Place: Metro Bus Station, Istanbul in Turkey
Time: 20:49
Before I forget, I had to add to Craig’s post yesterday as I think he was either still drunk from the Cognac or over relaxed from the Hamam.
But it couldn’t go without mention that we were on the set of the new James Bond Movie being filmed and even caught a glimpse of Daniel Craig himself…well not really. We did however think that it was him at first, but as he approached us, we realized that it was in fact his stunt double. His make up done to show that he had just survived a brawl and guarantee the other person didn’t come out looking as good.
From Daniel Craig to Donnie’s Craig J
You all know, my husband is transforming into what we call his ‘power animal’, the lion, by growing a hearty ginger mane on his face. But this transformation does need a little grooming, so we popped into the store to find a cheap trimmer for those ‘out of control’ days. The first trimmer to catch our attention was a bright orange and silver gadget and it went by the name of a ‘Dingling’, we immediately knew that we had to have it. So we entered and purchased Craig a ‘dingling’ – we had a good giggle.
Okay, now back to today, Monday the 7th May.
While all of you are getting up and ready to start your week off in traffic before 8 hours of work. Craig and I woke up earlier than normal, it was about 08h30 and we were about start our final day in Istanbul.
We reckoned that we would ‘save the best for last’ and head to the Grand Bazaar for a looksee and maybe even wangle a deal or two. The bazaar is huge and there are thousands of stalls around every ‘nook and cranny’. Men calling out ‘good day mate’ guessing what country we are from to impress us and start a conversation as he leads us into his store.
Never did they guess South Africa, and never did we buy anything either.
It was a great experience, but Craig and I agree that you can’t eat a carpet, so we definitely prefer the food markets.
Oh the food markets, it’s a feast for the eyes, nose and tastebuds, unfortunately our bellies are having ‘allergic reactions’ and have become rather swollen. But the extra weight is worth every little bite that we have sampled.
Turkish Delights, pastries, spices and nuts (lots and lots of nuts). Hazelnuts, peanuts, roasted and salted. Cashews, walnuts, pecans and almonds. Mixed, sugar coated or sesame coated, you name it, we ate it and went completely nutty.
After the Grand Bazaar, we went in search for a bookshop as we have both finished our books and keen to swap them for a new riveting read. We walked and walked and walked. We got lost and then we found familiar territory. This happened for what felt like hours, but in the end we made it to a hostel just behind the ‘Aya Sofia’ where they kindly let us exchange books and we made our way down to the water to find a bench and read.
On the way, my heart fluttered as I caught a glimpse of a Korean Restaurant and felt the uncontrollable urge just to pop in and gaze over the menu.
Kimchee Chigae (cabbage soup), Youk kae Jang (Spicy beef soup), Galbi (beef bbq wrapped in leaves) and so many more ‘Mashisoyo’ (delicious) things. It was so much fun speaking (in as much Korean as I know) to the owner but I quickly dragged myself away as we have run out of time, but am exited to find a Korean place another time to sport my very little Korean and share the experience with Craig.
We eventually made it to a shady bench where we parked off and read a little as the ferries and ships passed in front of us and the buses and cars raced passed the back of us. We munched on some snacks leftover from previous days to try and exhaust our supply so that we can buy more and then continued walking, and walking and walking until we realized that we just couldn’t anymore, so we found a small café off the main road where we could enjoy a coke and Turkish Pizza (see funny looking pizza like picture attached).
With the needed extra energy we made our way home, passing the markets once more where I spotted IPod earphones for about R90 as opposed to the R400 they charge in Gateway and of course…more nuts.
So now we are on our overnight bus headed for Selcuk and looking forward seeing one of the Seven Ancient wonders of the world – Ephesus.
Craig is a tad annoyed as his hopes were high to see the movie list on our little TV screens (just like a plane by the way) only to find out that all the movies are in Turkish – poor thing. I popped the other earphone to my IPod into Craig’s ear and carefully selected a couple of soothing songs to put my unhappy husband to sleep.
Day 37: Tuesday the 8th May
During the bus trip,it didn’t take long for Craig’s poor mood to shift onto me and I was about to punch the little boy scoffing snacks behind me while prodding the touch screen tv at the back of my seat with a vengeance and hand the lady a breath mint together with deodorant in an attempt to get a good nights sleep.
Im sure that it wasn’t even that bad, but the lack of sleep and not being able to get comfortable made ‘fuses short’ a lot quicker.
Anyways, finally we caught sight of Selcuk and before we knew it, we were met by Emre at the bus station and taken to his hotel where we waited for our rooms to be cleaned for check in. We had a few coffees and a quick Turkish breakfast- our plates are changing as we are becoming innovative with our selection (just cant get tomato and cucumber down so early anymore) and I smacked a cheese and jam concoction of my own while trying to keep my head from hitting the table.
At about 10am we were taken to our sweet little room with a tiny garden (communal) where we showered and ‘dropped dead’. Craig slept until after 6pm and after a little cabin fever, we strolled the streets of Selcuk, getting a small taster of what is to come in the next couple of days.
All looks fantastic
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