Among the masses at the mosques

 Thursday 12 September

A good old "eyes bigger than my belly" breakfast in the hotel before meeting with our guide, Gokce. The single room deprivation scenario rumbled on through the day with some help from her - eventually my room was made into a twin as there was no room at the inn for Dee. I managed to negotiate a refund for the single supplement paid after to and fro on WhatsApp with the tour company whenever I got access to WiFi (including, most unexpectedly, during a visit to Hagia Sofia, a Christian church turned into a mosque with elements of both religions displayed on the walls and ceilings.)

Our tour group is thankfully a tiny group of ten, nice enough, all English-speaking people but I don't think we're about to make new friends for life (they make me feel at bit racy in comparison). 

We all crammed on to a tram for three stops and spent the morning at the Topkapi Palace, my favourite place of the day today (not least because I wasn't required to wear a headscarf). There's a lot to see, including some magnificent jewellery, costumes, and inevitably beautiful tiles and fountains, and the Harem is a fascinating, intiricate building with what seems to be an endless maze of rooms. 

We moved on in the midday sun to Hagia Sofia, where non-Muslims are restricted to the "mixed" upper gallery and where all women have to cover their heads, legs and shoulders. 

The frescoes are beautiful in a faded kind of way, and imho demonstrate far more artistry than the Christian mosaics - but if you ever read my blog about the mosque/church in Cordoba from my visit there last year, you'll know my opinion on Islamic vs Christian art! There were many men particiapting in the lunchtime prayers beneath us - it just felt a bit surreal being among masses of tourists snapping away and watching them kneel and pray from above. 

We then found a little outdoor cafe for some lunch and with the help of WiFi I continued my battle with EE concerning my non-existent roaming, again struggling to make them understand via messaging what the problem was and that I didn't need to be told for the nth time what calls were going to cost me which was pretty redundant information for someone not actually connected to a phone network. Eventually it was resolved by a helpful person who actually read what I wrote and 24 hours later, hey presto I was connected.

After lunch we headed for the Blue Mosque, again a small group among many - not sure I've ever felt quite such a tourist since visiting the Vatican. Once again, on with the headscarf and this time off with the shoes which are not permitted to touch the carpet. Again, swarms of people taking selfies and pictures of the beautiful blue tiles, columns, vaulted arches and stained glass felt incongruous and somewhat intrusive while a number of Muslim ladies were trying to focus on their prayers behind a very low screen.

We then visit the site of the Roman Hippodrome nearby - so nothing Roman to be seen, you just have to imagine the shape of the race track, and there are various obelisks down the centre of "the spine". 

We head wearily back to the hotel on packed tram, where we then moved Dee's stuff into my room where a nice complimentary fruit plate was waiting for us thanksverymuch. 

We wash and brush up out for dinner and after much toing and froing (if you've got no mobile roaming data because it's hideously expensive to use Google maps outside Europe), we find the elusive restaurant at top of a building containing a very downmarket shopping centre (almost dragged in by a little man touting outside, who found himself unexpectedly pushing at an open door). It has nice little terrace, with basic but good food despite my misgivings about a menu with photos. We were very intrigued by a serves two casserole that arrived at the next table which was actually on fire - it made crepe suzette look like a slight smoulder.  Again, wine's a small fortune so we stick with Efes beer which has the advantage of filling me up more quickly. 

We go back to hotel, take a quick squiz at the spa which I resolve to visit next week when we return for a night as it will be mainly free. We chat up the hotel clerk to ensure good rooms on that return, with Dee achieving an upgrade by saying she's providing positive feedback about the very sweet young man with the almost-perfect self-taught English. It's an early night for an early start with an 8am departure.