Istanbul is the perfect blend of European, Middle Eastern and even Asian culture. It is a huge cosmopolitan city of more than 13 million people that straddles two continents Europe and Asia and retains a lot of its’ old world flavour. For western tourists afraid to venture to far outside their comfort zones, Istanbul may be one of the best places to visit. There are two main areas where tourists stay; Sultanahmet and Beyoglu (Taksim). I chose the latter and was glad I did. While Sultanahmet has most of Istanbul’s main tourist attractions, you can’t beat Beyogolu for its’ energy day and night, its’ shopping and the diversity. The main street that cuts through the area is Istiklal Caddesi, a wide pedestrian only street with a streetcar track running down the centre. Here you will find everything from Benetton and The Gap to small family run shops that have been in the same location for generations. There are hundreds of places to eat, you can grab a doner or Kafte (meatball) sandwich or sit down and enjoy an expensive meal at a 5 star restaurant. Of course there are the usual McDonalds, Burger Kings, and Pizza Huts but why would you eat there when there are so many amazing foods to sample. Don’t forget the sweets too.  On a hot day there’s nothing like a scoop (or two) of Turkish ice cream, served up by a unique brand of street performers that will spin their meter long scoops. The ice cream is more like a gelato so it is very slow melting.  And you can’t leave Turkey without experiencing Turkish Delight (or any of the other sweet confections), nothing like the candy bar sold in the west, sometimes combined with Pistachios or other nuts or dried fruit.

It’s also easy to get around; an LRT network, buses, taxis, a few operating trams (streetcars), even a funicular. On my first day exploring I used the hop-on hop-off double decker bus, the same as the ones in New York, London, Paris Barcelona, Toronto, and dozens of other cities around the world. They give you the chance to get your bearings, figure out where the key attractions are with a running commentary (in several languages) about the highlights and history. You can also hop-off at any time to explore and then hop back on to go to the next attraction. I tried to see as much as I could, and among the highlights for me were a visit to the beautiful Blue Mosque (I was shocked to see women inside without head coverings – Haram (or sin) in most mosques, especially those in the Middle East. When I asked one of the workers about it, he just shook his head and said ‘what can we do?’ While I’m certainly not religious I always respect the local customs. Tourists have a responsibility to follow the rules and remember that they are guests).  Enough of my rant.  The Mosque itself is massive and exquisitly constructed with inlaid marble everywhere, and beautiful painted vaulted ceilings.

I also toured Topkapi Palace, a massive Ottoman palace built for the sultans and their family.  As you enter you might think you are entering the Magic Kingdom at Disneyland, but this is the real thing.    You can wander through the Harem and some of the royal apartments.  Of course my favourite part was the Imperial Treasury, and apparently everyone elses too… it definately had the longest lineups. It is full of the clothing, thrones, the spoils of war and best of all the spectacular jewels and gold. The most famous by far, is the Topkaki Dagger, gold and covered in diamonds and other gemstones including 3 huge emeralds and topped by a golden watch hidden under an emerald lid. It’s also home to the Kasikci (or Spoonmaker’s) Diamond, the fourth largest in the world at 86 carats. It’s said to have been discovered in a trash pile, believed to be crystal but when it was discovered to be a diamond the Sultan had it confiscated. It is set in silver and surrounded by 49 more diamonds. It is spectacular to see, unfortunately no cameras are allowed inside the treasury so you’ll just have to see the picture through this link.

As I mentioned you can’t beat Istanbul for shopping and the ‘Mecca’ for shop-a-holics has to be the Grand Bazaar, one of the largest and oldest in the world. It actually covers 58 covered streets with more than 4 thousand shops that attract as many as one million visitors a day. If you can’t find what you are looking for in the bazaar or on the very busy shops all around it, chances are it doesn’t exist. It isn’t cheap though, while bargains can be found, prices are just as high in the bazaar as anywhere else in Istanbul. I spoke with one shop owner who had four shops selling ceramics and dishes and he told me he bought his one shop 4 years ago for 3million Turkish Lira (more than $1.8million USD) but he claims that he pulls in an average of 20,000Euro or $26,000USD every day, from just the one shop. There are dozens of jewellery stores, many side by side trying to woo customers in for that one big sale, you can also buy gold bullion if you are more interested in the investment. There are also numerous shops selling lamps, t-shirts, trinkets and souvenirs, candy stores selling the famous Turkish Delight, as well as clothing stores, cookware and glassware shops and an entire section devoted to leather and pelts, just about anything you could imagine.

I also checked out Aya Sophia (or Hagia Sophia), first an Orthodox Basilica, then a Mosque and now a tourist attraction. While it is beautiful, the stone work and mosaics are breathtaking, I felt a little let down. I had heard how it was spectacular and a must-see but I was a little underwhelmed, maybe I’m just a little jaded after seeing so many Mosques, Churches and  Cathedrals, this just kind of combined them all in one place.

A couple of other sites to check out, if you have time; the Basilica Cistern, not what you might think, yes there is a giant pool of water down in the bowels of the earth, and yes there are fish in it (but you have to look closely) but it looks like a Cathedral inside with all the carved pillars and the coloured lights. There are two pillars, with bases of the head of Medusa on its’ side or upside down that have been coloured by centuries of algae growth. Also check out Galata Tower, a massive stone tower with a circle staircase and a view at the top that is the best in all of Istanbul (you can even eat and drink at the top).

And if you feel like I do after a day of touring around I felt like I needed some personal attention so I stopped off at the Galatasaray Hamam in Beyoglu, just off Istiklal Caddesi. Visiting a hamam is definitely one of the things you MUST do when you visit Turkey and it was everything I expected. I entered the reception area and booked myself in for ‘the works’; massage, head massage, skin abrasion and of course… the bath. I was led into a small ’cabana’ that had a single bed in it, but I wouldn’t be resting. I was told to undress (completely) and wrap a cotton wrap around me (like an Indian Lungi or an Indonesian Sarong) and slip on the sandals that were provided. So far so good, I could do that. I emerged from my cabana ready for my massage… until I saw the huge man that was going to be giving it to me. He led me into the main room that was a large room with a big marble slab in the centre. He put down a pillow for my head and another cotton sheet and told me to lie down… and then he left. It was hot… I mean really really hot and humid. It was like a steamroom, on a low setting because it wasn’t hot enough for steam but it was still very hot. I laid down and relaxed staring up at the big domed ceiling and the dozens of little skylights that brought in extra light. But the heat was taking its’ toll and after about 15 minutes of waiting I went back to the reception area and asked for some water… I was absolutely drenched in sweat. There was only one other man in there at the time but he didn’t seem to be sweating as much as I was. I downed a full bottle of water and laid back down waiting for the masseur to make an appearance. After another 10 minutes or so he came into the room and told me to follow him. We went out to another room with a smaller marble slab and he told me to lie down. First he soaped me up, head to toe, and then he started working me over. It was the most intense massage I have ever had… I really couldn’t call it a massage it was more like he was just trying to hurt me. At one point I actually grunted a loud ‘ahhhhhhh’ and not from pleasure but from pain. I was told I should have a woman do the massage since they are not as rough, but I wasn’t given the choice. I grinned and bared it for the 10 minutes or so while it lasted. He then told me to get up and follow him into another smaller room that was surrounded by several large sinks. He told me to sit down on the marble floor and he proceeded to pour hot water all over me. He then took a stick that had a bunch of fabric strips that he dipped in soapy water and then slathered all over me. When he did my face I couldn’t breathe, I was choking on the soapy water, so he started pouring more water over me, which only made it worse, I was sputtering trying to catch my breath. Then came the loofah mitt which he scrubbed me down with, very roughly… I’m sure he took off the top layer of skin (is that what’s supposed to happen?). Soaped me up again and rinsed me off… and that was it. It was all over in about a half hour. He led me over to another man who had a bunch of towels which he dried me off with and then wrapped me up, one around my waist, another around my upper body and a third which he tied on my head like a turban. He then led me back out to the reception area where he told me to have a seat and a cup of apple tea. That was actually the most relaxing part of the adventure. After getting dressed I decided to walk back to my hotel, but if you know Istanbul, it is a city of hills and stairs and every step I took was painful. My calf muscles felt like rocks, like I had just run a marathon and every step caused more pain. By the time I made it back to my hotel I was absolutely exhausted so I decided to have a short nap before heading out to Camlica hill on the Asian side, where you can see the whole city and watch the sun set. Unfortunately my short nap turned into a few hours and I awoke at 7:45pm. The sun was already setting and I realized I had missed my opportunity. As I looked out the window I could see it was a spectacular sunset too… so I grabbed my camera and headed to a nearby vantage point… a car park (that smelled like urine). Instead of my plan to watch the sunset at one of Istanbul’s best vantage points I was trying to take photos from a parking lot. Still the sunset was spectacular (one of the best I have ever witnessed) and I’m glad I got a chance to see it. Since it was my last full day in Istanbul I vowed to come back again and make it up to Camlica Hill and to see more of the city. Until then I have my photos to remind me of the spectacular beauty of Istanbul.

What is there not to love about Capri? It is a beautiful island gem off the south-western Italian coast that was the playground of the Roman Emperors of the past and the rich and famous today.  It has the natural beauty of rugged cliffs that surround much of the island, the famous blue grotto and the deep blue sea dotted with more yachts than I have encountered anywhere.  It reminds me of the images of have of the French Riviera with expensive villas hugging the mountain sides, rugged terrain and winding mountain roads with switchbacks and huge drop-offs sure to give your heart a workout.  Some of the tourists on the bus we were riding were gasping and yelping as we approached another bus or car and would have to squeeze past on the narrow roads. When we reached Anacapri though, the view of the harbour, the mountains and the sea were breathtaking.  We wandered the cobblestone streets, had lunch and then headed back down the mountain to the town of Capri for more shopping and sightseeing.

Capri is well known for its Limoncello, lemon soaps and candies, tea, lemonade, just about anything and everything to do with lemons. There are more shops selling lemon based souvenirs than t-shirts.

My main purpose of going to Capri was to visit the legendary Blue Grotto also known as the Blue Cathedral. You can only visit though when the tides and the weather cooperate because of the low entrance into the grotto. You board one of the speed boats at the Capri’s Marine Grande harbour and make your way past majestic yachts dotting the coast.  The water is already a deep blue – it amazes me how the sea changes colour simply based on its’ depth and the colour of the sky, from the pastel tourquoise tones of the shallow lagoons and shorelines to an almost black shade of blue farther off the coast.  As you approach the grotto boats throttle down to minimize waves, which can send the rowboats crashing into the sides of the cliffs.  There are several other tour boats lined up, each with 25-75 people on board all wanting to board one of the dozen or so rowboats that seat just two to four people to take you inside the grotto. As we waited we witnessed a few nasty exchanges between the boat captains and the rowboat pilots, but the only Italian words I understand are swear words and those took on new meaning when I heard them thrown out during a heated argument.  As you board the rowboat, you move yourself into position by laying low,  lower than the highest point on the boat.  I was in a boat with 3 women and we were all bent up, flat on our backs and squished together as we ducked to cross the 1.5 meter threshold through the rocks.  The man at the helm grabs onto a rope and actually pulls us inside along with the waves giving us a final push into the grotto.  Once inside I expected to be awestruck but it’s basically just a large cave made famous as a swimming hole and bath house for royalty. It gets its’ blue colour naturally from the sunlight that shines from the entrance and from a second hole below the surface that reflects up through the seawater creating a brilliant blue hue. It must have been magical when it was first discovered but now with the boisterous cheers and singing from the groups of noisy tourists, the grotto’s romantic symbolism was lost.  We spent about 5 minutes inside taking photos (with all the tourists inside it was like a paparazzi convention) before we had to duck down again to ride the tide back through the grotto entrance. All totalled we waited about an hour for our 5 minute experience but some of the groups that lined up after us had a two hour wait ahead of them, so one little tip is to arrive early in the day.  Again there is no guarantee that you will be able to get inside the grotto, if the tide is high or rough weather causes big waves, you will be out of luck.  One other possibility is to join some of the locals who swim or dive through the Blue Grotto around 6pm when the tour boats have gone home, but again be careful it can be very dangerous and most experts suggest you bring a local with you who can better guage the conditions.

The first thing that struck me about Naples is what a modern city it is. After travelling through Italy for almost 2 weeks I had spent most of my time wandering through ancient cobblestone streets and visiting Historic buildings. As you drive through the lush farmland you suddenly see the city’s skyline off in the distance.  Of course as I got closer to street level I discovered the history of this 3000 year old city, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.  It was a stark contrast among the stalled traffic as drivers made their way past the ancient fort near the coast. As we wandered through the history of the city; the main square framed by the colonnade, the church of San Francesco di Paola, the opera house and municipal government offices.  When we arrived there was a small protest of workers demanding jobs, but as we got closer to the Galleria, an even larger group of noisy demonstrators went past on their way to join the protest over unemployment.  They all want jobs but this was just an ongoing reminder about the problems this city faces.  Just weeks before I arrived, Naples was hit with a lengthy and divisive garbage strike.  The city also has the reputation as one of the highest crime areas in all of Italy. I had heard the warnings ‘leave your valuables on the bus’ although I had also heard about one woman who lost 600Euros that she left in a bag on the bus, so take that for what it’s worth.  I asked one of my guides about it and why our group didn’t get ‘the warning’.  He kind of brushed it off saying that we should ‘always be careful with your valuables’ which he  announced to the whole group.  It’s always a good idea to keep an eye on your things and to be careful in any city and I didn’t see any trouble when I was there so I don’t know how much of the warning is a myth or a reality.  Still Napoli is a beautiful, modern city with a spectacular port where I saw the largest ship I have ever seen. It stood almost 12 stories high and I had to ask if it was a ship or a building.

But Naples was just my jumping off point before heading to Pompeii.  I had studied the ancient city at various times during my school years, buried and preserved under the lava from Mount Vesuvius in 79AD, discovered 17 hundred years later.  Turns out it wasn’t buried under lava but under tonnes of ash and rocks thrown during the eruption. And the bodies that were ‘preserved’ were actually plaster casts made by the indentations left by their bodies.  Still the half dozen or so  figures are an eerie archive that puts a human face to this historic natural disaster that occurred almost 2 millenia ago.  They were captured huddled over, with their hands over their mouths just as you would expect.  What is surprising is to learn it was a city of about 25,000 at the time of the eruption and that while 2 to 3 thousand people died, most managed to escape.  You also visit the brothels (the most popular tourist site), obvious by the phallic symbols on the building or on the street outside, and the erotic artwork (at least by ancient standards) left behind on the stone walls inside.  Our guide told me there were 18 brothels and 22 bakeries in the city at the time, giving some insight into the day to day priorities.  After a sweltering few hours exploring the ruins I headed to Sorrento for the night before my trip to Capri.
I had met up with another solo traveller on my Neopolitan tour. Lisa is a young Aussie travelling around for 3 months, but not your typical backpacker often staying in very nice hotels.  We hit it off and made plans to meet later to attend a local performance.  I had a meal deal with my room so I dined in the hotel but there was a problem with my attire. I wasn’t prepared for more than hiking around the ruins of Pompeii and maybe the beach in Capri so I didn’t even have a pair of long pants with me.  I had to (sheepishly) ask the maitre’d if he would allow me to dine in my knee length cargo shorts.  He said ‘of course’ and led me to a table on the patio where I had a front row seat to a spectacular sunset with Mount Vesuvius and the lights of Napoli off in the distance.  The food was the best I had eaten on my trip through Italy.  A mushroom risotto starter followed by turkey escalopes on a light and fluffy polenta and finished off with a coffee mousse.  After dinner I wandered to the nearby town square to meet up with Lisa.  We got our ‘squares’ mixed up but met up anyway and headed over to the theatre for the show.  It basically tells the story of Sorrento in an operetta format, through the songs made famous in the city; O Solo Mio; Faniculi, Fanicula, as well as several others. I also got to see them dance the famous ‘Tarantella’.  This wasn’t your concert style level of opera, but it was well done, very entertaining and everyone had a lot of fun.

I bid farewell to Sorrento the next morning but not before making a promise to return one day… soon.