Istanbul - 1st impressions

A lot has changed in the last 35 years. In 1980 it was the tail end of the hippie trail and Turkey was an exotic blend of East & West. Accommodation was basic, & the power & water only worked for a few hours each day. Incredible mosques everywhere you look, with stunning skylines, & the haunting calls of muezzins calling the faithful to prayer.

Well the mosques are still there, & they looked amazing tonight lit up in the sky.  You can still hear the calls, & see the black clad women in the streets. And we even had black tea today in little glasses with sugar cubes. But we also did a tram ride through the 'new city' that almost would have passed for Newmarket, and the boats selling fresh fish sandwiches off the wharf are not small fishing boats where the smiling fisherman cooks you fresh mackerel in a wok on the back of his boat, but glitzy pontoons with charcoal burners & fancy awnings with lots of seating.

Obviously nothing stays the same, & that's what we came to see.

We ate doner kebab from a humongous spit, & had an eastern Mediterranean feast for breakfast.  We wandered the old town, and caught trams and fununculars, and side stepped a million people.  The houses and gardens look well kept, and the whole place more prosperous. Otherwise not much looked familiar.

But then we saw 'The Pudding Shop' - a cafe/restaurant that's been going since the 60's - and still there. We used to eat & hangout at Lale's pudding shop, and met many interesting characters there - including a gurner from England. One of the waiters has been there since 1979!  Of course the place looks nothing the same (though they do have a lot of memorabilia), so now we've been wracking our brains to bring up old memories.