We made it. The planes were still flying, though we got a bit buffeted. The incoming flight from Athens was running a bit late, so we left about 20 minutes after our scheduled time which cut our transfer time at Athens airport down to 40 minutes. Given that we were transferring from a domestic flight to an international flight, and therefore had to work out our gate, change terminals, go through passport control and security checks, and make it to the bus in time was a tad stressful.
However we ran the length of the airport, and the gate staff sighed when we turned up. Another two from our Santorini flight had the same challenge, and also turned up not long after. Goodness knows how our bags were going to get from one side of the airport to the other in that time, but God bless the baggage handlers – they did.
So our flight to Istanbul was only delayed (by us) for a few minutes, and we were away. Seems that the pilot had a hot date lined up in Istanbul, and went flat out. The poor flight attendants were running up and down the aisles trying to serve breakfast. Everybody had their meal, but the drinks cart was only half way down the plane when the announcement came over to put your tray tables up as we were preparing for landing. The pilot put the nose down and sprinted for Istanbul. I can’t remember a sharper descent. The flight attendants had their professional smiles plastered on their faces, but their eyes told a different story as they struggled to get the drinks cart back up the aisle and secured. Never did get a drink.
So I guess we made our assigned landing slot, and lo and behold we arrived in Istanbul 15 minutes early, and the pilot, one George Papadopolous, got to his date on time. Not bad making up 20 minutes in a 65 minute flight while flying into force 9 gale winds.
Enough of that. Our leather seated transfer car was waiting for us, and soon we were at our apartment in Istanbul. What a contrast. Yesterday we were in brilliant sunshine with lots of bikini clad women wearing blue and white striped sundresses while enjoying a cool drink overlooking the sparkling Aegean. Today it’s grey, cold and raining, with people in jackets and coats dodging puddles and avoiding speeding taxis while they huddle in the coffee shops.
Byzantine. Constantinople. Istanbul. Whatever it’s called today, it’s had a very long history. Whereas many of the other European countries have only been independent countries for 20 or 30 years, or have had their borders significantly redrawn after the two world wars, Turkey has been a country and a power for over 1500 years. At the height of the Ottoman Empire they ruled a significant proportion of the world.
The guy who shaped modern day Turkey, and turned it from an Islamic kingdom to a modern republic was Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who is greatly revered. He was born in 1881 in Salonika (now Thessaloniki) in what was then the Ottoman Empire. When Atatürk was 12, he was sent to military school and then to the military academy in Istanbul, graduating in 1905. Rising quickly through the ranks, Kemal was in Gallipoli in 1915 as commander of the 19th Division, the main reserve of the Turkish Fifth Army, and was thus on hand to oppose the Anzac landing in April. His superb grasp of strategy and ability to inspire his troops by his reckless bravery in action boosted Turkish morale and proved decisive in thwarting allied plans. By 1918 Kemal was at the head of the whole Seventh Army in Palestine during the final allied offensive which saw Turkey finally defeated.
In May 1919, Atatürk began a nationalist revolution in Anatolia, organising resistance to the peace settlement imposed on Turkey by the victorious Allies, and resisting Greek attempts to seize Smyrna and its hinterland. Victory over the Greeks enabled him to secure revision of the peace settlement in the Treaty of Lausanne.
In 1921, Atatürk established a provisional government in Ankara. The following year the Ottoman Sultan was kicked out, and in 1923 Turkey became a secular republic with Atatürk as its president. He established a single party regime that lasted almost without interruption until 1945.
He launched a programme of revolutionary social and political reform to modernise Turkey. These reforms included the emancipation of women, the abolition of all Islamic institutions and the introduction of Western legal codes, dress, calendar and alphabet, replacing the Arabic script with a Latin one. Abroad he pursued a policy of neutrality, establishing friendly relations with Turkey’s neighbours. In 1935, when surnames were introduced in Turkey, he was given the name Atatürk, meaning ‘Father of the Turks’, which nobody else is allowed.
Late afternoon we joined a walking tour of the ‘new’ town – a free tour with a minimum tip of 10 euros! Four hours well spent visiting Taksim Square, wandering down Istiklal Street, viewing the Galata Tower, then taking a ferry ride to Asian side where we wandered through the Kadikoy Food Market and sampled lots of the foods. Finally took a ferry and a tram back to the apartment, and fell into bed after a huge day.
Our Limo Transfer
Istiklal Street
Amre
Making the pastries
Market
Galatia Tower
Kadikoy Market
Kadikoy Market
Fish Market
Kumbarachi Suites
Kumbaraci Suites