What a week I have had in that great city. I was fortunate to have the hospitality of two very kind and generous people.
I had the bike serviced, and caught up on some planning. I also had the pleasure of some wonderful home cooked meals, and to stay in an apartment that overlooked the Golden Horn and the old city of Istanbul.
It was pure joy. You must go to Istanbul at some time in your life. The age, the history, the people, the sense of this place is just wonderful. Managed some "sightseeing" and hope I have the right shots of the Red Mosque built for christians and changed to a Mosque by adding the minarets but later turned into a museum by Attaturk I believe, and the Sophia, the Blue Mosque built around 1616 ( I think).
But sadly today I took my leave. I was on the bridge that spans the Bosporous and joins Europe with Asia and a motorcyclist indicated I should follow. We took off up the inside the inside lane, the traffic was heavy, and at the toll gates he stopped and asked if I had a toll card ( all electronic) which I didn't so he motioned me to ride beside him as we then went through the toll booth on his card. Nice people. I am getting toots and ,waves, and conversation whenever I stop.
So, soon after leaving Istanbul and a way down the motorway, I was off toward a ferry to take me across the bay and then over the hills to the Lake and town of Iznik. This is of course an old city (they all are here) of 22,000 and home to a wide assortment of Roman ruins, of course walls that go back thousands of years, even Hadrian came here, and he likes walls, and then the inevitable mosques. Pretty ones, famous ones, the lot. I understand there is an organisation re-established to make the tiles that the area was famous for. They were used in the palaces and the mosques including the famous Blue Mosque in Istanbul. I may get to see them here. The countryside is hilly but the lakeside is home for huge agricutural production, and it is olive harvest time so there are tractors and trailers aplenty.
A short day to get me started again, windy cool and overcast, but it is well into autumn here so I must soon expect snow before I can get to Iran and head south and warmer climes.
nzl04
I had the bike serviced, and caught up on some planning. I also had the pleasure of some wonderful home cooked meals, and to stay in an apartment that overlooked the Golden Horn and the old city of Istanbul.
It was pure joy. You must go to Istanbul at some time in your life. The age, the history, the people, the sense of this place is just wonderful. Managed some "sightseeing" and hope I have the right shots of the Red Mosque built for christians and changed to a Mosque by adding the minarets but later turned into a museum by Attaturk I believe, and the Sophia, the Blue Mosque built around 1616 ( I think).
But sadly today I took my leave. I was on the bridge that spans the Bosporous and joins Europe with Asia and a motorcyclist indicated I should follow. We took off up the inside the inside lane, the traffic was heavy, and at the toll gates he stopped and asked if I had a toll card ( all electronic) which I didn't so he motioned me to ride beside him as we then went through the toll booth on his card. Nice people. I am getting toots and ,waves, and conversation whenever I stop.
So, soon after leaving Istanbul and a way down the motorway, I was off toward a ferry to take me across the bay and then over the hills to the Lake and town of Iznik. This is of course an old city (they all are here) of 22,000 and home to a wide assortment of Roman ruins, of course walls that go back thousands of years, even Hadrian came here, and he likes walls, and then the inevitable mosques. Pretty ones, famous ones, the lot. I understand there is an organisation re-established to make the tiles that the area was famous for. They were used in the palaces and the mosques including the famous Blue Mosque in Istanbul. I may get to see them here. The countryside is hilly but the lakeside is home for huge agricutural production, and it is olive harvest time so there are tractors and trailers aplenty.
A short day to get me started again, windy cool and overcast, but it is well into autumn here so I must soon expect snow before I can get to Iran and head south and warmer climes.
nzl04
