I was quite impressed with Sofia. Some beautiful Russian orthodox style churches and very cheap. Apart from getting ripped off in a taxi ride the first night by about ten Euro so no big deal but annoying.We (me and a Portuguese couple I met)had a feast at a Chinese restaurant for about 5 pounds a head including beer or 2! The next day i walked around Sofia sightseeing and sat down to a game of chess in the park with a cunning local who beat me in about four moves and relieved me of 2 Leve (about 1 euro).
The trip onto Istanbul the following night was about 4 hours late so we didn't leave until 10pm or so. It was pretty cool on the train,although it was a pretty old locomotive I would say 1960s or so. I shared a bunk room with a young French guy who attended uni in turkey. About twelve hours and a late night border crossing later we arrived in Istanbul to a station very close to my hostel in Sultanahmet (old town Istanbul) right next to the blue mosque and Haga Sofia church!
The Turkish are noticeably warmer people as is the weather and have had a laugh with a lot of them as opposed to the chilly Yugoslavs from the last few weeks. I've been here three days and enjoyed visiting the 2000 yr old Byzantium Sofia which had been converted into a mosque by the Ottomons 400 years ago before being made into a museum by Prime minister Attaturk in the 1930s. Its really interesting now as its basically a mosque in form but inside they have uncovered all of these amazing mosaics of Jesus, the saints and leaders of the day (i.e. Constantine) so its now a fascinating fusion of mosque and church.
The adjacent Blue mosque is incredible, very beautiful and still used for worship. Your able to go inside and visit outside the main prayer times. Women have to wear and scarf and men no shorts allowed. A neon sign at the front reads several messages to the faithful including a memorable one 'be tolerant to be tolerated'. Very apt I thought.
The Topcati palace was amazing. It is a fully intact compound of buildings including the meeting rooms, private rooms and harem of the Sultans. The museum section was most outstanding with items such as the sultans ceremonial clothing, swords, throne and lots of jewels in remarkable condition. Incredible stuff.
Things took a turn from the sublime to the ridiculous though when we arrived in the religious section. It was really interesting to learn about the life of Mohammed and Islam. But they exhibit amongst other treasures the staff of Moses, part of the beard of Mohammed, the sword of King David, and Turban of Joseph. All in remarkable condition. No doubt we can put that down to the divine energy these objects possess. Me and Aussie mate Will who joined me on the tour had a real chuckle about these.
The grand bazaar is a huge maze of stores with no price tags on anything encouraging haggling. Lots of knock off clothes and watches etc. Its more like a shopping mall than a market though and some of the stores are very flash. I'll probably pick something up from here on the way back.
I've been really impressed with the call to prayer which occurs five times daily. You can stand in the middle of the main square and hear it begin at the blue mosque and then singers from the multitude of other mosques join in. They have esquisite voices and it appears they try to outdo each other by holding the notes the longest etc. Quite an experience. Im going now to try and catch the next call at 1pm on film.
Later tonight I'm catching a 12 hour overnight bus south to mystical Cappodoccia home of cave churches and underground Hittite cities.
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