Dont try this at home - Happy Christmas !

Happy Christmas everyone. This clip is the most watched video this Christmas on youtube.....nearly 700,000 views and increasing fast .....enjoy


For those who like rock and roll, here's a treat from George Thorogood and the Destroyers.

Run up to Christmas

After a busy weekend catching up with J’s family, I drove down to Southampton to see Mother and help her get ready for her Grand Christmas tour of the family ….W & D in Ilford, my 60th Birthday lunch in Bristol and 5 days in Eire …..not bad for an 86 year old. Then on to Plymouth for a couple of days, seeing my ex wife and step-daughter, and a nice birthday meal with my son L.

Back to Bristol Thursday morning, and then drove to Lower Brails in the Cotswolds to see the charismatic Mike Sanchez and the Portions in the evening. Check out Mike Sanchez' web site , and click the arrow on the video clip of Mike last year.....a cross between Elvis and the Big Bopper !!

Home and what we missed

Friday 15^th December

Home today, and caught the airport shuttle from the Hotel at 9.00 am. Got to airport on the asian side of the city about 10.00 am, in good time for our flight @ 13.40 pm. Unfortunately the flight was delayed by 3 ½ hours with a fuel system fault. As the pilot said when apologising for the delay, “its better to be late in this world than arrive early in the next……” very true I guess.

Arrived about 8.00 pm local time to a dark and rainy Luton, and drove back to Bristol, arriving home about 11.00 pm…….a very long day !

In the time we lost, we could have seen the Topkapi Palace , so here is a video clip. I guess we’ll have to do it next time !!

Guided Tour of Istanbul

We had a lazy tourist day, taking a guided tour of some bits of the City we were’nt likely to find by ourselves. There were only 2 other tourists on the minibus…..a couple of women (an Italian married to an Austrian living in Brazil, and her friend was a Swede, and they talked in Portuguese), who kicked up a fuss because the tour was 1 minute late starting.

Did the Spice Market again……bought 4 kilos of Turkish Delight, and then did the a walking tour of Beyoglu, taking in the Galata Tower, old tram running down a pedestrianised street as wide as Oxford Street, the Ataturk suspension bridge linking Europe with Asia …..great views, and a long river trip.

Another Mosque and Palace

Wednesday dawned clear and sunny. Took advantage of the weather for pics of Blue Mosque and walked to Suleymaniye Camii via University of Istanbul.

Suleymaniye Camii dominates the Goldern Horn and is a landmark for the whole city. It was commissioned by the greatest and richest and most powerful of the Ottoman sultans, Suleyman the Magnificent (1520-66), and was the 4^th imperial mosque built in Istanbul. Although not the largest, it is the grandest, similar in size to the Blue Mosque.There were very few tourists, and we had the place to ourselves.

On to the Spice Bazaar…..a smaller version of the Grand Bazaar selling …..err...... spices of course…..and then walked across the Galata Bridge crowded with fishermen catching sprats from the Bosphorus. We had lunch of the aforesaid sprats on the Beyoglu side, in a sort of shack with open air tables…..quite delicious.

Caught a tram to the Dolmabahce Palace , which was stunning ….see the youtube video clip. Lonely Planet does not rate this for some reason, but the Palace and grounds are stunning, and the Ceremonial Hall with a dome of mosque-like proportions had a wow factor that did stun us in to silence …….re earlier quote. The chandalier weighs 4.5 tons (8,500 kilograms), and has 7,000 bulbs, so it is only lit for special ceremonial occassions. Apparently, it was lit for Sean Connery recently when he visited Istanbul. The room isn’t even mentioned in Lonely Planet, so god knows what planet they are living on. Click on arrow for video clip.

Birthday Meal

Finding a restaurant for my birthday meal was equally trying, having to run the gauntlet of charming young men standing outside their establishments, imploring us to go in, begging us to try their menus. We eventually decided on one particular restaurant, and went back to the hotel to change. Back out for dinner, and were seduced by another restaurant tout who promised a wonderful meal with a heated terrace with views of the Blue Mosque. In the event, the meal was unremarkable and very expensive…….we should have gone to our original choice.

picture awaited