Athens - Istanbul. Sunday 28th Sept, by Jim

We've been in Istanbul since Thursday, and we'recoming to the end of Ramadan - today isthe final day of fasting, and tomorrow sees the start of the festival of Eid Al Fitr (Seker bayrami in Turkish) - to mark the end of the fast. So its a pretty cool time to be in Istanbul. Over the past couple of days, more and more temporary food stalls have been set up around the Blue Mosque in Sultanahmet, and the queues have started around 6pm waiting for sundown for the fast to end. Today families and friends were all sitting in anticipation for the 7pm call to prayer to sound, and the feasting to begin. I've never seen so many doner kebab stands all set up with the elephant leg turning, and the kebab master sharpening his tools. Meanwhile in the seats through the back people are waiting with their food in front of them (not sure how they manage to abstain) There are also loads of families sitting with their picnics ready to go once the signal sounds. There is an anticipation in the air like Christmas Eve, and when the siren goes, everything stops - fairground rides, shop sellers, even the call to prayer is shortened and everyone tucks in. So we did the same, and went off to find our own kebab...

We've been in Istanbul a little longer than initially anticipated. We got here after a couple of nights in Athens where we arrived to monsoon conditions last week. It was a bit of a mission to find our Greek room that we booked, and we were soaked through once we got there. Fortunately our bags are waterproof, so all was not lost. However, the chap in the International Ticket booth at Athens station told us that due to a strike amongst Greek border officials, no international trains were running, but come back and check tomorrow if the strike had ended. The next day was glorious sunshine, and we had a great day visiting the Acropolis, the Olympic Stadium, the temple of Zeus, climbing Lycabettus Hill and wandering around the Plaka and Psiri districts. Lucy's childhood studies of Latin and ancient Greek were of no use whatsoever except for reading train destinations but she has a lovely fridge magnet of the acropolis to celebrate the visit to the classics.

The dude at the station still told us that the strike was on, and we couldnt get tickets. After much discussion over souvlaki, we decided to head North through Greece en route to Turkey and see if we could get through, otherwise we would spend the night in Thessaloniki. The train the following morning was fine - packed for the first hour meaning standing room only, but fine. We had no bother at Thessaloniki station buying an onward ticket to Istanbul - no mention of strikes, or any problems, so we were off. We had 3 hours or so wandering around the town - lots of bars, coffee shops and good looking restaurants along a crescent shaped port - could be a good place to come back to in the summer for a long weekend (it was cold and rainy during our visit!)

The Dostluk Express from Thessaloniki to Istanbul is a great adventure, We had a 2 berth cabin, with just about enough room for us and our bags. We'd stocked up on beers and picnic and at 730pm set off into the rainy dusk, and then about 30 mins later stopped. And started and stopped some more. It was slow progress, but with our bunk beds made, we slowly nodded off full of beer and tzatziki until a rap on the door at about 3am. We'd reached the frontier. It was pitch black as we handed over our passports to the Greek border official, who looked very much like he had benefitted from being on strike. Half an hour later we were off. Peering from our window, there was little to see as we left the border town of Pithion, apart from a small army barracks with a smart looking sports field. The train went over a bridge, and entered Turkey where an equally small army barracks offered shabbier sporting facilities and a couple of armed soldiers watching our train trundle along. Again the rap at the door requesting passports, we needed to get up and go to the office to buy our Visa, which was a sticker into our passports. Tired Americans, Spanish, Chinese all joined us in the wait to get the Visa, and then boarded the train once more to get out of the cold. We were soon back to sleep. The next we awoke, it was daylight outside, the Sea of Marmara was on one side, and Istanbul's suburbs with high rise apartment blocks in amongst minarets and highways on the other. We arrived about 2 hrs late tired, but pleased to be into Turkey.

Our hostel here is on a cute cobbled street in the Sultanahmet area of the Old Town - the key sites of The Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and Aya Sofia museum on our doorstep. After a coffee and a shower we hit the Palace, which even in our tired state is stunning - amazing architechture, and some great exhibits in the treasury and the costume room. We pay a bit extra to look around the Harem - the sultan's private rooms where he entertained guests, housed his wives, and even gave a bit of space to his mother. After a well-earned siesta, we were out for Kebab supper. Fabulous.

Next day we were up and out early to organise our Visa for Syria. We've not completed all the tasks set for us to achieve this next sticker in the passport - hence why we are in Istanbul longer than expected, but hopefully tomorrow we will be set. Its worth its own blog entry, so will save that, and the rest of our Turkish adventures (including a bath with Steven Seagal) for next time