Set off at around 7, arriving in Istanbul sometime around 1, tho’ it was around 2 before we were dropped off, as C + A had to go to the Amex office at the Hilton first to collect their mail. They only asked about 4000TL each, or less than $10, for the whole trip, which was more than generous (tho’ we had given them the remains of our carton of Marlboro as well.) That included tea, soup, coffee too, tho’ we had all chipped in on the food line. Walter was very relieved to hear we were being asked for so little – he is short of money (tho’ not really much more than us) + had thought he would have to send home for more.
We were all (that is, we 3 who hadn’t seen it before) impressed with our first views of Istanbul – a hair-raising drive down step + narrow cobbled streets to the river, then the skyline of domes + minarets, like the city of some deranged magician. I suppose anyone who has seen the travel posters will know what I mean, but I must have missed them all, for it came as an enormous shock to me. C + A dropped us outside the Blue Mosque, + we arranged to meet them tomorrow night for Val’s celebratory birthday dinner, seeing as how she had missed out on the real thing last week. The meeting place was to be the famous Pudding Shop, not 50 yds from where we were dropped. All very convenient, since right next to the Pudding Shop was the Hotel Gungor, to which Walter, Val + I went straight away. It seemed clean + warm + reasonably priced, but almost from force of habit we went to look at another one to compare it. It was probably Walter, who obviously was quite happy with the place, who made us decide to stay. He’s quite right, of course – if you find what you want, + can afford it, you should take it. Finding somewhere equally good or better is fine too, especially if it saves money, just so long as it doesn’t become a religion.
We all had business to attend to, so Walter went off to see to his (he had to send a telegram to his daughter in Austria) while Val + I looked after ours. Mostly, of course, business of getting home. The train, even with student discount, was expensive, about $85 each to Paris, but there were numerous offices offering cheap bus trips to Germany, the cheapest being 6000 TL, or about $15. There was also the hidden extra of having to buy a Bulgarian visa, but this was no big deal, a mere extra 3500 TL – still much, much cheaper than the train. We didn’t buy straight away – we want to spend a day or 2 in Istanbul in any case, so there’s no hurry.
When we met Walter again back in the room (beautifully, beautifully warm room) he had gone a little mad, + bought his daughter a suede Afghan coat. He had also bought a train ticket, but when we told him about the cheap buses, he went straight to the stn to cancel his ticket, + get his money back. And then returned with another suede jacket, this time for himself. A very nice number – I was almost tempted to buy one myself. The 3 of us went out to dinner together – tho’ Walter, having already eaten, had only tea + dessert. Turkish food is superb, with (in the places we saw, at any rate) almost a dozen dishes on offer in hot plates, from which one can make one’s selection. Various stews, + vegetable mixtures. To this, one adds as much bread as one wants (it’s free), + in my case, I washed it down with a big glass of cheap lager. It’s not cheap, but especially in view of the quality, it’s not expensive either.
When we got back, the others went straight to bed. I had intended to sit up + write for quite a while, but after only a few minutes, my eyelids began to droop. I resisted for almost no time at all, laid down the book + slept.
As I have suggested, we were very impressed with Istanbul, still an Eastern city, but also a gateway to Europe. I have been back twice since, Val three times, visiting our daughter Lucy who was an Erasmus student there (Erasmus no more, because of Brexit – grrr!), _ I guess I was ill at the time – but that was the most special time, and the one I enjoyed the most.
We really had an enormous lot to thank Colin and Alan for, getting us all that way for virtually no money, but I don’t think we exchanged addresses or anything of the sort, and certainly have not had any contact since.
The Pudding Shop! When I was in Istanbul, I hung out there a fair amount of time, put a notice on their bulletin board, looking for travelers to share my newly bought but five-year-old VW van, and eat their delicious puddings. I found two guys wanting to go east–one, a Canadian, left us in Adana, and the other, a Texan, stayed on with me all through Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria and Lebanon–about five months in total. It was a relief because I was a little worried about driving through the Middle East as a lone woman. I’ve lost track of him, too, although we kept in touch for years. I’m glad you’re staying a couple of days there. Was the bus to Germany called the Green Turtle or something like that? I saw many of those, on their way to India, from somewhere in Europe.