Heavy snow had been falling all night and the 15
cm cover of snow made our little cobbled street into a playground for all
ages. The shopkeepers, who are unlikely to have many customers today,
were building snowmen and sweeping the pavements. A delivery truck with
chains on tyres made it up the hill but a hopeful taxi didn't and had to
slither back down the slope with its passengers yet to reach their
destinations.
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| Our street, snow covered and no vehicle tracks at 9.30 in the morning! |
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| Building a snow man! |
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| The head is the tricky part |
The kids couldn't wait to build a snowman and it
was so much fun! Then, when we were getting cold, we could just head back
inside and warm ourselves. So much better than yesterday when everyone
got so wet and cold.
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| So much joy! |
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| Luke posed like this on headless statues in temples, so thought it would be a good idea here! |
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| The local shop keepers had no likely customers so kept themselves busy! |
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| They were pretty proud of their snow man! |
The battle getting Luke to do any school work
escalated to a newer level and it was soul destroying to spend so long with
such resistance and refusal to write anything. I had thought the nice mum
approach with snow play beforehand would set us up for a good school day but I
was wrong. So frustrating to the point I had to go out for a walk to get
away from him. A completely wasted morning when we could be exploring
Istanbul in the snow.
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| For you, Uncle Bruce...a hand stand! |
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| Of course you shake a tree with snow on it! |
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| From our 5th floor apartment |
The heavy snow continued, sometimes sleet, sometimes flakes
and sometimes “polystyrene balls” (not quite hail). From slush to ice and back to white
wonderland in half an hour. I was really
keen to have an excursion of sorts today after all we are in Istanbul and snow
shouldn’t stop us!
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| Karl and Luke having a snowball fight! |
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| Snowy handbags for sale! |
We decided on the Galata Tower which dominates the landscape
from many angles so we were keen to see it. The Galata Tower or Great Bastion
(Byzantines) or Jesus Tower (Genoese) is ancient. Its first foundation was laid in 548. It is 140 metres high and its walls are 3.75
metres thick! Today, its ancient walls were
flanked by snow and it looked even more regal! It was just two Metro stops away
and the afternoon had cleared and there was even a bit of blue sky to see.
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| Near Galata Tower...Christmassy |
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| Quirky quaintness |
We must have looked
bewildered when we got off the train and were trying to decide which exit to
take. Sometimes you take three
escalators to ground level and which exit you choose makes a big difference. We
were kindly directed by some Americans working in Istanbul who were going to
their friends’ house which had heating!
How can you survive here without heating in this weather?! The narrow streets were so quaint and so
European. This area seemed to be the
arty music part of the old city. We
found the tower and carefully went up the snowy marble (slippery) steps to the
entrance.
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| Galata Tower |
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| Snow covered roofs of Istanbul |
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| The stark whiteness made everything so clean! |
Karl didn’t want to pay the 25 Lira entrance fee so opted
not to go up the tower. Conversely, the
kids and I couldn’t wait, so we went up.
When we reached the upper level and balcony we were nearly blown away by
the icy wind and walking on the slippery tiles so high was nerve wracking. What a view!!
We took some fantastic photos of the snow covered roofs of Istanbul – so
pretty. Some people had even built
snowmen on their roof tops! We saw the
bridge over the Bosphorus which joins Europe and Asia just before the next snow
clouds came over and blocked the view completely. Snow stung our faces as it was whipped up horizontally
by the wind. We looked like snow men
ourselves in no time.
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| The Bosphorus |
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| Mighty bridge connecting Europe to Asia |
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| Tim asked to play a guitar - he is missing his instrument |
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| Tram from Taksim...and the snow kept falling |
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| Want to BE a snowman (lady)? |
We walked back to the Metro through the old town which was
re
ally so magical.
It is hard to imagine
summer crowds and tourists when it is quiet and lovely to wander around at the
moment.
The locals are all loving the
unexpected snow, too.
It all looks so
pretty.
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| Metro art |
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| More Metro art |
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| Buskers' stand. We heard a haunting piano accordian in the subway - magnificent |
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| How his fingers worked in the cold was a mystery! |
Our bakery treat for the day was sade (flaky pastry with
icing sugar), su borgesi (savoury flaky pastry with mild feta custardy filling)
and pide (bready pizza with sliced meat - probably not pork!). I am always keen to try new foods in a new
country and mostly we enjoy them!! When
it is so cold outside, bakery treats are even more rewarding.
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| Miaow..."all I want is a room somewhere...." |
Our internet issues continue and have been really a nuisance
here. It is now 2245 hours and we are
still waiting for the host to provide some more wi fi. It is most annoying. We will have the chance to report all this
trouble on our review but that doesn’t help at the moment!
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