Home

Late on Monday night (the 20th) we arrived home at Melbourne airport. The Qatar flights were comfortable, even though delays meant that we had a very tight connection at Doha.

So -

• we've travelled halfway across the world by train, logging over 11,200 km on the trains in about 9 days of travel
• we've travelled by plane, train, taxi, trolley-bus, tram, marshrutka (mini-bus), metro, monorail, ferry, car and foot
• we've found Lake Baikal and swum in the Black Sea
• we worked out how to explore the battlefields of the Kursk salient
• we've been to four previously "off-limits" cities - Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg, Sevastopol and Balaclava and even taken photos of Russian military installations that would once have had the secret police on our backs
• we've eaten the local cuisine of Siberia, Georgia, Russia, Crimea and the Ukraine
• we've failed to find Russian wine, but we did find and sample wine from Australia, Chile, France, Italy, South Africa, Crimea, Bulgaria, Turkey and "a melange of European countries"

Now we have to acclimatise to the cold and darkness of a Melbourne winter..........

Leaving Istanbul

Today, Sunday 19th, was our last day in Istanbul.

Topkapi Palace from the Bosphorus

This is an amazing city. It has a huge population - claimed as around 25 million (the population of Australia and NZ). For such a huge city, it all seems to work remarkably well. Sure the roads can get crowded, but it isn't gridlock and everybody handles it all with remarkable good cheer. In fact, the overwhelming impression of Turkish people is of their welcoming nature. It can be a taxi driver, a shopkeeper trying to entice you into their carpet store or restaurant, the staff at the hotel or the person on the other side of your attempt to bargain in the bazaar - invariably they have a smile and a welcoming manner and they don't hassle you.

Maiden's Tower on the Bosphorus

The core of Istanbul is the water - the Bosphorus splits the city (into Europe and Asia) and the long Golden Horn harbour further splits the European side into a northern and a southern section, with the Sea of Marmara forming a southern bound to the city (which spills around its edges). All the water is alive with shipping. Masses of ships seem parked or queued in the Sea of Marmara and a constant stream of ships threads the channel up the Bosphorus, with only about 400 or 500 metres between them. All around this, flocks of ferries dash across the Golden Horn or between Europe and Asia, with the whole organized chaos working like a well oiled machine.

As our plane left at 7:30 pm, we decided to venture to Asia on the ferry. We took a ferry to Kadikoy, about 35 minutes from the Sirecki landing near our hotel. The trip gives you a wonderful view of the busy waterways and a great view of Istanbul, particularly of the older part contaning the Topkapi, the Haya Sofia and the Blue Mosque. We wandered around Kidikoy and had a morning tea. This wasn't a tourist area - there was no English in evidence.

Sunday crowds on Istikal Caddesi

To continue, we took a further ferry back to the European side to an area north of the "new town" called Besiktas. We walked down from the landing alongside the large Dolmabahce Palace (the palace of the Sultans from the mid 1800's). Given the length of the queue, we decided to skip the tour and walked steeply uphill to Taksim at the head of Istikal Caddesi. This was heavy work in the heat and humidity, so we stopped for lunch and a beer on the terrace of a restaurant called Haci Baba. We had a tasty Ottoman meal called Lamb Tandor.

We strolled down Istikal Caddesi, which, if anything, was even more crowded than it was when we were here on Friday night. We arrived back at our hotel to drop a few things and then headed off for some last minute shopping and a final beer at our nearby rooftop terrace.

Shortly after, our taxi arrived and delivered us to the airport and our flight home via Doha. The green park strip bordering the Sea of Marmara was crowded with Istanbul families enjoying picnics and bar-b-ques.

Istanbul - Day 2

After breakfast on Saturday 18th, we set off for the Topkapi Palace, the palace of the Ottoman sultans. It was a short walk from the hotel. The day was another hot, humid day in the high 20's.

On the verandah outside the council chambers

We spent some hours exploring the Topkapi Palace, the primary palace of the Ottoman sultan from the 1450's to the early 1800's. It consists of four courtyard areas, each more private, with buildings devoted to audiences, pavilions, a circumcision room, barracks, administration and sleeping, along with a separate area reserved for the functions of the harem.

Considerable use is made of colourful glazed tiles, of painted areas and of inlays (mainly mother-of-pearl), with fountains and pools. A treasury contains stunning masses of gems and objects along with relics important to Islam (such as the rod of Moses, the sword or David or parts of the prophet's beard).

View over the Bosphorus from Topkapi Palace

Set high on a rise, the final part of the palace offers excellent views over the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn.

We stopped for lunch (the classic Middle Eastern fast food of a doner kebab) and a soft drink to relieve the impact of the heat and humidity before heading off to Beyazit Camii, a square before the great gateway to Istanbul University. A hike in the heat around the University walls brought us to Suleymaniye Camii, the grand mosque complex built by Suleyman the Magnificent in the mid 1500's (before the Blue Mosque).. Recently restored, the interior is large and full of light.

We continued to explore before walking back to the Grand Bazaar. We explored more of this maze and found a few more items to complete our shopping requirements, before taking the tram back to our hotel.

In Suleymaniye Mosque

It was "beer o'clock" so we headed down the street and up to a terrace bar overlooking the main street. As trams wizzed by beneath us and the masses strolled in the street, we had some beer and nuts.

Later we headed for our last evening meal in Istanbul. It consisted of a meze plate, followed by a dish of meat and vegetables on a heated metal plate, accompanied by a Turkish Chardonnay/Sultana. The wine was from Izmir (on the Aegean coast) and was quite refreshng.

Istanbul - Day 1

Today, Friday 17th, was our first full day in Istanbul. So, we did the tourist things.

Basilica Cistern

First was the Basilica Cistern. This is a marble-column supported underground water tank, which dates from the time of Constantine. Water was feed to it from over 19 km away by an aquaduct. The lighting is low, which creates an atmospheric space. For film buffs, this space appeared in "From Russia with Love", or, if you follow the Turkisk version, it would be "Greetings from Moscow".

Aya Sofia interior

From there, it was over the road to Hagia Sofia (or Aya Sofya), which was built on Justinian's orders in 537 and dedicated to Holy Wisdom (apparently, if you transliterate the Greek word for wisdom, you get "sofia"). Until the Muslim Conquest in 1453, it was the largest church in Christendom. Thereafter it became a mosque, until it was converted to a museum under Ataturk in the 1930's. The hulking exterior is definitely impressive, but the vast interior with its great soaring dome, wonderful spaces and remnants of splendid mosaics is superb.

Inside the Blue Mosque

Across way is the Blue Mosque (the Suntan Ahmet Mosque). Opened in 1619, it is a very large mosque that outwardly resembles Aya Sofia (though it is slightly smaller and more delicate in appearance). Inside, it is full of light with a blue glow from the tiled walls and the dome with painted blue inscriptions.

Adjacent to the Blue Mosque is the area of the ancient Hippodrome. Today it is a paved area, which contains a 3500 year-old Eqyptian column from Karnak and the remains of a 479 BC Greek bronze victory column from Dephi, in the shape of three intertwined serpents in a spiral.

We walked up the main street (Divan Yolu), avoiding the frequent trams that sped by, passing tombs and cemetries containing notables from the 19th century, until we found the column erected by Constantine in AD 330 to celebrate the dedication of the city as the capital of the Empire. History weighs on you as you walk around this city.



Ready to shop in the Grand Bazaar



History over - it was now time to venture into the Grand Bazaar, a medieval maze of thousands of shops selling everything (jewellery, carpets, textiles, leather goods, antiques). It is confusing and maniac, but great fun with the searching, bargaining and dealing done with a great spirit. We did the tourist thing - seeking, bargainning and buying, with a break for a Turkish lunch.



Finding an exit from the Bazaar, we hopped on a tram back to our hotel to deposit our bargains. Then it was back to the streets for a wander around our area. We were back to the Spice Market and around various streets in the area. Streets seemed to be given over to purposes - we found a street of wedding dresses and a street of men's cloth (and tailors). Our hotel, by the way, is in the street of automotive spare parts. We had a Turkish tea (strong tea, best taken with liberal amounts of sugar) as we wandered.



Cracking the claypot to release the Anatolian stew

Back to the hotel, we deposited our further purchases, before exiting to find dinner. We chose the restaurant directly opposite the hotel, which proved a good decision. We had beer with a meze platter (various dips and bread), followed by a Turkish cabernet sauvigon with an Anatolian stew. The stew is special - is is a mix of meats and vegetables cooked in a clay pot or urn (a bit like a clay flower vase); the meal being released by breaking the clay pot with great ceremony. It was actually very tasty and the wine was good. To finish, we were given a glass of raki, the popular Turkish spirit similar to ouzo.

To Turkey

After another excellent Londonskaya breakfast, we slowly packed and headed for Odessa airport. The "taxi" arrived and we set off. Apparently, a decaying road infrastructure and an abundance of maniacal drivers results in the Ukraine having a disproportionate road toll. We saw examples of Ukrainan driving at their best on the trip to Yalta and this final drive through Odessa ensured that we didn't forget the stylish intensity and devil-may-care approach of the best Ukrainian drivers.

At high speed, and mostly on the wrong side of the road, we arrived at Odessa airport. While there seemed to be only three flights leaving on the day, the Ukraine had deployed the full majesty of its bureaucracy. After multiple passport inspections and multiple scans of our luggage, we finally got on a plane. Turkish airlines were actually very good, with plenty of room in Economy and a good lunch (what else, turkey sandwich).

Istanbul airport is about 60 minutes outside the city. We were met by a hotel driver, who took us into town. Mostly, this was a good trip (unlike our Ukrainian experience), but the last few kilometres involved an interesting transit of a maze of very small and very packed streets, which gove us some impression of the old town.

Our hotel, the Maywood is in the old town area (Sulthanamet), very near the key sights, and where most tourists stay. The hotel is excellent; small rooms are clean and well-appointed and staff are friendly and helpful.

To acquaint ourselves with Istanbul, we headed off for a stroll. We found the seafront near the railway station, an area called Sirecki. We could see the Bosphorus on the right and the Golden Horn off to the left.was a mass of people and the water a mass of craft, particularly medium and large ferries.

Spices for sale



We had a look at the New Mosque (completed 1663) and then the Spice Bazaar. This Bazaar has vendors of all sorts, including jewellery and clothing, but with a large number of sellers of spices and of sweets. Stalls were piled with mounds of colourful spices or of various flavours of Turkish Delight.



Ferries jockey at high speed to get under the bridge



We crossed the Galata Bridge to the "new town" area of Beyoglu (whch only dates from about 1300). The bridge was lined with fisherman casting lines from long rods into the waters below. Crossing the bridge we saw the madness of ferries charging across the harbour and under the bridge, travelling at full speed and barely missing each other as then jockeyed for position. It's possible that they are driven by Ukrainians.



On the Beyoglu side, we took a funicular (the Tunel) to make the most of the climb for us and then strolled up Istiklal Caddesi. Most of Istanbul was strolling this pedestrianised street with us. Smart shops, embassies and very many restaurants line the street.

Strollers on Istiklal Caddesi

 We had a beer at one place and found another for dinner. The "mixed grill" wasn't impressive, but the tight mass of restaurants in the small side street were doing good business and enthusiastically seeking new customers.

We walked home, down the hill from Galata Tower, across the bridge and followed the tramline back to our hotel. The fishermen were still hard at work.

Odessa - Day 2

It's Wednesday 15th, and yet another morning of blue skies, low 20's and high humidity. The hotel breakfast was the best that we have had, but this isn't a high bar to exceed.



Vorontsov's Palace



First objective was an exploration of the area immediately around our hotel. At the end of Prymorsky Boulevard we found Vorontsov's Palace. Vorontsov, who owned the mush more impressive Alupka Palace near Yalta, was the third governor of the city. The palace, built in 1826, is n a fine classical style but is somewhat dilapidated and unloved and doesn't seem in use now.

Potemkin Steps

Back towards our hotel we come to the Potemkin Steps, made famous by Eisenstein's 1925 film (Battleship Potemkin). They are a broad set of steps and landings, leading down to the port area. We headed down the steps and had a look around the passenger terminal, whie surveying the port areas all around us. The port is large, with many cranes, but there seemed few ships and few cranes in operation. After that we got some exercise by walking up the steps.. The steps are designed to be wider at the base and to gradually narrow as they rise, which creates the illusion of greater height that is correct. A statue of Duc de Richelieu, the first governor, is sited at the top of the steps (which may have originally been called the Richelieu Steps).

Londonskaya Hotel

Back up on Prymorsky Boulevard, we continued to another Puskin statue and, behind it, the pink and white colonnaded City Hall.

After a brief stop to collect our beach gear, it was off to the beach at Arcadia. This beach area is about 8 km outside the CBD. We took the option used by the locals to get there - firstly a mini-bus (called a marshrutka) to cross the CBD, followed by a tram. The marshrutka was jam-packed and cost about 33 cents. The tram was a longer ride, but cost only 12.5 cents. Given that the trams are crowded and were last serviced before the revolution, they probably make a profit.

Arcadia beach

The trip to Arcadia is along a tree-lined boulevard. Fences, parks and homes of the well-to-do of tsarist times line this road, varously converted to kindergartens, parks or sanitoriums. The end of the line, Arcadia, announces itself by the numbers of high-rise holiday accomodation blocks (a sort of mini Gold Coast look). A stroll through an arcade of stalls and outdoor restaurants gets you to the water (almost). Much of the beach area seems given over to private clubs (mainly dance clubs, which apparently are very polular at night), with only small sections being publically accessible.

We found a section of beach and appropriated a small segment of sand. Russians of all sizes and shapes packed the sand, basking in the sun, much like a sea lion colony. We had to try the water, so we committed oursleves to the ewaters of the Black Sea. t was all rather like Port Phillip Bay - reasonable water (you can't see the e.coli) and cool without being freezing.

Pryvoz Market

We had a bite and a beer on the stroll back from the beach to the return tram, which was much less crowded than the one that brought us here. The tram dropped us near the train station, which is adjacent to a market called Pryvoz. This is a large market, spread over about six blocks, selling everything - textiles, hardware, fruit, vegetables, spices, meat and fish and everything else besides. We wandered around, before catching a trolley bus back downtown.

The trolleybus stopped beside a place called "Murphy's Irish Pub", which we took as a sign from the gods. We alighted and went in search of Murphy. After a drink, we walked the short distance back to our hotel, though it did involve another hike up the Potempkin Steps.

Building on vul Gogolya

We cooled off and dropped our beach kit. We set off in search of Odessa architecture, which meant a walk along Prymorsky Boulevard to Vorontsov's Palace and across Tyoshchyn Most (means Mother-in-Laws Bridge - reputedly built by a 50's party apparatchnik to ensure his mother-in-law could get home and not have to stay over). This got us to vul Gogolya, which has a number of interesting buildings.

We checked the local mall (Galereya Afina before finding a nice bar on City Garden for a beer and a snack.Following more walking, we landed at a Steakhouse on Derybasovskka for a  meal. It was really very good, if expensive by Ukrainian standards - chateaubriand, wild boar steak and a very acceptable Odessa Cabernet.

We continued to walk down Derybasovskka till we found Mick O'Neill Irish Pub. An Irish Apple Pie, a Jamieson and a Black Russian made a fine experience. We were proud to have found two Irish pubs in the one day.

This was our last day in Odessa. Tomorrow, we are off to Turkey.

Odessa - Day 1

Our last train at Odessa station

At about 8:30 our train pulled ito Odessa Station; the end of this line. It's also the end of our train travels. We've come about 11,000 km fom Vadivostok, which surely would qualify for steak knifes if Russia Rail had a frequent miles program. That's nine nights of travel and a small quantity of vodka, beer, "wine" and packet noodles.

We soon found our hotel, but, as this is a class establishment, check-in isn't until 2 pm. Leaving our bags, we set off to explore Odessa. Firstly, we looked for breakfast. While restaurants are abundant, most seemed to be busy cleaning up from the night before. We found a Japanese place that offered breakfast. It took some time to arrive (we probably had to wait for the chef to come in), but it was otherwise fine.

The city is about 200 years old, founded by Catherine the Great (or maybe Potemkin or one of his lieutenants, depending on your historical religion) in the late 18th century. The city was occupied during the GPW, but wasn't trashed. This means that most bulding seem to date from the late 19th centrury to the 1930's - solid piles built to display the wealth and pride of their owners. The streets are not wide, but are generally lined with what look like plane trees and are therefore quite attractive.

Odessa Opera House

The Opera House is a beautiful building, built by the Austrian architects of the Vienna Opera in the 1880's. We called in and picked up some tickets for tonight's performance, which cost us about A$18 each.

Our stroll continued. The city is fairly compact, so that while there is much to admire with the buildings, avenues and parks, it doesn't actually take a long time to feel that you have seen the city.

The city gradually got moving, so that by lunch time there was reasonable life in the streets. We had lunch at one of the many sidewalk restaurants - borsh tfollowed by a meat roll. By now, it was check-in time, so we headed back to the Londonskaya hotel.

Pushkin lived here for two years - hence the statue

This is one of the old and grand hotels of Odessa. It is on Prymorska Boulevard, a short distance from the top of the famous Potemkin Steps (which area  broad set of steps and landings leading down to the waterfront port area). The hotel is reminescent of Melbourne's Windsor and has been well cared for. Our room proved to be the best of the trip - a spacious portico, with an adjoining bathroom, with double doors to a large space, with two queen beds, belle epoque chandelier and wall lights, high ceilings and a number of dark wooden tables, desks and cabinets, looking out at the trees of Prymorska Boulevard.

In the evening, we put on our best travelling kit and headed for the opera. The opera tonight is Pagliacci. While it is commonly partnered on the bill with Cavalleria Rusticana, tonight it was the whole bill. This means that we have a short night, or that it takes longer to sing in Ukrainian.

Gilt on the boxes at Odessa Opera House

As it happens, it is great night at the opera, with the opera sung in Italian (with Unrainian surtitles). The Italian name, Pagliacci, is transliterated into Russian as something rather like Payatsi, which then appears on the English translation of the playlist as Paytsy, which all, sort of, makes sense if you listen to the sounds only. If the Opera House is a beautiful building outside, it is magnificent inside. Years of renovations have brought back all the original glory. Sparking marble, crisp white plaster, wonderful space, ranks of boxes and the most opulent gilt everywhere makes the interior very special. After the building, the music was very good and the opera enjoyable (but not great).

At the conclusion, about 8:40 pm, we headed off for dinner. We found a Ukrainian restaurant, where we had dishes like salmon caviar, borsh and vareniki (the Ukrainian version of pelmeni), with a good Moldovan chardonnay.