Day 55 Troy and Assos
In which Sid and Doris cross the Dardanelles, see Troy, sneak a lift a few miles south and find a ‘new’ ferry to Lesbos.
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Category: EuroEpic19
Day 54 Eceabat and Gallipoli
In which Sid and Doris evade Istanbul traffic with their very own trip to Gallipoli.
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Mosaics and museums and me
As I mentioned, I got a bit philosophical while cycling across the Danube plain, and I decided it was time to focus on something other than war. 1. Mosaics I have always been fascinated by mosaics. I had “Mini Mosaic” as a child, fun to make the mosaics but a terrible challenge to prise the little tiles out of the…
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More poetry
The mosaics in the Chora church were really fantastic and inspired Doris to Poesy: I am a Pasha With a hat I wear my turban Just like that Some people say That it’s too fat But I am THE Pasha And this is MY hat.
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Interview with Sid and Doris after Phase 1
Q: So the Epic Journey to Istanbul has delivered! What changes did you make as you went along? Doris: I think we became a little more fixated on Istanbul as a destination as we went on, and that straightened the route out and that meant less sightseeing. We didn’t go to some bits of Bulgaria and Romania that we originally…
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Day 53 Sightseeing in Istanbul
In which Sid and Doris go to the Topkapi Palace; after several trips to Istanbul this is apparently their first time
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Scheduled Route Re-Plan #2
The Epic Journey was originally conceived of in three parts, adding up to 16 weeks plus a bit in the UK to get home from the ferry: 1. An outward leg to somewhere Epic 2. A slower bit with some free time taking ferries across to Greece and Italy and having some chill-out time en route, eating leetle feeshes in…
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Day 52 On holiday in Istanbul
In which Sid and Doris visit the Rahmi Koc collection of almost everything Rahmi Koc is the main shareholder of Koc Holdings which is the largest company in Turkey. They own Tofas (see Posts passim), they build Ford trucks, they build the Army’s tanks, they own the biggest electrical goods business. Rahmi is a collector with means, which means he…
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Balconies
“This is my flat. It is part of a larger house. When the house was built nobody had balconies. Now we all have balconies, and mine is very traditional, with windows and wooden walls. People point to my balcony and say ‘That balcony will soon fall off the building’. I know they are just jealous.”
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What do you think about when not cycling?
1. Domes “We in Turkey love domes. We can make any building shape you like out of domes. We make big ones then smaller ones round the edge, then smaller ones to fill in the bits. Some people build their religious buildings with sloping roofs with straight edges but they are wrong, and we must kill them. Other people build…
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