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Some travel experiences are good; others are character-building. Istanbul to Goreme by overnight bus is a very popular trip in Turkey. It’s just that, when you buy your ticket, there are many factors beyond your control. We knew that our seats, second from the back of the bus, would be poor. Travelling behind the rear axle, no matter how big the bus, can never be recommended.

Everyone was out for a fish, dropping over the side of the bridge (past the restaurants on the bottom deck) and reeling in little biters that looked to my untrained eyes like a cross between a pilchard and and a mackeral. A bucketload of these 12 centimetre whoppers and you’d have enough for a family feed.

Day 43: It’s a short boat ride from Istanbul up to the Black Sea via the Bosphorus Strait and a popular and inexpensive day trip.
We clambered on board the ferry at Eminonou at about 9.45am for 10.30am departure. Getting there early was important to ensure that we had a seat on the deck with […]

Not quite knowing what to expect we opted for the Cemberlitas Hamam, one of Istanbul’s oldest public bathhouses, just up the tramline from Sultanahmet and as tourist-friendly as they come. Many hamams open for men and women on different days; at Cemberlitas we were both able to visit together as the bath offered separate areas for men and women.

With assistance we produced some really tasty dishes including red lentil and burghul soup, green beans in olive oil, roasted eggplant puree in a bechamel sauce, zucchini and white cheese fritters and semolina cakes soaked in a delicious sugar syrup.

Some buildings are so old, so beautiful and so steeped in history that they make you gasp. Aya Sophia (also known as Haghia Sophia or Aya Sofya) is one of them. Aya Sophia makes the Blue Mosque across the way look like a new kid on the block. The Blue Mosque was built by Sultan Ahmet in the early 17th century; Aya Sophia dates back, incredibly, to the reign of Emperor Justinian and was completed in 537.

Imagine my pleasure when, during a visit to Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace, we came across this exhibition of Ottoman megakitchenware. The dutch ovens of the Ottoman feast preparation scene, these super saucepans were big enough to crawl inside.

Topkapi Palace occupies a prominent spot on the headland at Sultanahmet, with views over the beginning of the Bosphorus Strait. It is an enormous palace complex, with a series of gates that lead from one courtyard to the next, built by Mehmet the Conqueror in the 15th century.