Travels around Europe: 482: Turkey for my birthday

I'm 71 years old today. Quite an achievement as so many people don't make it this far. I consider myself to be very lucky as I still have (reasonably) good health. To a large extent I ascribe that to keeping the brain and the body active.

I remember Major Alan Bolger, RAPC, RIP, once saying to me, on my computer programming course in 1980, "Staff, you think differently to most people." I've always taken that as a compliment. I thought about that when I decided on a title for today's blog. "Turkey for my birthday" would mean, for most people, I think, a trip to the nearest supermarket to buy said turkey. For me it meant flying to Istanbul, that vast cosmopolitan city that straddles Europe and Asia.

I flew in, from Barcelona, om Thursday evening and will be here until next Wednesday soaking up the sights, and sounds, and smells, of this great city. It is such a melting pot of cultures, East and West, Christian and Muslim. Walking down the same street, at the same time, you might see a girl in a mini-skirt next to a lady covered from head to toe in a burqa. In a city of over 15 million people, high-rise flats dominate the skyline most of the way in from Sabiha Gokcen International airport (SAW) almost 50 km to the SE of the city. There are other airports serving the city but this is the one Pegasus airlines fly into..

I spent the first night at ISG hotel, a short shuttle bus ride from the airport and yesterday took public transport into the centre. I'm staying in the 3* boutique hotel Fehmi bey in the Sultan Ahmet area of the city. It's just after 5 a.m. (I woke up early) and I can clearly hear the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer. This, apparently, is going to happen 5 times a day. (dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and nightfall). It's OK, not a problem.

The jewel in the crown of the hotel Femhi Bey is the roof terrace, where one goes for breakfast, and an evening beer. A tremendous view over the Sea of Marmara, where there are tens of boats and ships lying at anchor and there are ferries weaving in and out to destinations far and near. The Sea of Marmara, as you may know, links to the Aegean Sea and thence to the Mediterranean and, in the opposite direction, via the Bosphorus, to the Black Sea. Here also, flowing under the famous Galata bridge, is the Golden Horn. Ah, the Galata bridge. I must make my way there and pay the inflated tourist prices for a meal in one of the many fish restaurants under the bridge.

I'm looking forward to the next few days, people watching and visiting a few of the many cultural attractions. And no visit to Istanbul is complete without a boat trip on the Bosphorus. I mentioned earlier that the Bosphorus links into the Black Sea. On the North of which sits Ukraine, which that monster Putin is slowly reducing to rubble. It seems a world away from here but is less than 1,000 kilometres.