travel Archives - Anna S. E. Lundberg

Mini-road trip to Bath (via Castle Combe and Lacock)

10 February, 2017 By Anna S E Lundberg Leave a Comment

When my friend initially suggested a weekend away, my mind immediately went to warmer climes – could we go to Spain, Portugal… maybe the Canary Islands? Mostly through lack of decision-making capabilities and the postponing of any organisation at all, we eventually ended up with just one night away, and in England. We quickly booked an Airbnb (all hotels in the city were full on booking.com) and off we went with little idea of what to expect. After our little trip, though, I’ve come away with a newfound appreciation for mini-trips and above all for staying in the country!

I’ve always wanted to go to Bath. In fact, I did go there for a weekend many years ago to visit my sister, who was studying a semester there as part of her masters, but she had already done the touristy things so many times that the only thing I remember from that visit was going to buy some fudge! Most famous of course are the Roman baths, but Bath is also known for its link to Jane Austen – so the two of these things were definitely enough of a draw for me to come back and see the sights!

Before getting to Bath, though, we made a little stop along the way in Castle Combe. Voted the prettiest village in England, it wasn’t exactly at its best when we arrived in the rain but it was still well worth the stop and it really is very picturesque. This is also where scenes from War Horse were filmed, with Steven Spielberg bringing in 300 extras and 30 horses for the filming.

Baked goods in Caste Combe — What better indication of going back in time than this little bakery where sales are made on trust (you simply take what you want and leave the money)…

The Old Rectory Team Room — The Old Rectory Tea Room, one of the few places that was even open when we arrived for Friday lunch!

Castle Combe war memorial — The effects of the war must have been particularly felt in such a small village. The names on the war memorial read:
Ernest Young
Harry Melsom
Rowland Pullin
Arthur King
Eustace Watkins
Fred Purbrick
Richard Neate
Stanley James

I found the city of Bath itself to be a beautiful place, a World Heritage Site set against the hills of Somerset and with a dominant Georgian architecture seen throughout.

The Circus is a ring of townhouses (‘circus’, as I’ve learned, comes from the Latin for ring or oval), one of the great examples of Georgian architecture and a Grade 1 listed building. Fun fact courtesy of Wikipedia: it’s the same diameter as that of Stone Henge.

The Royal Crescent, a row of 30 terraced houses, is another Grade 1 listed building with an impressive Georgian stone facade.

It’s impossible not to think of Venice when you see this and, indeed, Pulteney Bridge was designed using early drawings for the famous Rialto Bridge.

Bath Abbey with its characteristic Gothic architectural design. My friend and I were so inspired by the architecture we saw that we’ve both just signed up to an online architecture course at Harvard!

The baths themselves were constructed by the Romans around 70AD, built on England’s only hot springs. There was a caldarium (hot bath), a tepidarium (warm bath) and a frigidarium (cold bath) alongside a Sacred Spring and Temple. Confusingly, for me, there is a mix of the Roman ruins within the museum and the later buildings and statues that exist above street level, which are rather from the 19^th century – though of course that’s just common sense, that the building could not have been in such good condition if it had been 2,000 years old!

The Roman Baths, Bath — The baths would have originally have had a roof on top, making the room echo like a modern swimming hall.

Julius Caesar at the baths — Julius Caesar looks on from above (though, of course, this statue dates from long after the Romans, from the 19th century)

The Sacred Spring, Bath — The steam rises from the Sacred Spring, dedicated to the goddess Minerva; this one was not for bathing.

On the way back from Bath, we made a second little stop in another quaint though slightly larger village (we counted four pubs!). Lacock (pronounced lay-cock rather than the more French “la coque” that I wanted to call it) has also been seen in Hollywood, appearing in Harry Potter (the Abbey provided classrooms for Hogwarts in the very first film, while the village itself provided Slughorn’s house in the Half-blood Prince) as well as in Downton Abbey and the BBC’s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

Lacock Abbey, founded in the early 13th century

The practical bit

Castle Combe

Find out more about this little village on the website. It’s about half an hour from Bath.
We had lunch at the Old Rectory Tearoom, where you can also choose to have afternoon tea or cake (okay, we had some cake too – each portion was two slices!!).

The city of Bath

The Roman baths are definitely a highlight. If you want the modern-day equivalent, visit the Thermae Bath Spa, Britain’s original natural thermal spa.
Bath Abbey is stunning from the outside and if you’re interested in visiting the interior as well there is a suggested £4 donation that they take on entry.

As far as Jane Austen goes, we ended up not doing anything at all. If you do end up in Bath, though, there are plenty of things to be done – especially in 2017, the 200^th anniversary of her death:

You can in fact stay in Jane’s family house from the early 1800s, in a self-catering apartment at 4 Sydney Place
There’s the Jane Austen Centre, a small museum that also offers walking tours around the city
You can visit the Assembly Rooms, where there would have been many evening balls where young ladies would hope to dance with eligible bachelors

Lacock

Lacock is part of the National Trust – read more on their website. The parking is just a short walk from the village. You can stay in one of the old houses (it was open for a free visit when we were there) or have coffee and cake in one of the tea rooms.

5 Highlights of My Time in Denver

5 August, 2016 By Anna S E Lundberg Leave a Comment

My trip to the US this summer ended with a final two weeks in Denver, where the plan as usual was to work but also try to see a bit of the area. As I soon discovered when I arrived, Denver is known as the ‘mile-high city’ since it’s located at an elevation of exactly one mile (1,610 metres) above sea level. I’ve always had an image of Colorado being a very green state, and Denver is clearly an ever-more popular city, now one of the fastest-growing in the country alongside other fashionable destinations like Austin and Portland. The only thing I’m missing in this city, based on what I experienced on this short stay, is the ocean!

So here, in addition of course to attending my cousin’s wedding up in Estes Park and getting complimented by Uber drivers, are 5 highlights of my time in Denver, Colorado:

Enjoying the weather – and the views

Denver skyline — The view from my balcony – not too shabby! We made plans to tear down the apartment building that sadly blocked a large chunk of the view, although I’m afraid the investment required was a little over budget…

I was told repeatedly by the different people I met during my time there that Denver has 300 days of annual sunshine, and although that’s turned out to be a myth* I get the impression that they get a pretty good deal, with four distinct seasons including both a cold winter and a hot summer. The weather was great while I was there, and even when it rained it was warm and the clouds quickly blew over. I would go out in the evening in a vest top and skirt and didn’t even need to bring a jacket, something that is incredibly rare even on my latest beach holidays. The city is located with the Rocky Mountains to the west and the High Plains to the east. One of the highlights was definitely the balcony (and the rooftop pool) at my airbnb, which was on the 10^th floor of one of the few tall buildings in Capitol Hill and offered stunning 360 views across to the mountains, which looked to me like a fake Hollywood backdrop.

*According to this article, the first reference to these “300 days of sunshine” was by a railroad company that wanted to attract people from the East. The true figures are more likely around 115 clear days, 130 partly cloudy, and 120 cloudy days.

Visiting Molly Brown’s house

Molly Brown Museum — Margaret Brown’s house was going to be torn down in 1972 but funds were raised to restore the house and the museum is now one of the states’ most visited sites.

In looking for famous sights to visit in the city, I was surprised to discover a museum dedicated to Molly Brown. You’ll likely recognise the name Molly Brown (although she was actually named Margaret Brown throughout her lifetime) from Titanic, in which the role was played by Kathy Bates. In the film, the real-life character befriends the fictional Jack and tries to get her lifeboat to return to the sinking ship to save more of the drowning passengers; I found the rest of her true story is equally impressive. Born in Hannibal, Missouri, she moved to the silver mining town of Leadville in Colorado in order to find a rich husband. Instead she fell in love with a foreman and they were married six months later – but when the Colorado Silver Boom ended and many others went bankrupt, James Joseph Brown’s geology knowledge led to the world’s largest gold strike to date, and the couple became wealthy as a result and moved to Denver where they bought the mansion that I’ve now visited.

Margaret Brown was a formidable woman, playing an important role in issues such as improving the rights of miners and their families, votes for women, and education and juvenile justice for children. She was fluent in five languages, drove a truck for the French Red Cross during the First World War, and was awarded the French Legion of Honour. Her husband JJ Brown grew frustrated with her activities outside the home and in 1909 they were legally separated. At the time of her death she was studying acting with Sarah Bernhardt…

Taking Banjo Billy’s bus tour

Banjo Billy bus — Banjo Billy’s bus is not like other tour buses, including the interior where we all sat on sofas and armchairs.

I tend to steer clear of those awful sightseeing tours on double-decker buses but this one was recommended to me by my airbnb host. The bus itself is pretty unusual, the tour guide a lot more energetic and fun, and the information we got more interesting than a typical city tour. I particularly enjoyed learning about the early history of Denver, which started with the discovery of a small amount of gold at Cherry Creek in 1858; the girls’ school next to the Brown Palace Hotel that became a brothel; and the Teapot Dome Scandal (which I had actually read about in my research on President Warren Harding, 1921-23, as part of learning all the US presidents from 1901 through to the present day during my recent road trip). We also learned important facts about the blue bear and demon-eyed horse statues (they cost $425,000 and $800,000 respectively, while the latter fell on its creator and killed him); the “wickedest street in America” (Colfax Avenue); and the ratio of pot dispensaries to Starbucks (it’s 2:1, FYI).

Whiskey and wine. And cider. And beer.

Stranahan's whiskey distillery — I feel like I learned a lot on the whiskey distillery tour, and even more on the Infinite Monkey Theorem wine tour. Very educational!

For some reason my time in Denver involved a lot of tasting of alcohol. It all started with a flight of cider at Stem Ciders (warning for the coffee one: it tastes as advertised but I’d steer clear of that particular flavour). I then moved on to Stranahan’s whiskey distillery, where they offer free tours but of course you may enjoy going next door to the bar and sampling a full-size Diamond Peak or some kind of cocktail. There I got the recommendation to visit Infinite Monkey Theorem, a winery started by an Englishman, Ben Parsons, and which produces wine by the barrel, bottle, and can (!!) as well as housing a lively bar. I completed this tour of Denver drinks with a visit on my last night to LowDown Brewery, which has pretty good food as well as the possibility to sample the different craft beers.

If you want something a bit less alcoholic, then there are also plenty of nice little coffee bars – my local ones included Pablo’s Coffee on 6^th and Washington as well as the hipster-filled Thump Coffee on East 13^th Avenue.

Running in the city

There’s plenty to do in Washington Park other than running, with volleyball courts, flower gardens, and lakes with paddle boarding and other activities.

These days a list of my highlights is never complete without a mention of my running. It’s such a great way to see the city, especially once you’ve built up to the longer runs. My shorter weekday runs would venture into Cheesman Park*, which was formerly a cemetery and still houses the remains of what may be thousands of dead bodies. On my longer runs, I’d go along the Cherry Creek Trail and down to Washington Park.

*For the record, there are plenty of Pokestops in Cheesman. Although running becomes somewhat less effective when you keep having to stop to collect the balls…

Botanic Gardens, Denver — The Denver Botanic Gardens are also worth a visit. I loved the Japanese sections as well as this Monet-inspired waterlily pond.

Although I didn’t make it to all of these, there were plenty of outdoor activities going on throughout the summer. Jazz in the Park in City Park, ‘Meet in the Street’ on 16th Street Mall, various concerts at Red Rock Amphitheater, outdoor movies, walking tours, and, of course, camping up in the Rockies.

Ten-Day US Road Trip: Mount Rushmore, Little Bighorn, Yellowstone and Salt Lake City

22 July, 2016 By Anna S E Lundberg 1 Comment

You may remember my blog posts from last year about an epic road trip that I took with my aunt from Los Angeles up to San Francisco and Napa, across to Yosemite and Death Valley and down through the Grand Canyon. Well, once in a lifetime that may have been but we decided to do a second one this year. My cousin was getting married in Estes Park at the entrance to the Rocky Mountains, just outside of Denver, and so this was our anchor for planning the route.

Now I can’t mention Estes Park without saying something about the Stanley Hotel. Opened in 1909, in 1971 it hosted Stephen King and his wife in Room 217. They were the only guests and his experience of the echoing halls inspired him to write The Shining. Though the hotel didn’t serve as the location for Kubrick’s iconic film, that film plays on continuous loop on all the guest room televisions. If you’re interested in seeing evidence of paranormal activity on site, you can join a ghost tour where you’ll be astounded by lollipops being knocked over by the various spirits who inhabit the building.

For the first time, I put together a little video of our trip – I almost get tears in my eyes each time I watch it as I remember everything we’ve seen in such a short space of time (reflected in the fact that I’m squeezing it all into one blog post!). Country roads, take me home!

“Like no place on earth”

Our trip started in Wyoming, driving north from Denver up through Cheyenne, the capital city. Although my post-trip online research has told me that Wyoming no longer officially has this slogan, the state motto ‘like no place on earth’ quite accurately summed up this part of the country. The area includes both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park but that’s not all its known for; Wyoming is also ‘the equality state’, having been the first to grant women the vote in 1869.

Another state that’s “like no place on earth” is Montana. For some reason I had imagined wide-open prairies and Native Americans, presumably thanks to films like Legends of the Fall and A River Runs Through It – and this is actually quite close to the reality, Montana being the fourth biggest state but ranking just 44^th in population of the 50 states. What I did not expect, however, was the proliferation of crystal meth, of which I was informed by a lot of billboards with various messages along the lines of “one shot and you’re hooked”. Lovely. Seeing how differently people out here live, together with the conversations I overheard throughout the trip about guns in particular, I got an unexpected insight into the voting patterns of the country.

Mount Rushmore

Now the reason for venturing into meth central was in fact this: ticking off #7 on my bucket list and visiting Mount Rushmore (“THERE IS NO COUNT RUSHMORE!”). It’s really not on the way to anything and as we’ve established the US is a very big country, so you can’t exactly just pop up to Mount Rushmore. Having come to Colorado for my cousin’s wedding, however, it felt like this was my big chance: the memorial is less than a six-hour drive from Denver. It was conceived precisely to bring tourists to the Black Hills region and it seems to have been successful!

Now, as is often the case, Mount Rushmore was smaller than I had expected (did you ever visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa?), at least from a distance. On the way there, I first saw the profile of a face carved into the mountain but it turned out in fact to be that of Crazy Horse. In an ambitious project that started in 1948, the intent has been to create a monument to represent a Native American hero; if it’s ever completed it will be the largest sculpture in the world. Over at the better funded Mount Rushmore, the four faces of the American presidents were chosen by sculptor Gutzon Borglum to represent the founding (George Washington, 1789-1797), growth (Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809), preservation (Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865) and development (Theodore Roosevelt, 1901-1909) of the United States.

And the name, Mount Rushmore? Read this letter. Random…

The unexpected highlight for me was coming back in the evening, when all the visitors joined in with the national anthem as the monument was lit, and all past and present military personnel were individually honoured on stage. If you’d like a taster of what this was like, I recorded a video on my phone – it’s very dark, but you get at least an idea of the atmosphere. Just click on the ‘X’ to remove the ad at the bottom.

Little Bighorn

National Cemetery — 263 soldiers, including Custer, died at the Battle of Little Bighorn

Reading about Crazy Horse led us to the Battle of the Little Bighorn, where the combined forces of the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho won a victory against Lieutenant Colonel Custer and the 7^th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army (referred to in The Last Samurai, if you’ve seen that recently!). Although we hadn’t planned a stop there, I was happy to see that the site of ‘Custer’s Last Stand’ was on the way to our next stop, West Yellowstone.

Indian Memorial — A quote at the memorial reads, “Forty years ago I fought Custer till all were dead. I was then the enemy of the Whitemen. Now I am the friend and brother, living in peace together under the flag of our country.” – Two Moons, Northern Cheyenne.

Although that battle of 25^th-26^th June 1876 was a victory for the Native Americans, just a few years later they had surrendered. The site of the battlefield today includes a National Monument with the Custer National Cemetery as well as an Indian Memorial.

Yellowstone National Park

I’ve always loved Yosemite National Park but I have to say that I may well have a new favourite: Yellowstone. Its sheer scale and spectacular beauty was quite overwhelming, with every turn in the road offering a fresh perspective and a new type of landscape. The first national park in the US and possibly also the world, it encompasses sub-alpine forest, geothermal features including geysers (also ‘paint pots’ and ‘fumaroles’), mountains, lakes, rivers, canyons, waterfalls… and a range of wildlife including bears (we saw a black baby one), bison and elk (we saw several), deer (we saw many!). We saw most of it from our car so I’d definitely love to come back and have more of a natural experience of camping… but WOW, what we saw just took our breath away. We even timed our visit perfectly to the Old Faithful geyser just as it erupted (it does so approximately every 90 minutes – you can follow the latest estimates on its personal Twitter account!).

Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City: another place that I’d been curious about but I would never travel to for its own sake. Of course I’ve always known it as the headquarters of the Mormons, something that has only been reinforced since watching Book of Mormon. Twice. As far as I can tell, everything portrayed in the musical is basically true (okay, except the actual story of Kevin, Arnold, and Uganda) and it was quite fascinating to learn more about their beliefs of Jesus coming to North America, Mormon and his son Moroni (“the all-American angel”) writing down their witness in the 4th century AD, Joseph Smith finding those golden plates, and Brigham Young founding the religion in Salt Lake City.

Sal Tlay Ka Siti, not just a story mama told
But a village in Ooh-tah, where the roofs are thatched with gold
If I could let myself believe, I know just where I’d be –
Right on the next bus to paradise: Sal Tlay Ka Siti

Now Salt Lake City is the location of the Mormon temple, and it does look exactly like it does in the musical set. I found it interesting, though, that only about half of the city’s population is Mormon and there is actually a strong counter-culture that means that it’s no problem at all to find places to drink coffee or alcohol… or do yoga! Since it was only a quick two-night stop, we did still focus our attention on Temple Square, which was the reason why I wanted to visit the city. We said, “Hello” to a lot of very friendly Mormon volunteers who were there to guide people around the area, all for free. Most in fact were women, both young students who were on their mission and older pensioners (rather hilariously, it was the latter who were tasked with showing us how the computers worked in the Family History Library).

The practical bit

I honestly wouldn’t recommend such a whirlwind tour of so many states, even though that’s often what I end up doing; but it did gave me a taster and I now know where I’d like to come back to (definitely Yellowstone for some proper camping as well as Jackson and, more surprisingly, Salt Lake City).

Driving distances, no stopping:

Denver – Mount Rushmore c. 370 miles (<6 hours)

Mount Rushmore – Little Bighorn c. 280 miles (<5 hours) – West Yellowstone c. 300 miles (4.5 hours)

West Yellowstone – Jackson Hole c. 130 miles (2.5 hours)

Jackson Hole – Salt Lake City c. 300 miles (4.5 hours)

Salt Lake City – Denver c. 530 miles (<8 hours)

A few of my favourite places to stay or eat:

Torrington, Wyoming: This was a ‘middle-of-a-nowhere’ petrol / lunch stop but I feel it deserves a mention because of the surprisingly modern coffee shop The Java Jar, where they served great coffee and very fresh salads and sandwiches. They even had Wi-Fi!

Broadus, Montana: Should you ever find yourself driving through Broadus, then keep on driving. Should you for some reason have to stop, then make your way to the bowling alley (you’ll know it by the naked baby doll tied to a post outside) where you can get a really yummy quesadilla.

Keystone, North Dakota: Our hotel recommended the Powder House Lodge Restaurant and we weren’t disappointed. I had the most delicious elk medallions sautéed with apples and my aunt had the one of the best (buffalo) filets she’d ever tasted. I also had a very tasty Moscow Mule in the Red Garter Saloon where there was live music and even a bit of dancing.

Jackson, Wyoming: Try Bin 22 for dinner and drinks (the restaurant is next door to the grocer’s where you can pick up a bottle of wine with no corkage), and The Bunnery, a popular breakfast spot for tourists and locals alike.

Salt Lake City, Utah: The Melting Point was a pretty amusing insight into what Americans think of fondue. Bearing little resemblance to what we do in Switzerland, this was a massive four-course extravaganza that nonetheless was worth it for the experience!

On the Road (and Alone) Again

10 June, 2016 By Anna S E Lundberg Leave a Comment

As I was packing for another trip last week I started questioning, as I always do, if this is really what I want to be doing.

This whole year so far has been back-to-back trips with just a few days in between, those days always crammed with laundry, topping up my prescription medicine (in the UK now they’ll only give you two months’ worth, even if it’s something you’ve been using for 15 years and that doesn’t change), doing various admin tasks that require being in England or having access to my ‘stuff’, and packing for everything from paddle boarding to attending a black tie wedding. All that preparation is exhausting but not only that, I’m often heading off to places I’ve never been to and where I don’t know anyone.

I always question everything I do, so this isn’t new. I’d be questioning myself just as much if I was buying a house and staying put forever.

It’s not just me doing the questioning, though. People are constantly asking me if I’m enjoying it, isn’t it exhausting, when or where am I going to settle down? Even my nephew asked me a while ago, “Aunty, why are you always travelling around the world?”

There’s a voice that keeps on calling me
Down the road is where I’ll always be

I think that when I started my travelling was a means of escape for me, a kind of rebellion, and a way of embodying that freedom that I realised I value so highly. It’s the thing you do when you quit your job; it’s about seeing the world, having new experiences, ticking things off your bucket list.

But travelling alone has given me so much more than that, and something that once seemed scary, something that ‘other people’ did, now feels completely natural. I’ve learned to get my bearings in a new city, finding my way around and exploring what my temporary home has to offer. I’m very happy in my own company (well, really, who wouldn’t be?!). I’m incredibly self-motivated and productive, and get a ridiculous amount of work done while I’m on the move. I’ve developed expert packing skills. And I’m completely comfortable with talking to strangers.

That last point is an important one, and one that opens up the real magic of travel when you’re on your own. When you’re travelling as a couple, or in a group, you’re likely to be mostly chatting to each other, closed both physically and mentally to meaningful encounters along the way. I used to never talk to people I met, apart from the superficial pleasantries that you’d expect.

Within the first 24 hours of my arrival in the US, I had two encounters – both with Uber drivers, in fact – that made the whole trip worth it already.

First, there was Raynier. He initially made me feel a little uncomfortable as he told me he “loved my accent” (fair enough) and that I “smelled good” (maybe less appropriate). He continued, though, with a great story about driving Swedish hockey player Peter Forsberg while he was living in California, as well as his own experiences of being a professional basketball player. He also gave me possibly the best compliment I’ve ever received, that “In the States, you’re considered the ideal woman – you’re like a goddess here.” (Yes, again super inappropriate but call me a goddess and I’m afraid my feminist edge will inevitably soften! And, really, he didn’t mean anything offensive by it, and mentioned his girlfriend several times.) Obviously we’ll see over the next few weeks if this proclamation has any truth to it; let’s hope so, given my soft spot for American men thanks to a misspent youth watching all those high school movies with teen hunks.

The second driver was William, a retired LAPD officer who had another fantastic story (in addition to also loving my accent, naturally). He and his family had been visiting the Houses of Parliament in London, where he asked for a photo with the police officers guarding the entrance. There must have been some solidarity felt between the two police corps as the officers made a phone call and gave him a note that would get him in at Downing Street. So off he and his family went, bypassing the hordes of tourists outside of the gates and posing for pictures in front of Number 10. A memorable trip for this family, and one that clearly meant a lot to William.

Oh, and tonight I’m venturing away from my computer and volunteering as event host at an Irish pub meetup for newbies to the Seattle area! (I didn’t tell them I’m only here for a few weeks, shhh!)

Every stop I make, I’ll make a new friend
Can’t stay for long, just turn around and I’m gone again.

I think this confidence I’ve developed, this openness, has in turn opened up a whole world of other possibilities and my life is all the more meaningful as a result.

I’ve said it before but it’s those little moments and interactions that make travel worth all the logistical hassle. Meeting people you’d never meet back home, hearing their stories, and, yes, being called a goddess (that simply doesn’t happen in England or Sweden – listen and learn, men of northern Europe!).

Am I searching for something? Maybe. Will I want to settle down when I find the right person, or place to do so? Probably. But in the meantime, I’ll continue enjoying, and learning from, the journey.

I’ll be in Seattle now for a few weeks so I’ve got plenty of time to settle in, drink some Starbucks and, maybe as a result of all that caffeine, finally be Sleepless in Seattle…

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want to settle down,
Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on.

[Song lyrics in italics from The Littlest Hobo theme song, to which I was introduced by a friend at university. They resonated then and they definitely do so now!]

Wedding Weekend in Istanbul

3 June, 2016 By Anna S E Lundberg Leave a Comment

The Blue Mosque, probably the most iconic and recognisable structure on the Istanbul city skyline, as seen from the rooftop of my hotel

I was recently fortunate enough to be invited to a wedding in Istanbul, Turkey, giving me an excuse to visit this city for the first time.

Istanbul is a transcontinental city, one part in Asia and the other in Europe. My weekend visit was limited to the European side, the old town where all the main tourist attractions are located. The city, previously known as Byzantium and later Constantinople, has been the capital of the Roman, Byzantine, Latin and Ottoman empires. Converted to Christianity under the Romans, it remained so until the Ottomans took over in the 15^th century. Today the majority of the population is Muslim, specifically Sunni. As of the Turkish Republic forming in 1923, the focus was shifted towards the capital of Ankara; but Istanbul retains its cultural and historical importance.

I’ve never had so many positive comments on my Instagram posts as I had during this weekend – “I love Istanbul!” and “Say hi to Istanbul for me” – so it’s clearly beloved by those who have spent time here.

I’m always interested in places that were used as film locations and Istanbul doesn’t disappoint.

The Bosphorus Strait, with Asia over on the other side, as seen from the rooftop of my hotel

In the second film of the James Bond series, From Russia with Love, Istanbul Ataturk airport, the Grand Bazaar, Hagia Sophia, and the Basilica Cistern all feature as does the Bosphorus ferry and the Orient Express. Fast forward to the Pierce Brosnan era and The World is Not Enough sees Istanbul playing the role of Azerbaijan, with M imprisoned in an 11^th century lighthouse, the Maiden Tower, at the mouth of the Bosphorus. And for a spectacular finale, in Skyfall, the motorcycle chase of the opening scenes took place through Eminonu Square, across the rooftops and into the Grand Bazaar.

(A quick Google tells me that there are several other well-known films that used Istanbul as a setting, including Argo (in which the Grand Bazaar represents a market in Teheran!), Taken 2, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.)

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia comes from the Greek for ‘Holy Wisdom’ (in fact my second name is Sofia, and naturally I am very wise). Today a museum, it’s been both a Christian church (a Greek Orthodox basilica, 537-1453) and an imperial mosque (1453-1931). As a result, it’s an interesting mix with mosaics depicting Jesus and Mary alongside Islamic features like the mihrab (a niche in the wall that indicates the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca) and the minbar (the stair-like pulpit from which the imam delivers sermons).

Perhaps my favourite feature was some Viking graffiti on the upper level!

The Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque is not particularly blue but, as I discovered, the popular name comes from the coloured tiles inside the mosque rather than the exterior. Its official name is the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, commissioned by Sultan Ahmet I in the early 17^th century. It’s an incredibly impressive building with its 13 domes and 6 minarets.

The inner courtyard was lined with notice boards, on which you could read and learn about the pillars of Islam and its various rituals. It’s possible for visitors to enter into the main dome area, having borrowed a mosque-branded covering to abide by the regulations to cover a woman’s head, shoulders and legs.

Blue Mosque courtyard — Looking up at the main dome from inside the courtyard

When I first entered the courtyard, I was approached by a friendly man who I thought was an official of the mosque, explaining that the mosque was closed for prayer. “I’m not a guide, I sell carpets,” he said, seemingly reassuring me… as if selling carpets to me in the mosque would be more welcome than giving me useful information! I returned the following to day to visit the interior.

The Basilica Cistern

The Cistern (in Turkish Yerebatan Sarnici, which means ‘cistern sinking into the ground’) was built in the 6^th century. It’s the largest of many cisterns that lie beneath the city and that provided water to the nearby palaces for many centuries.

The underground chamber is lined with marble columns. The Hen’s Eye column, decorated with tears, is said to honour the hundreds of slaves who died during construction. Another notable design element (there are signs throughout the Cistern pointing the way) are the two columns whose bases are carved into the head of Medusa – one upside down, the other on its side.

The Grand Bazaar

Some of the ornate lamps on sale at the Bazaar

The Grand Bazaar, one of the world’s oldest and largest covered markets, is also one of the world’s most visited tourist attractions. It was built soon after the Ottoman conquest of what was then Constantinople, its construction completed in 1461. A century later, a second covered market was built a little north of the first, and gradually shops were opened up between the two so that it became one large commercial area. By the early 17^th century, it was the hub of Mediterranean trade.

Turkish delight, but not as you know it!

Different businesses now tend to be focused in different areas, for example with jewellery along one street, carpets along another, leather goods along a third… I was with a friend who seemed to be able to navigate effortlessly along the different streets, but personally I was soon completely lost. I was nervous as always about the haggling that’s always expected at this kind of market, but I was relieved to find that the sellers were not too pushy. They were actually pretty funny, their sales techniques showing quite some creativity:

“Genuine fake leather goods!”

“I have everything you need!”

“Come and buy something you don’t need!”

Given my nomadic status I didn’t really need any big carpets or lamps but I did buy some tea, spices and Turkish delight. I know the latter mostly from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, in which the White Queen for some reason tempts Edmund with a box of Turkish delight. I’ve never liked the powdery stuff that you get in England but the colourful range on offer here at the Bazaar was very different. I bought a stick of pomegranate and pistachio; the chocolate one was also tasty!

The Wedding

The Dutch-Turkish wedding itself was exactly what you could have hoped for: a short but moving ceremony, held in Turkish and English on a rooftop with views of both Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque; delicious food kicked off with a platter of cold meze; traditional Turkish dancing, and a belly-dancing scarf for each of us to join in; oh, and fezzes and Dutch bonnets to top it all off.

The best man made a poignant remark about how thankful he was that we had all come to the wedding despite what had happened (in March, there was a suicide bombing in front of the district governor’s office), and I think we were all happy to have overcome any lingering concerns to celebrate the couple on their special day.

I stayed at the Seven Hills Hotel, a short stumble across the road from the Four Seasons where the wedding was being held. Even if you don’t stay there, I’d definitely recommend that you visit the restaurant on the top floor – the highest rooftop in the city, they say – for stunning 360 degree views of Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and across the Bosphorus to Asia.

Some notes about opening times: The Grand Bazaar is closed on Sundays and some bank holidays. The Blue Mosque is closed periodically for prayer so make sure you check the exact times for the day you want to visit (you can enter the courtyard at any time and you’ll see the opening times for entering the building written on a board).