RTW to no-where in particular

[RooFlyer]

After a few minutes a FA looked out and looked very surprised to see a bunch of people looking hopefully up at her! We boarded the B787-800, DOH-IST (abt 3.5 hrs) and I settled into 2E. The overhead bins are pretty small. the ones above the windows took 'normal sized' carry-ons, but wouldn't take the maxis that some people carry. The ones over the centre are tiny - good for a jacket but that's about all.



Like some SQ cabins, front row would be much better if you had to overnight - a wide foot-cubby.



Warm nuts and a drink after leveling-off - I chose spicy tomato juice (at 8am), but full range of drinks on offer .



Breakfast choice was Arabic. It was just OK (just plain).



Like I've said before, the mountains in eastern Turkey are spectacular, especially in winter:





I'm not sure about that dog-leg over eastern Turkey; I didn't notice it. This time we tracked up over Iran, which frankly I'm, more comfortable with as opposed to Iraq. Iran are allies with Qatar.



We landed about on time, then faffed around the taxi-ways, eventually coming to a gate near the end of one of the piers. New IST is huge. A very long walk down the pier (helped by I think 6-7 travelators)



Then down a level and more long walking to immigration:



No assistance with what queue to join, but 'Other nationalities' seemed a good bet. Went straight up to an immigration officer with my eVisa, no probs and through. More walking and travelators to the baggage hall (huge!!) with lots of duty free shops in and about the carousels (Sydney and Melbourne obviously have a lot to learn, here!! ). This doesn't do it justice -try to see how far down it goes; and I'm about 6 carousels in.



Through the green lane, out to land-side. Eventually found ATMs right down to the right as you exit; then a taxi from the rank - again, very straighforward.

New fanging freeways through the countryside; hit a bit of traffic in the city (travelling between about 12:30 and 1:30pm) and at my hotel in about 50 mins - impressive, considering. 145 TL, (A$36) which was about what I was expecting. I paid cash, but CC available.

 

[RooFlyer]

Part of the new freeway joining IST to Istanbul.



My hotel for 3 nights was Hotel DeCamondo:



... also known as 'The Wings DeCamondo, but they don't use Wings in their web site etc. I'd thoroughly recommend it. Its a newly converted merchant's house - of the Camondo family, who were bankers - its the 'Banking district' of Istanbul. You'd call it a 'boutique' hotel - very helpful staff and good facilities, with the exception that their air-con is central, so it was in 'Winter' mode and the room was a bit warm for me.







I've been to Istanbul twice before. This was enforced overnight transit stop due to the connection times of my flight to Malta, but, except for the need to get a Turkey eVisa (and cost), I didn't mind. It would be nice to just walk around and enjoy the city without the need to dash to see the sights.

The outside; there is a really nice coffee shop at street level. Its 10 mins walk (down steps and then walk under the main road)) to the Karakoy tram stop (unfortunately, 15 mins walk up steps to get back!).



I decided to get a hamman and decided on Cagalogu, in Sultanahmet . I got an Istanbul card and took the tram. Going in, it was like checking in to a 5 star hotel.





Great treatment; sauna, scrub (on the big marble slab!), 'bubble massage', foot massage and tea. 75 mins, I think A$160.

Refreshed, I went for a walk around and saw some familiar sights:





After a lot more walking, it was back to the hotel.

 

[RooFlyer]

I tried to get a reservation for a restaurant in Karakoy that I missed out on last time but it was again fully booked. The hotel suggested 'Merver' on the rooftop of the Novotel in Karakoy. Funnily enough, I stayed there once before, but it had just opened and the restaurant wasn't there then.



Great views, but it was a bit misty. There is a nw Peninsula Hotel being built on the waterfront - that will be spectacular when it opens.



Menus:





It ended up too dark to take pics and I didn't want to use a flash, so take my word for it, it was all really good.

I had a rotten night's sleep, but I wanted to re-visit the Hagia Sophia, so I forced myself out the door, after breakfast on the rooftop of the hotel; it was inside, but would be good views on a nice day. That's the Peninsula under construction, again.






Down some steps built by the Camondo family so they could get to work quicker ...



The banker's district; Banker's Street:

 

[RooFlyer]

The Hagia Sophia. One of my favourite monuments. Finished about 537 and built by Byzantine emperor Justinian I, its served as a Christian cathedral, then an Ottoman mosque and is now classified as a museum. Most of all, it has survived the various earthquakes that have occurred in the past 1,500 years! It was the world's largest cathedral of 1,000 years, up to about 1500. This time I was early and was able to wander around undisturbed by the tour groups.

I was hoping the renovations that were going on when I last visited 4 years ago were finished - but no; in fact they were extended to the LH upper floor which when i was here last, was sagging dangerously .





The place where the Holy Roman emperors were crowned:









The ramp up to the upper gallery, in my opinion the highlight of the place. The place is enormous:

 

[RooFlyer]

On the upper gallery are some wonderful relic mosaics from the Christian era that escaped the 'remodeling' done by the Ottomans.

From the 13th century, Christ, John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary:





From the 11th century, Christ, Emperor Constantine IX on the left and Empress Zoe on the right; the latter 2 donating money for the Hagia Sophia:







From the 12th Century, another set of Emperors etc giving money for the Cathedral





And of course, as you leave, the mosaic missed by most, as its above and behind you as you leave. 10th Century, Emperor Constantine (founder of Constantinople) presenting the Madonna with a model of it.

 

[RooFlyer]

It was cold and windy when I got out and I was feeling a bit crook through the lack of sleep. I kept going, wandering about the Hippodrome and its various ancient monuments:







Nah, this wasn't going to work. I had to retreat back to the hotel. But there are always some nice buildings to photograph:





Honestly, you can't go past the Spice (Egyptian) market, so i stopped off the tram and went in. There wasn't many people there, so I couldn't take any surreptitious photos of the colorful stalls (and I couldn't be bothered getting into conversations about buying if I just stood there and took photographs directly). SO just some general shots.





I staggered back to the hotel, not feeling well, from tiredness; my plane was departing in about 5 hours, so too early to go to the airport (at least I thought), so I hung about and had a hot chocolate and bided my time.

 

[RooFlyer]

Hotel called a yellow taxi for me; this time, leaving the inner city at 1pm, it took 50 minutes to the airport new IST and cost 135 TL (A$33).



I learned later that doors 1 and 2 are domestic; doors 3 and 4 are international, including business, except for TK business; door 5 is TK business; doors 6 and 7 I'm not sure - maybe not in use yet? I went into door 3 first, seeing 'fast track' - which I could use if I was Business on another airline, but the lady directed me to door 5. So I had to go outside and walk around - not allowed to cut through the inside of the terminal.



At least TKWIA . This place makes HKG look small.



As you go in, all your bags are X-rayed in bulk, except for lap-tops that have to come out. Then to the business check-ins which are like first class on many airlines - seats and comfy arrangements. Not flight specific, so I could have checked in earlier than the 3.5 hrs I had.





Then, through security. I was asked to turn my lap-top on. Then immigration - no queues. Then into the concourse. Its H-U-U-U-G-G-E-E-





I looked for the TK business lounge and eventually found it - bizarrely, you have to walk back towards level with probably door 2 or 3 before turning left to find the escalators up. The lounge, is, of course, massive too; that;s OK, I have hours Here's a plan:

 

[RooFlyer]

The Business lounge is, of course, quite OTT. The basics are:

* Entry by scanning BP and electronic gates - no talking your way in!
* There are lockers. So you can stow your stuff and go explore
* Maybe 8 or so 'kitchen stations' where they are freshly preparing ranges of Turkish and other cuisine - from kebabs and pizza-like pita, to noodles, soup etc. A salad bar, several sweets stations ... really, you could have 5 meals here and not visit the same cooking station twice.
* Lots of different sitting zones, dining areas etc.
* A row of beds/couches ... these face over the concourse, so would be pretty noisy. They didn't look very comfortable.
* Booze. this is the bad part. I eventually noticed a number of discretely parked trolleys with bottles of wine on them. And later, a place where the spirits were. But all verfy discrete. The range didn't look bad, though.

Entry:



General areas:







Cooking stations: You help yourself to what's just been cooked:





Salad bar:



Lockers:

:

And, oh, the shame! One of the wine trolleys (others had whites on ice as well):



Sleeping areas - just curtained off, with fronts overlooking the concourse:

 

[RooFlyer]

To finish:

Sweets stations:



Another booze cart captured:



Yogurt drink 'off the wood':



Various coffees:



... and the gents washbasins, with lovely bunch of roses. Note that its virtually one piece of marble ... or at least one piece re-assembled.



Don't buy duty free here. I priced some Aplle AirPod Pros and the price was about 40% more than Australian retail ...

 

[RooFlyer]

Edit: just fixed photos.

My gate was the other end of the universe, so I hiked across to it. This is what happens when the flying bit is an afterthought to the duty free.





TK 1371, IST-MLA; a B737-800, scheduled a bit over 2 hours, which just about takes care of the time zone. We'll cut across Greece



4 rows of 2-2 Business recliners (not Euro business, thank god). 4 pax in the cabin.





PDB was this rather nice raspberry 'fruit drink', with a packet of nuts.



Hmmmm ... why would you put a fuel tank farm right beside a runway at a brand new airport?



Menus:

 

[RooFlyer]

And then it got a bit odd. I asked what the wines were. The FA, who to be honest was VERY young and I doubt had ever had a cigarette, let alone sniffed any booze was completely flummoxed as he tried to describe them. This was OK, considering the airline, so after he said something that sounded reasonable in the white department, I said OK.

Goodness! This is what came out:





I haven't seen little bottles like that in International since ... 1990s?? What's your recollection?

Dinner came out all at once, except main, on a tray



The entree was nice; the main (third choice - ravioli) was ... OK



I had the memory or thought that TK Business catering was very good, or exceptional. Where did i get that idea? This was quite ordinary. I guess TK would call it a 'regional product' but it was a bit of a disappointment.

The sun set as we passed over the Aegean and Greece:





And we landed at Malta International (MLA) about on time.



A surprisingly small airport. No air-bridges that I could see. I was first off the plane, so easily through immigration (no Visa). Got my bags, got a pre-paid taxi ticket at the counter by the exit door (17 Euros fixed price to Valletta - cheaper than what the guide books say). Hit the road to town. I'm in Malta! A new country for me.

 

[VPS]

Not sure if it's just me but I can't see any photos for the last two posts

 

[Major]

Same here

 

[Antoallison]

Not sure if it's just me but I can't see any photos for the last two posts

Me neither !

 

[ellen10]

Ah I thought it was my internet. I can't see the photos either.

 

[RooFlyer]

Fixed ... sorry.

 

[Julesmac]

By this time I decided to hit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which I had never visited, and the Guggenheim which was another 30-years-ago visit. Maybe get a bit more of Central Park. So I had to forego a visit to Trump Tower (sorry @Cruiser Elite) and get the subway up to 86th Street.

The Met building is enormous - couldn't fit all the front in a frame:

View attachment 206655

Great Hall:

View attachment 206656

It costs $20 (IIRC) to get in - for some reason I wasn't expecting that. Use the self-serve machines on the right as you go in - no queuing ... as opposed to the ticket counters which was a zoo.

I wandered around the European Art, which was ... well, I'm not going to get all arty pretentious (pretentious ... moi?! ) but it was a bit pedestrian compared to what you get in, well, the European places . So I bee-lined to the American section and it was worth it. Sculptures in a massive glass annex:

View attachment 206657

... with a reconstructed bank facade at one end. (Considering how much dosh the bankers have put into the arts in this joint, its totally appropriate!):

View attachment 206660

Diana:

View attachment 206661

Good 'ol GW, by Peale c1780:

View attachment 206662

Them something instantly recognisable - Washington crossing the Delaware, painted in 1851 by Leutze.

View attachment 206665

View attachment 206664

View attachment 206663

I saw this photo in a National Geographic as a child and it always stuck in my menory for some weird reason. Finally got to see it on our 3rd visit (about 55 years since I'd seen the pic and it was every bit as marvellous as I'd hoped.

 

[RooFlyer]

I had 3 nights booked at the Palazzo Paolina 'boutique' hotel in St Paul's Street, downtown Valetta. It was nice enough - a converted old mansion, as you would imagine, but the room was really small. Also, like the last place, the aircon was central and set for winter, so no cooling. I had to have the internal balcony door open and the room door open to get some cool air circulating. But the location was perfect - just around the corner from the 'food market' - about 20 places you can get any type of cuisine and eat it on the tables there, or take-away, and downstairs there was a grocery/booze store. Lots of restaurants within 10 mins walk too.







Next morning, my usual recce walk found Valetta to be a really charming, historical place. I was instantly taken with the 'Maltese balconies', which projected from almost every floor of every building. There are lots of little tree-lined squares, cafes, pedestrianised streets. This is the end of winter, and there were a reasonable number of tourists about - especially Italians. I imagine in summer it would be packed.

I expected Malta to be a lot more 'British'. English is everywhere, to be sure, but most people seem to speak the local 'Malti' language, or maybe a patois of English and Malti. Culturally, the Maltese have preserved their own culture well.

St Paul's Street. All the streets are one-way, and one car/small van wide (no buses downtown). If someone needs to stop - like a taxi pick-up/put down, or a van un-loaded, everyone just waits behind.







The guard building. The portico was installed in 1814 on the signing of the Treaty of Amiens, when Malta became British.





I made a bee-line for the State Apartments, but they were closed for renovation, and only the Armory was open. Usual collection of suits of armour, weapons, cannons etc.



Monument to the Great Siege of 1565:

 

[jastel]

Great report.
Did the highline a few months back myself...did you climb the Vessel at the Hudson Yards end?

I recall landing at Malta, the plane stopped about 10ft from those arches...I could see my friend inside...we got on buses and went around the back and through customs etc and I didnt see her for another hour.

 

[RooFlyer]

So, what's the story with Malta? I didn't know much beforehand, except that it used to be home of the Knights of St John, a British colony, and that Napoleon visited once and, of course, it was a true cross-road of the Mediterranean, so I expected an interesting history.

Interesting ... an understatement!! At several locations on the island, there are structures of carved stones dating back to 3,500 BC!! That's older than the Pyramids of Egypt. First habitation was about 5,000 BC when people crossed from Sicily.

Since then, the place has been occupied by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese (ie region of France), Knights of St. John, French, and British.

I liked the Phonetician and Cartheginian aspect, as it compliments my visit to Carthage (Tunisia) and Sardinia, although I don't think there's much Phonetician here now. They were here between 800 and abt 200 BC before the Romans turfed them out (here and elsewhere!) The Romans lost out to the Vandals who in turn were replaced by the Byzantines from the 4th to the 9th century. Who's next? Oh, it was the muslim Aghlabids from North Africa (first time I've come across them!) . Then the Normans invaded in 1091 (sorta fresh from invading Britain, at the other end ) The Kingdon of Sicily then took over. In 1530, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, gave the islands to the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ('Knights Hospitaller', or the Order of St John) who had recently been turfed out of their home of Rhodes.

From Wikipedia:

The Hospitallers arose in the early 11th century, during the time of the Cluniac (or Benedictine) Reform, as a group of individuals associated with an Amalfitan hospital in the Muristan district of Jerusalem, dedicated to John the Baptist and founded around 1099 by Gerard Thom to provide care for sick, poor or injured pilgrims coming to the Holy Land. Some scholars, however, consider that the Amalfitan order and hospital were different from Gerard Thom's order and its hospital.

After the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade, the organisation became a military religious order under its own papal charter, charged with the care and defence of the Holy Land. Following the conquest of the Holy Land by Islamic forces, the knights operated from Rhodes, over which they were sovereign, and later from Malta, where they administered a vassal state under the Spanish viceroy of Sicily. The Hospitallers were one of the smallest groups to briefly colonise parts of the Americas: they acquired four Caribbean islands in the mid-17th century, which they turned over to France in the 1660s.

...

By the end of 1522, Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Sultan, had forcibly ejected the Knights from their base on Rhodes after the six-month Siege of Rhodes. From 1523 to 1530 the Order lacked a permanent home. They became known as the Knights of Malta when, on 26 October 1530, Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, Grand Master of the Knights, sailed into Malta's Grand Harbour with a number of his followers to lay claim to Malta and Gozo, which had been granted to them by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V[6] in return for one falcon sent annually to the Viceroy of Sicily and a solemn Mass to be celebrated on All Saints Day. Charles also required the Knights to garrison Tripoli on the North African coast, which was in territory that the Barbary Corsairs, allies of the Ottomans, controlled. The Knights accepted the offer reluctantly. Malta was a small, desolate island, and for some time, many of the Knights clung to the dream of recapturing Rhodes.

Nevertheless, the Order soon turned Malta into a naval base. The island's position in the centre of the Mediterranean made it a strategically crucial gateway between East and West, especially as the Barbary Corsairs increased their forays into the western Mediterranean throughout the 1540s and 1550s.

In 1565, the 'Great Siege' occurred (click the link - its worth a read!), when the Ottomans tried to invade, but were eventually repelled. This is a monumental event in the island's history, with references to it everywhere.

Napoleon landed in 1798 on his way to Egypt (Battle of the Nile) and took over from the Knights and basically looted the place to help pay for his war. The Maltese appealed to the Brits against the French and the Brits made themselves at home from 1800. It became a colony in 1814 until Independence in 1964. It became a republic in 1974 and joined the EU in 2004.

Whew. And to think I've only got 2 full days here. Ridiculous. I'm just about to leave as I write this, but I'll definitely be back. There are 2 main islands - Malta and Gozo to the NW; I barely got out of greater Valletta on this trip; 10 days would be good next time.