Back in Turkey – to earthquakes and freezing conditions

Suddenly our visit to Australia was over and we were hurtling through the skies towards Istanbul.

This trip, instead of travelling through Singapore, Dubai or another hub we flew via Bali – a very pleasant place to stop over and actually right now, a cheaper option.

After our big dash to the airport in Australia it was a relief to get on board and even better to arrive in Bali where we had a night’s stopover to relax before flying to Turkey.

We were feeling pretty exhausted by the time we arrived at our small hotel in Sanur and didn’t have the energy to do much except eat a delicious nasi goreng in a nearby restaurant and go to bed!

After breakfast the following day we went for a long walk to the village, through the local market and along the seafront admiring all the the colourful offerings, Balinese carvings, doors and other beautiful objects that make the island so attractive.

We arrived back at the hotel feeling whacked out again and ready for a rest before going to airport to catch our direct flight to Istanbul.

The change from the intense Brisbane heat to the balmy weather in Bali was easy to adjust to but arriving in Istanbul to the shock of snow and ice was a real assault to the senses!

We arrived in Istanbul on Wednesday 8 February- just two days after the catastrophic and tragic earthquake in South-East Turkey.

The first indication of this devastating event was seeing a sea of orange a long way ahead of us as we disembarked from our plane.

As we walked towards the orange apparition we could see that it was a group of around 50 people all dressed in orange overalls. Drawing closer we noticed there were a number of dogs with them and some of the people were carrying equipment in large stainless steel cases. It was in fact a contingent of search and rescue workers freshly arrived from Japan and ready to swing into action. They were about to pick up a connecting flight to the disaster zone.

It was quite emotional seeing them as it brought home the reality of the terrible earthquakes and we could imagine what a terrible and traumatic job these brave souls were about to face.

We had a quick chat with a couple of them and wished them well before heading off to Immigration and Baggage Collection.

When we looked out of the window in the baggage collection hall the whole world was white. A recent blizzard had covered everything in a blanket of snow.

We arrived at Viaport Marina in Tuzla just as another snow storm hit and we had quite a job staying upright in the freezing slippery conditions wearing unsuitable footwear and trying to pull multiple suitcases!

The hydraulic oil in our passerelle (electronic gangplank) was affected by the freezing temperatures and lowered at snail’s pace as we stood shivering on the jetty wondering what on earth we were thinking of arriving in Istanbul in February?! Fortunately, our stay was to be a sort one.

Our lovely taxi driver and one of the marina workers very kindly helped us across the icy passerelle with our luggage and once we had fired up the fan heaters and made a steaming cup of tea, we felt heaps better.

The next few days were spent unpacking our light summer clothes, washing them and storing them away and then finding our winter stuff ready to take to the Netherlands.

Jonathan realised that he didn’t have much in the way of winter clothes so he hit the sales in the local shops that are just metres away from where our boat is moored.

Meanwhile the snow melted away although it still felt extremely cold. By the weekend the sun began to shine brightly and for a few hours it felt almost warm so we decided to have a stroll along the seafront.

It was great to see the local street cats were still thriving despite the freezing weather. There was plenty of dried food around so they definitely weren’t starving.

On Valentines Day we decided to go into central Istanbul and be tourists for the day. We had tried to visit the wonderful Basilica Cistern on previous occasions but the lines to get in were always ultra long and seemed to move extremely slowly.

Fortunately this time there was hardly anyone queueing and we hadn’t been waiting more than five minutes before we were at the head of the queue and inside!

There are several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul but this fantastic historical attraction is the largest of the lot. It is also plum in the middle of the main tourist area – a stone’s throw from Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace.

Built in the 6th century – purportedly by 7,000 slaves – the cistern provided a water filtration system for the Great Palace of Constantinople and other important buildings. Later it provided water to the Topkapi Palace. It is capable of holding 80,000 cubic metres!

As we entered the vast cistern (9,800 square metres) and climbed down the fifty-two stone steps that descend into its depths, we were amazed to see a forest of hundreds of columns – and at their base the whole of the floor of the cistern was covered by the clearest of gin-clear water.

As we wandered around, unexpected modern-day sculptures appeared as the lighting changed – here some jelly fish – there a mysterious goddess-like figure reflected on the ancient wall of the cistern behind.

There was a walkway suspended just above the water, and as we walked deeper into the cistern we suddenly noticed that the 336 columns that hold up the vaulted ceilings, aren’t all the same. Some are made from marble and others from granite. Some have a smooth polished surface, others are rough like unpolished concrete.

Many of the columns in the cistern appear to have been recycled from the ruins of older buildings and a good example of this are the two that sit on carved faces of Medusa – one upside down and one with the head facing sideways.

One stunning column is known as “the Tear column” but the teardrop-like embellishment apparently represents a stylised tree trunk not tear drops – either way, it was stunning.

In the afternoon we visited the Museum of Archeology once again and this time we made a beeline for the Museum of Islamic Art which is part of the museum complex.

Housed in the Tiled Pavilion set within the outer walls of the Topkapi Palace, this little jewel of a museum not only features ceramics and tiles from the seljuk and ottoman periods, it is also the only non-religious institution to have its own walls clad with spectacular tiles from these periods.

Commissioned in 1472, the façade contains glazed bricks with a definite Persian influence, and the main entrance is surrounded by a beautiful tiled green arch.

Later we had a refreshing cup of çay in the museum garden restaurant and strolled around the display of sculptures and other artefacts in the garden.

One of the interesting exhibits was another head of Medusa – very similar to the ones we saw in the Basilica Cistern. The question of where they came from originally and whether they had the same origins remains a mystery.

The train was very crowded on the long ride back to the marina but fortunately we were able to get seats to rest our tired tourist legs!