dogs, they are actually friendly

                                                   Cats at restaurant


2)b - just finished the Baclava - yum.  And no dear, not with my hands while using the computer.


3)I saw a seagull dive for fish??????? Imagine that, a seagull actually working for a living!
3)+  They have hummas here, like a modern or human donkey.  They are youth or men with a two wheeled trolley that they lug about the inner city with great loads on them, usually pulling it behind them but sometimes pushing. They are very efficient in the heavy traffic but can't be a terribly long term career.

3)++ I saw an icecream shop with real chocolate fountain
3)+++ The tour guide doesn't want Turkey to join the EU and says he reckons most people would agree now.

photo transfer not working,for ages, I think the computer told me to press the FU button.