Stand strong with your elbows out.

Saturday 3rd May – Istanbul

Today was quite full on and an experience.

Let me tell you about Sono…

Our itinerary was the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia Mosque and the Hagia Sophie Interactive Museum so we set off, took a wrong turn (yes, I was in charge of directions) but found our way to the main area. I left Glenys catching her breath and I walked up the hill to check out the ticket situation. A lovely chap (I can say that now I’m over 60) called out a “hello can I help you” and I said “all good, just looking for my friend”. When we recommenced our journey up the hill there he was again. “Found her!” I said, with a little cheery wave. There’s my first mistake. Anyway Sono (“I have a Turkish carpet business”) escorted us to the entrance but then insisted he take us to the Blue Mosque gates, chatting about wanting to be a tour guide as we walked. Eventually Glenys and I both said we didn’t need a tour guide and can’t afford you anyway. “I do for free!” He exclaimed. How do you politely say “nothing is free”?

Anyway he seemed happy enough telling us some history and we eventually managed to get away from him without offending him.

The crowds were insane. I have never seen so many tourists in one place. Most people, old and young, ignored Glenys’s walking stick. Naturally I adopted the “if you want me to move you’ll have to make me” stance perfected over many years of karate training. This is where the title of this post comes in – a tactic I learned from my instructor many years ago and one I have used quite often.

We started in the Hagia Sophia Mosque interactive museum which was very interesting. It wasn’t really “Interactive” but the graphics of the building, destruction and rebuild were very good. The best part was at the end of the visit when we walked through corridors of artifacts and a collection of amazing calligraphy.

Next was to see the Blue Mosque which was lovely, grand and imposing. Unfortunately there is a lot of renovation going on so the front area wasn’t shown to its best. Lots of rubble, no garden and no water feature. However, it was an experience being there and I’m glad we got to see it.

Once through the arch that leads to the Blue Mosque entrance we were stopped by a very well dressed man who wanted to make sure I had a scarf (I did). “This is my part time job”, he said. “My other job is a Turkish carpet business”. “We’ve just met your brother”, I said.

After the Blue Mosque visit we decided to go to the Hagia Sophia Mosque and who should come up the hill towards us but Sono. At this point I felt he may have accessed my phone and was tracking me, so uncanny was his knack in turning up exactly where we were. He insisted on us visiting his shop so we could witness the glory of his carpets. We met 2 of his cousins and had to sit through a long winded explanation of carpet design and construction. Sono worked very hard to sell us a Turkish carpet but I wouldn’t budge. As we were leaving his shop he tried to sell us a Turkish carpet mouse pad. 🙄

Returned to the hotel and managed to get a photo of the Blue Mosque….again

See you!