Day 3 - Istanbul

Woke up around 07:00, then climbed up about 100 steps to the roof for breakfast. Now, when I'm at home I have toast or cereal for breakfast, but at a hotel toast and cereal is just a starter - I'm having everything. There was bread and several types of cheese, fruit, some kind of tinned meat which I decided to avoid, yoghurt, roasted vegetables, olives and juice. A pretty good spread. Filled up and headed out. Weather was overcast again and a bit chilly, definitely jacket weather. Walked up the road but didn't get very far because we saw what looked like a decent cafe so stopped for a coffee. The coffee was OK, and it was also a patisserie and had lots of tempting danishes and cakes. It was just as well that we'd had breakfast otherwise I would have had something. Maybe tomorrow.
Walked up the road about 500 metres and towards the Blue Mosque, as we got closer we were accosted by touts offering hats, tours, carpets, tickets, guides etc. We see this everywhere and they are for the most part polite and don't push it once they realise we're not interested, and they're only trying to make a living so I don't mind.
Since the mosque is still in use, it closes to tourists for prayers, but we had plenty of time. We had to take our shoes off and Song had to wear a headscarf. There was a small queue but we were in quickly. Most of the mosque was sectioned off, so there wasn't a lot to see, except for the domed ceiling, which was spectacular. There was a large central dome and two smaller ones coming off it. All were painted in blue with Islamic symbols. The floor was completely covered with a red carpet. We didn't spend too long there since most of the area was closed. Oh, and surprisingly it was free.
Since we finished earlier than expected we decided to go to the other major attraction, the Hagia Sophia.
There was a bit of a queue for this, but we only had to wait about 10 minutes. This is no longer a mosque, but was turned into a museum in 1935 so we didn't need to take our shoes off this time. The building was built in 537, and was more impressive than the other mosque in my opinion, at least in the inside. Unfortunately they were doing some renovations so there was scaffolding against one side, but we've seen this at a few places before and it's inevitable really.
This is the third building I can remember we've been in that started life as a mosque, got remodelled into a Christian Church and then back to a mosque again depending on who was around at the time. We spent quite a while there, there was also an upstairs bit, and took lots of photos.
Left the mosque and sat on a bench in the park to decide what to do next. The sun was out, the Blue Mosque was to the right , the Hagia Sophia to the left , a fountain in front of us and people milling around. We sat there for a while to take it all in. Decided it was shopping time, so walked to the Grand Bazaar. This is basically the Chadstone of the ancient world - something like 3000 shops. It only took about 15 minutes which was just as well because it was shut, it being Sunday and I hadn't read the guide book. So we hopped on a tram and went across the river to another part of the city but with no real plans except to get something to eat. By now the sun had come out and it was warm, but with a chilly wind.
Got off the tram and walked up the world's steepest hill and came upon the Galata Tower. I was about to go up it but was still recovering from the hill, plus there was a big queue. So off we went to look for a restaurant from the lonely planet book. The map in the book wasn't very good and we couldn't find the one we were looking for, and another one from the book didn't exist any more so we  just picked a place that had people in and looked ok. I don't think I've been to a city that has so many restaurants - almost every building on this street was a restaurant, and it was the same for where we ate last night. You'll never go hungry in Istanbul.
The meal was good - we had a selection of meze, or cold starters; hummus, tzatziki, a green vegetable and marinated fish bits. Song had a mixture of fish for main and I had Grilled sea bass.
Waddled up the road and found what must be the main shopping street in Istanbul - Istikal Avenue. It was packed. Hundreds of thousands of people just walking up and down, so we joined them.
After a while we turned round and walked back down the steep hill, jumped on the tram again and staggered back to the hotel.
Tomorrow we're going back to the Grand Bazaar for a few hours so we can actually get to see inside.
I'm wearing a fitbit flex tracker, and apparently we walked 13.6 Km today.

Day 2 - Istanbul

Istanbul was Constantinople, now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople.
And that song has been in my head for the last few days.
The flight from Dubai to Istanbul was only 4 hours and so watched a few Tv shows I'd downloaded and before we knew it were off the plane and into a huge queue for passport control - but the queue moved constantly and didn't take too long.
Relieved to see our luggage got through all the way from Melbourne , and walked past 2 disinterested customs officers and out of the airport into a fog of cigarette smoke.
Hopped in a taxi after checking how much he thought it would cost and headed to the hotel.
If you're ever bored with your life and yearn for some excitement all you need to do to add some spice is get into a taxi in a country like Turkey or Morroco and head downtown in rush hour. Last year in Marrekech the traffic lights were optional, in Istanbul it seems like the lanes are. As far as I could tell there were 2 lanes according to the painted lines, but the traffic managed to squeeze 3 or 4 abreast. I have to say they were all excellent judges of the dimensions of their cars because I was sure that there was no way they could get through a gap but they did. I think my right foot was pressing on an imaginary brake pedal more than the actual driver's. At one stage he took a short cut through the forecourt of a service station and rejoined the traffic queue a few cars in front. And went the wrong way up a one way street. He had trouble finding the hotel but it wasn't his fault, it was in a maze of streets that was full of hotels and restaurants and ours was one of scores in the area. Got there in the end, the room was small but the location ideal. Unpacked then checked Tripadvisor for a decent restaurant and found that the second most popular one in Istanbul was round the corner so went there. The service was very good but then again there is a lot of competition - every restaurant has someone outside asking you to look at the menu or to take a seat, it was like Lygon street on steroids.
We ordered a meze plate to share, which is a selection of dips and some Turkish bread. This was good. The menu catered for tourists with the option of burgers and pizza, but I ordered from the Turkish section and picked something that sounded traditional. Song wasn't hungry so didn't order a main. My meal came and it was basically an average tasting beef stew on a bed of mashed potatoes. It wasn't bad, just a bit disappointing because I was looking forward to a different meal than what I could get at home.
The weather was overcast, around 18c so not too bad, and I took a jacket but was just wearing a t shirt and it was warm enough.
We walked around for a bit and found a Bazaar, which I thought was a bit strange but spelt different. There were lots of jewellery shops and carpet shops, and other Tourist fare. We didn't buy anything, it's only the second day of the holiday and we don't usually buy that sort of stuff. The only thing that has become a bit of a tradition is to get a fridge magnet from the places we stop.
Carried on walking, plenty of tourists around because the mosques are here.
We came across a restaurant where there was a traditional band playing and a whirling dervish was doing his thing. He kept it up for quite a while before stopping. Then he was just a dervish so we lost interest.
Walked 10 minutes back to the hotel, watched a bit of Tv then slept.
Tomorrow is the first full day of the holiday, up to now has been travelling, and we're off to see the sights.

I know it's amazing, but air travel isn't pleasant

Got to the airport with some time to spare - asked for an aisle seat but all had been pre booked, it seems now that this is the norm, and of course the airline charge for it. So Song was sat next to the window and I was in the middle, next to an old fat lady.
Plane left on time, an Airbus A380, was comfortable and the in flight entertainment really good. I caught up on some old films - The Truman Show, Master and Commander (then realised both are Peter Weir films), and Moneyball.
Also listened to some old albums, created a playlist of REM, Paul Simon, The Beatles and about 5 others, a total of about 4 and a half hours, closed my eyes and slept on and off.

There was not one screaming baby on the flight. Nope, there were 4 in my immediate vicinity. I'm sure my name is flagged by the airlines - I know they have a "no fly" list and they must also have a "screaming baby" list with my name at the top. I think they were timed so that when one needed a rest from annoying me another one was ready to take over. I usually have noise cancelling earphones but they need replacing so I thought I'd wait till I got here to see if they were cheaper. Big mistake.
On top of this the lady next to me was deaf and had the volume turned up on her earphones so I had to listen to her music as well as mine. She was also a grumpy cow and protested when we had to get up to go to the toilet. I don't think 4 times in 13.5 hours was excessive.
Our bags were checked through to Istanbul (hopefully) so we passed through immigration and customs and found an office for the hotel open (which was good considering it was around midnight) and they had a car laid on. The hotel was only 5 minutes from the airport, checked in and passed out.

Tomorrow's The Day

Just a quick post - we fly out tomorrow on Qantas flight 9, Melbourne (duh) to Dubai. You can track it live here: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/QFA9

It leaves (hopefully) at 16:15 and we arrive in Dubai at around 23:25 local time, all going well. Please keep an eye on it and if the flight disappears from the screen give Tony Abbott a ring.

I probably won't post from Dubai, we land, go to a hotel, sleep, then fly to Istanbul at 11:20 in the morning - track that flight here: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/UAE123

We spend a few days in Dubai on the way back where we can see the sights and do some shopping.

I may not be able to post in Istanbul since it seems the PM is slowly banning the Internet, but I think I'll be able to work around it.

We didn't pick the best time to go to Istanbul or Russia....

When we were planning our trip little did we know:

Riots in Instabul over corruption
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26103295

We're due to stay there for 4 days from April 5th.

And then there's this:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26407604

We're due to fly out of Moscow on May 3rd with a transfer at Kiev airport. Assuming it's still there and not a bomb crater.

We're looking at changing the flight to go direct from Moscow to Dubai, although events may mean the airline does that anyway.

Gearing up for the next trip

We're off again soon (April 4th), so starting to get ready. Song has done all the hard work and booked everything.

This is the map of the cities we're visiting this time : https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zFOQcp3y-D78.kpTPzAx6kAXc

Getting the Russian Visa was fun, it's a web-based application that goes on for about 10 pages and asks pertinent questions like the names of your parents, whether you've done any military service and your previous job. It also wants to know all of the countries you've visited in the last 10 years. We cheated and only put in the countries that we had stamps for in our passports.

So, I'll be updating this when we're on the road, hopefully each day, with pictures of what we've seen, food we've eaten, and what we've experienced.

First stop, Dubai....watch this space.

This is the last day of last year's Trip

Day 33 - Hong Kong

Woke up with a cold, hope it goes before the flight home, air travel is uncomfortable enough.

Caught the bus then the tram to Causeway Bay and wandered around the shops. I had priced Ipads and cameras just to compare - turns out that cameras like Nikon and Canon DSLRs are quite a bit cheaper in Australia. Ipads are about $30 - $50 cheaper here depending on the model, but I don't need one anyway. I don't think Hong Kong is the shopping destination it used to be.

Had a very average lunch, then Song went back to the hotel to meet a friend she used to go to school with, and I stayed in the city for a while just wandering.

Since there was nothing I needed to buy I got a bit bored so went back to the hotel and watched TV. I've been to Hong Kong a few times so have done all the touristy stuff like the Peak Tram.

Headed out to another restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel - another 3 Michelin hat one. This was a chinese restaurant and we had lots of shared dishes - roast duck, pork belly, prawns, Wagyu beef etc. Very good, but not as good as Caprice.

Didn't have room for dessert so skipped that and went back to the hotel.

We fly out at 20:30 tomorrow so will spend the day in Kowloon, shopping (don't think we'll be buying anything though).

This may be the last post - we fly direct to Melbourne, arriving around 07:00 on Wednesday morning. It's Qantas flight 30, leaving Hong Kong at around 20:30 Tuesday night Hong Kong time if you want to track it.

Tune in next year for more exciting adventures of Andy and Song where we hope to visit Istanbul (not Constantinople), Prague, Bucharest, Warsaw and some other East European cities we haven't decided on yet.

Day 32 - Macau

Breakfast at 09:00 after a good night's sleep. The hotel is used for training, and it's really a 5 star hotel but the prices are low because of this, plus it's a bit out of the main area. All the staff are over-courteous, saying "good morning" whenever you pass, rushing to open the doors and even pressing the lift button for you. It's good though.

Decided to go to Macau for the day, we have a friend with us who has come over for the same trade show as Song and he hasn't been for 15 years. The ferry only took an hour. The weather was warm, muggy and overcast. We would have a good view from the hotel if we could see anything.

Macau is basically a casino town - gambling in China and Hong Kong is illegal (except for horses) so they all go to Macau. It is also an old Portugese colony, and it was interesting to see the similarities with Portugal, in particular the cobblestone paths were the same.

It was also very busy, hordes of people around. We visited a couple of the sights, but there isn't a lot, plus we'd been there in 2007 and seen them. Had lunch, nothing special.

We also had a look in a casino - if you've been in Crown you've probably seen the same thing.

As we were taking pictures outside, a well-dressed couple approached Song and started to talk to her - I thought they wanted her to take their picture or something, but they said they'd lost all their money at the Casino and would she lend them some so they could eat.

Yeah, right.

Got the bus to the ferry and got back to the hotel around 22:00, didn't bother with dinner.

Shopping tomorrow, although probably won't buy anything, there's nothing we need.

Day 31 continued - Hong Kong

As usual, didn't sleep much on the plane, just an hour or 2. Song met me at the train station at Hong Kong, then to the hotel. Watched TV for a while then out to Caprice, a restaurant at The Four Seasons Hotel. Voted the best restaurant in Hong Kong by Trip Advisor, and holder of 3 Michelin hats.

Probably the best meal I've ever had. It's difficult to describe how good it was so I won't try, I'll just list what we had; I had fois gras terrine to start, it was 3 small cylinders of different fois gras with perfectly toasted bread. Song also had fois gras but hers was a different arrangement and I was too busy enjoying mine to notice too much about hers.

I had lamb for main, different cuts and again I can't do it justice if I try to describe it - but it was cooked perfectly and was fantastic. It came with croquettes that were also superb. Song had Sea Bass, for about the 5th time this trip.

For dessert I had Dulche Leche which I couldn't pronounce and didn't know what it meant but it had the word "chocolate" in the description so I knew I couldn't go wrong. It was also delicious. Song had a sorbet arrangement.

They had also brought us some petits fours and other mini-courses between our order. It was really good, easily the best food experience.

Feeling very full, got a taxi back to the hotel. I hadn't slept much in the previous 30 hours or so and slept through till 08:30 the next morning.

Day 30 and 31 - Nice to Hong Kong

Left the hotel at 09:30, it had rained overnight and was a bit cool but still ok for a t shirt. Left my bags there and went for breakfast.

There was a museum just round the corner from the hotel which would kill some time so I had a look around that.

I always like to get to places early, especially airports, and without Song I got on the bus very early. I'd rather be at the airport with 2 hours to spare than in a taxi stuck in a traffic jam with 15 minutes to go.

That was it for the day - airport (Nice), plane, airport (Heathrow), plane, airport (Hong Kong), train, taxi, hotel.

Day 29 - Monaco

Out at 09:30, walked to the train station again and this time there were lots of trains on the board to Monaco so bought a return ticket. Hopefully they don't decide to strike this afternoon. Didn't stop for breakfast, hoped I could afford one in Monaco without having to win at the casino.

Weather was cloudy but warm.

I hopped on the first train to Monaco and it stopped at every station, but that was Ok - the train followed the coast and the views were spectacular. Lots of small villages on the sea.

Journey only took 20 minutes, came out of the station in front of the first corner of the grand prix track. The preparations for the gp are well under way, even though it's not for another month. In fact, almost everything is obscured by the fences and stands.

Stopped for a coffee and croissant, everyone was looking at me. I suppose the tuxedo was overdoing it but I've seen Casino Royale and I thought that's what you wear in Monaco.

Followed the signs to the Jardin Exotique which is a cactus garden on the hill. Because it is on the hill it meant lots of stairs. Luckily there were public lifts which surprisingly didn't double as public toilets.

Walked around the gardens for about 40 minutes, was on my way out when I saw a sign for the grotto tour. Luckily the tour started in 10 minutes so I waited.

It was 300 steps down (and therefore 300 back up). It was basically a cave with lots of stalactites and stalacmites, and was worth the steps.

Finished in the garden and walked off back down only to lose my way. Monaco is built on the side of a hill and there are steps every where, plus private entrances to flats so even if you know the way to go you can't get there. It was quite humid as well which didn't help.

I got on a bus.

Got off when I saw some restaurants, pizza time again. The restaurant had the world's most uncomfortable chairs but at least I didn't have to go up any steps.

The pizza was huge but all the climbing had made me hungry.

Walked about a bit, hoping to find a rich, terminally ill widow, but no luck so thought to go back to the station and Nice.

Got to the station and saw a lot of people walking up the other hill, so even though I was tired thought I wouldn't be back here for a while so followed, going to the Casino.

Luckily it wasn't far, and I took some photos of the Casino, the Hotel de Paris and the Cafe de Paris.

There were a lot of rich people around, you could tell them apart - they were very well groomed and were carrying shopping bags and not backpacks and cameras. But are they really happy with their multi millions, yachts, helicopters, private jets, Ferraris and multiple homes? Probably.

Walked back down the hill to the station and back to Nice.

Didn't go straight back to the hotel, decided it was beer o'clock, so stopped off at a cafe on the main street and watched the world go by.

Feeling pretty shattered, went back to the hotel and relaxed.

Turning homeward tomorrow, meeting Song in Hong Kong for a few days then back home, holiday nearly over.