Scandinavian Trip - Day 15 - Istanbul Hagia Sophia Experience

Today marked the final day of our trip, and we all felt a bit sad getting out of the Scandinavian countries, in which each country offered something unique and different. We wanted to make the most of today by visiting the famous Blue Mosque and surrounding areas in the old city Sultanahmet area before taking the afternoon flight. The children though, wanted to stay back and relax, but we egged them along for one last sojourn. The breakfast had Turkish fare, but I personally didn't like the spread with limited vegetarian options and a lot of sweet dishes. While I do like sweets, its not my cup of tea first thing in the morning. The mind couldn't resist comparing it to the delicious feast in Scandic Malmo over the last few days. 

Anyway, after breakfast, we started around 10am. From the hotel, we had to take a 30 min train ride, and that is when I realised that I didn't get the IstanbulKart, the travel card for use in buses and metros. So, we walked along for a kilometer to reach the train station, along steep cobbled paths that took us through various souvenir shops. It appeared that the Istanbul Kart has seen its fair share of inflation, costing Turkish Lira (TRL) 170, instead of 70 that I saw online from a couple of years' back. Anyway, I got the card (which 5 people can share), and topped up another TRL 200 to get going. However, I was surprised that the balance ran out when only 3 of us crossed the gates. Thankfully, I was able to top up some more and enter quickly. The max topup was TRL 300, which is weird as you almost need to topup for every other trip. The metro journey was comfortable (and it helped it was non-peak hours). We reached the train station and had to walk another 10 mins to reach the Blue Mosque, with a quick glance across at the Basilica Cistern, which was an impressive subterranean cistern that provided water filtration systems to Hagia Sophia. 

We wanted to visit the Blue Mosque first, so we got the tickets to the complete experience. This really costed a bomb (~USD 250 for the family), easily the most expensive attraction we have visited on this trip. We were confounded for a minute as there were multiple mosques that were blue and roughly the same size looking from the outside. There are many touts here to act as a tourist guide around this place, but we didn't want to get ripped off even more, so we just got a general direction from them and moved on. 

The first stop was Hagia Sophia (which a lot of people confuse with the Blue Mosque). In fact, almost all the big mosques in the vicinity are blue in colour, so people should really call it something else to avoid confusion. The facade appeared to be a mosque in dire need of restoration, with various construction devices attached. However, the inside was pretty impressive, and I quickly understood how the grand jewel of the capital of Eartern Rome, which used to coronate kings including Alexander the Great, became a mosque once the Ottoman Empire took over. 

The inner mosaic and glass designs were reminiscent of what we had seen in Rome and other European churches. There were visible signs of damage, but the highly impressive and nuanced Christian artwork were thankfully not totally destroyed, but overlayed with some verses and symbols from the Quran. It even contained an inscription from a Viking guard. 

The floors were plush with stones of all kinds taken in from across the vast Roman empire stretching from North Africa across much of Europe to Constantinopolis. We can only induce from the granduer and lavish decor, which included a thick marble door and giant chandeliers, what life would have been for the nobility at that point in time. There were fairly limited places to view the interior and take pictures from, but we enjoyed it.

This is a truly historical monument that has seen the cycle of creation and destruction multiple times, with Christian and Islamic architectural influences in its design. Going around this walk is truly bringing our history books to life. 

Once done, we came outside to realise that this place is really infested with cute cuddly cats! I couldn't resist petting some (or a dozen!). They do really love cats around here and cats are very comfortable with humans. They are well fed and are truly the modern day kings of this place! 

We then went to the Blue Mosque opposite the Hagia Sophia that offers an insight into the Ottoman Architecture. Personally, I found the vagaries of the Hagia Sophia offering a glimpse into 1700 years of history a lot more interesting. Blue Mosque is in pristine shape though and we get a glimpse into the Islamic influence and architectural style of the last 500 years. 

Adjacent to the blue mosque is the Museum offering the Hagia Sophia experience. It had a long wait in queue but we had already paid for it, so why not showcase the unique Singaporean trait by queuing up without knowing what for? Once inside after 30 mins, it was a video style showcase of the 1700 years of history of the Hagia Sophia, offering the glimpse at its pomp during the Byzantine period, followed by the civil war and unrest, and finally the take over by the Ottomans. 

It was slightly different in that they had different scenes being projected in different rooms so we had a walk around, before seeing all the artifacts kept in the museum, including a gold plated bible and old coins. Turkey is a secular state but with 99.8% Muslims,  so it was interesting to see the other point of view in the narration, as living in Commonwealth countries, we invariably get to hear the British version of the history with a Christian lens. I did find the history of multiple cultures colliding and shaping Turkey fascinating. Istanbul is truly East meeting West, not just in geography. And this was the first museum where I have witnessed cats sleeping next to x-ray scanners and on top of historic artefacts and nobody dared to disturb them, just pet them until they flip over on their bellies and encourage you to do more :)

When we came out of the museum and sipped on a cup of coffee, it was already 1pm. My son was starting to panic, with memories of the mad rush in Malaysia where we almost missed the flight still fresh in his mind, so we decided to go back to the airport. We walked another kilometre admiring the frequent trams that shuttle along the road outside. Walking past the University of Istanbul, we decided to do a quick stop to the the Turkish spices, which made his blood boil and eyes tear up. The shopkeeper showcased the Turkish hospitality with a broad smile, giving us spiced tea (with a lot of herbs and spices,  but still tasted sweet amd amazing). However, we had to cut it short to avoid giving my son a heart attack! 

We had to take 2 trains to get to the airport. When we took the first train, the door closed as soon as my son had got in, setting off a big scare. Thankfully, we were right next to the driver's cabin, who noticed our vigorous signalling and opened the doors for us to get in. Once we heaved a sigh of relief, we realised we were on the wrong direction and ended up at the terminal Yenikapi next! Now, the rest of the family were truly tensed and wanted to take a taxi to the airport, but I knew we had sufficient time and had seen enough of Istanbul transportation to know it is efficient and probably the fastest mode of transport to the airport. So, I trusted my gut and we did a u-turn. 

The transfer at Gayrettepe was excruciatingly long, with long walks followed by travellators and very deep escalators going on and on in repeat mode. I was astonished how deep they had built this M11 metro line. While walking, I also noticed the similarities in some words between Hindi and Turkish, like "Hava" for air, showcasing the mix of cultures. 

Finally, we took the airport metro and reached the airport in about 25 mins. It was 3pm and the passport control and security check lines were long, so we decided to have lunch after the formalities had been completed, which was a wise decision. We had some pizza, noodles and coffee to round off our Turkish trip and it was time to board. Overall it took us 3.5 hours to commute from city centre to the boarding gate at airport, just in time for our flight. 

As we were boarding and with my phone battery less than 5%, I made a rushed call to Sixt, lodging my case against the car allegedly being scratched and hurriedly sent them the pictures I had taken as evidence.  

When we sat down on the plane, it hit me. This was a trip that challenged me right from planning to execution, where I made a lot of mistakes and got promptly reprimanded by my daughter. However, the whole trip was thoroughly enjoyable, right from the snow and winter driving, activities and aurora hunting with frost bite scare at -23 degrees in Rovaniemi, to the engrossing museums of Stockholm, to the cosy warmth and family connections in Malmo, to the majestic castles of Copenhagen, to the lush landscapes of Helsingor, to the mesmerising duality of Istanbul, we had seen a lot. History, Geography and Politics lessons played out live before our eyes as we traversed the northern part of Europe and with beautiful memories etched forever in our hearts. Stockholm, Helsinki and Istanbul require much more than a day each to explore, which was a slight regret. But it gave us more time in the other places which was worthwhile. 

It was also nice to touch the tip of Asia and Europe, Arctic Circle, southernmost point of Sweden and north-eastern tip of Denmark on this trip. My family's world just became a little bit bigger, broadening our understanding of the beauty of this world, for which we are all grateful! 

Overall, it was a fantastic trip that I just wish could have been longer! Ciao until next time, Europe (or as a Finnish pilot memorably said - boi boi!)

 

Scandinavian Trip - Day 14 - Malmo to Istanbul

Today is pretty much a travel day. We started off as usual, having a nice relaxed breakfast and filled our tummies with local delicacies. I have grown quite fond of Swedish pancakes wih strawberry jam and whipped cream, and hashbrowns with Lingonberry jam, which is a bit sour. I also loved the sights of the sleek triple-bendy buses while having breakfast from our hotel.

We bid goodbye to my wife's aunt, whom we had bonded quite nicely with over the last few days. Taking the Oresundstag for the 5th time in 3 days, we were pleasantly surprised when the train slowed down a lot over the bridge due to traffic ahead, allowing us to take some pics of the famous Strait, and one last look back at Malmo, Sweden. Copenhagen airport always seems busy, with a lot of crowd. With this being Christmas week, there were long queues everywhere from checkin to security check to border control, so we did well to reach the airport 3 hours before departure, and we had just enough time to go through everything in a relaxed manner. We managed to get a final bite of Danish pastries and hot chocolate before boarding the flight back to Istanbul. 

I had a bit of a nasty surprise as I got a return receipt from Sixt, the Copenhagen car rental firm, claiming I had a 10cm+ long scratch on the car, when I knew for sure I didnt hit anything (unlike my earlier tryst with a bridge in Rovaniemi). Not a great feeling on your first car rental with a new company. I did take photos after the car return just for such scenarios and made a mental note to follow up the next day as we were about to board the flight.

I caught up on a couple of movies on the way but the moment we landed in Istanbul we had a feeling we were back in Asia. Be it the airport toilets explicitly mentioning that the tap water is not fit to drink (contrary to the ones in Scandinavian countries) or the urge to control yourself rather than use the airport toilets or the fact that we get royally ripped off by taxis. I was in two minds about the transport from airport to hotel. I would have preferred using public transport,  but with hungry and tired kids in tow, with it already being 9pm when we started, money considerations came in secondary and we took the ubiquitous (or infamous, depending on your viewpoint) yellow taxi.

I was told that there is a road toll of 200 that I had to pay in addition to the meter fare, but I saw that the toll was only 80 when we reached there! The driver made it a point to start the meter, stop right after the airport entrance and then start discussing in detail about the hotel location, surcharges and trying to get the navigation app to recognise the location multiple times using voice recognition (which it failed miserably), while all the time the meter reading made me gulp. It must be a nice entertainment for the taxi drivers seeing the tourists turn different shades of red. Anyway, at least the taxi driver followed the Google maps route (which I made sure he knew I was watching as well).

We finally reached the hotel, which seemed to be in a very residential area with nothing much nearby. The taxi driver demanded cash saying there is additional surcharge for debit card from the merchant. The frustration sprang up a conspiracy theory in my head that it's all a big game plan by Turkish Airlines to make sure tourists spend a lot of time and money commuting from place to place!

The hotel reception was another long wait. One hotel receptionist went off to do something in the middle of the checkin,  handing over to another person, who went off to make a long call as well. After the efficiency of Northern Europe, this was quite an irritant, especially late at night with sleepy kids. 

Anyway we were done for the day and we settled into our rooms. I have a sneaky suspicion that tomorrow might be another drama filled day to end our trip. I was slightly worried if I had enough cash on hand for tomorrow as well - while Turkey was expected to be cashless, people here still seem to prefer cash. 

Scandinavian Trip - Day 13 - Helsingor

We wanted to start early today, so we will have a bit more time to visit the attractions. The plan was to take the train to Copenhagen and rent a car from there to tour northern Denmark by road. Helsingor is in the north eastern tip of Denmark and is famous for the Kornborg castle that featured in Shakespeare's Hamlet. We also wanted to visit the Danish Museum of Technology nearby. 

We rented out from Sixt this time around as it was nearby the Central station. The checkout was smooth but yet again had to learn a new Renault car and struggled to change the language to English at first. With Android Auto, it was smooth to find the directions. Getting out of the city, I learned the controls and realised the brake wasn't that great, so I had to pace myself and constantly remind me of the gap to the vehicle in front. Getting out of the city took a while but the highway ride was smooth.

It was a short 30 min ride to Helsingor, but I didnt quite enjoy the ride as much as the other countries in this region. The landscape was nothing to write about as well. We first reached the Technology museum, where we were greeted warmly but warned it was a small operation with limited food options. After downing a couple of crossaints (which was the only veg option), we were given a map that said there are only 2 rooms in the museum.  

We expected a short stop but was surprised by the amount of stuff in those two hangers (not rooms), giving us a feeling of going back in time. From the first Danish airplanes and fighter jet to cycles, cars and trucks from different eras, Soyuz landing capsule to vintage electronics and mobile phones, it captivated all of us. They had a fun Christmas heart hunt as well that kept the kids occupied. Time ran past and we quickly realised it was 2pm.

We didnt want to miss yet another castle because of timing issues, so we wrapped up and went on a short 10 mins ride to the Kornborg Castle. Like with the other castles in Copenhagen,  this was on a hugh sprawling landscape, with the castle etched on the junction of the North Sea and the Oresund Strait. We realised one of the watch towers functioned as a light house as well. 

The castle had one of the most beautiful landscapes I have seen, and no wonder inspired literary works of art. We had a nice walk along the windy shoreline to get to the castle entrance. The castle had everything we could imagine, from a courtyard, countless rooms for separate activities like dining, cooking, war preparations, closets, dancing, art, courtroom etc. 

The castle also had underground tunnels and dungeons. The kids enjoyed exploring the underground tunnels (getting scared at times when they got lost and we had to find each other by following the echos). They also dressed up as kings and queens with extremely heavy dresses and had a challenging task to learn to walk on stilts in the courtyard, which soon became a competition! 

We climbed up the 147 steps at the Cannon Tower to have a 360 view of the castle and the surrounding landscape, including a distant view of Helsingborg, Sweden that is a short ferry ride away. The climb felt an awful lot more difficult with small curving steps designed to make any invading armies difficult to capture the fort. 

We stayed until we were kicked out of the castle at 4pm, after which we started hunting for food. The street food court next to the car park was fantastic, with a variety of cuisines to whet the appetite. We decided to have a lunch/ dinner with some Punjabi cuisine, including samosas, bhajji, naan, thali, along with some pizza and pasta for the kids. It seemed a lot of food at first glance but we managed to finish almost everything in an hour and half. 

The kids had still not got used to ignoring the sun and started feeling sleepy at 5.30. So we started on our drive back. The drive at night seemed a lot harder in Denmark with the highways mostly illuminated by the headlights. Pushing 110 kmph seemed a bit risky so I took my time getting upto speed. I did take one wrong exit but was able to quickly rejoin the expressway. 

We returned the car in Copenhagen and made our way back to Malmo by train, to grab some drinks and snacks from the train station before heading home. Having spent 5 days in the Skane and Denmark,.feels like we need a couple of more days to explore more thoroughly. Having said that, Denmark is filled with art museums that none of us are really interested in, so we might have also got bored. The whole of Europe is pretty much connected by road and high speed rail, so it might be equally worth driving around a bit more across countries the next time we are here. 

Scandinavian Trip - Day 12 - Copenhagen

Today started off with a relaxed mornig routine and a hearty breakfast before heading out for our trip to Kobenhavn, taking us across the Orebund Strait in the Orebundstag train. We got a one day return ticket for the family and started off. The trains are fairly frequent, once every 20 mins from Malmo Central. The train journey itself was a bit underwhelming,  it was almost like a local train stopping at several stations along the way and connecting through the Copenhagen airport to the city. The highlight ofcourse was crossing the Strait itself, with the crashing high waves contrasting against the calmness that you feel inside surrounded by the waterbody. 

We reached Copenhagen only around 12 noon, but we had a lot to cover. This was the only Scandinavian city where we could really feel the crowd. Almost all the attractions are centred around the central station, with walks ranging from 10-20 mins, although it felt longer as we strolled through the busy streets. I thought it was due to Christmas but was told that it is like this throughout the year. 

We came out of the train station to find one of the oldest amusement parks, Tivoli, right outside. However the kids were not interested in the rides and the long queues further dissuaded us from wasting our time there. We walked around the corner to find a Lego store where we got my son a Red Bull F1 car to assemble. Then we went to the Town Square for a quick photostop before walking past to find the Museum of Illusions. 

The ticket prices shocked me and made me realise that I should have got the Copenhagen Card which is much more economical for visiting multiple attractions. I struggled to buy the card for a long time with a poor mobile connection and multiple errors in both the website and the app. I would strongly recommend booking as much as possible before the trip to avoid wasting time. I spent almost 30 mins to get the card. Once we had that though it was a breeze, with the card accepted in most attractions.

I was a bit hesitant with the Museum of Illusions at first,.as I thought the exhibits would be similar to the Science Centre in Singapore. While some exhibits were similar, all of us really enjoyed our time there, with various illusions making us question our brain. 

After the Museum of Illusions, we took away a quick lunch from China Box that had on the benches near the National Museum of Denmark. My daughter wanted to spend the whole day at the museum, so we left her there and went to see the other attractions. 

We went first to the Christiansborg Palace right at the end of the street. It was a huge sprawling campus with countless rooms and almost every room decorated for Christmas. The royalty do know how to enjoy their life in grandeur. 

We visited the Royal stables, which had a few white horses that were well taken care of and a few carriages that have been used in the past. There was also a small Museum next to it. Large parts of the palace itself was out of bounds for the public and there was a big queue to see the view from the top of the tower, so we visited the associated Chapel where the king was baptised and married. 

We came out of the palace and wanted to go to the Round Tower next. This made us stroll through a lovely Christmas market, where we stopped for some hot drinks before taking in the busy shopping atmosphere of the Christmas weekend. It was definitely expensive to buy anything there, with a small cup of hot chocolate costing the equivalent of USD 10. But we did nevertheless buy a few drinks to keep us warm through our strolls. When we went to the round tower, we realised that the Copenhagen Card is not accepted there. 

We were fast running out of time, so we decided to skip that and go to the nearby Rosenberg castle instead, where the royal crowns are stored in the Treasury. What was a short walk in the map turned out to be a big stroll around the King's garden, which was vast. It was barren now but I could only imagine the vivid colours that would spring to life in thw spring and summer. There was also a specially curated rose garden. When we finally figured out the entrance of the castle we were a few minutes late to enter and were asked to come back tomorrow. However, we did do a quick photo stop and saw the royal treasury being heavily guarded by armed soldiers. 

We only had enough time to walk back and pick up our daughter from the museum. While a bit sad that our Copenhagen trip was reduced to a walking tour, we were still happy to take in the way of life there by walking through the streets. 

We had a bit of a scare when we came back to the museum and could not find our daughter anywhere. We couldn't reach her mobile as well, so panic set in for a bit and I went around the different floors of the museum trying to find her. At least this way I did a whistle stop tour of the museum. While I couldn't spot her, thankfully it was closing time so they asked all visitors to leave. My daughter came out and asked me to chill saying she had switched off the phone to conserve battery! Well, I could see the logic in that as my battery had ran out quickly today and the power bank was taking too long to charge it back. 

Anyway we made our way back to Malmo by train and took away some light dinner including salads, noodles and pasta from the supermarket there. 

Copenhagen is a bustling city that ranks at the top of the places considered the best to live in. I am not so sure about that as it seemed pretty expensive (even coming from Singapore) and appeared no different from any of the other cosmopolitan cities, or maybe that's just the case because our trip just straddled the city centre and surrounding areas. 

Lessons learnt from today is to start early in the morning (which is a bit of a dream with young kids), finish early before daylight goes away (as the kids are mentally switched off in visiting places once its dark) and since the attractions close by 4 or 5pm local time, it doesn't give us an awful lot of time in winter to visit them. Doubtful if we would have a chance to revist any of these tomorrow, we went to bed, with our itinerary for tomorrow taking us a bit out of Copenhagen in a drive across Denmark. 

Scandinavian Trip - Day 11 - Skane

Today's plan was to rent a car and drive around Skane, the southern part of Sweden. We had a filling breakfast, similar to yesterday, trying out the different items on the menu. 

We went to rent a car at Europecar, and the process was very straightforward. I had requested for a SUV with automatic transmission, but was given a Seat Arona! Once again, I had trouble starting the car, and after 10 mins googling around, I realised I had to use the physical key inside the remote control to get it started. I had to familiarise myself with all the controls in this new car, with an increasingly impatient family waiting at the garage lobby. 

Finally we got going, and the first stop was the Viking Fort at Trelleborg. It was a 1 hour drive that took us past sprawling fields and lakes. It was a very easy drive along well-maintained highways. The only challenge I faced were the cross winds on very open crossings and the centrifugal force when overtaking heavy vehicles. We reached the Viking Fort only to see that it was closed for the winter, although Google maps indicated it was open! I heard that these places hardly get visitors and are therefore expensive to maintain during the winter months. Disappointed, we thought we should make the most of it by at least visiting the southern coast nearby. Google maps again led us astray into a port, where only trucks and ferry cars were allowed. My daughter turned increasingly annoyed at me for taking us on a wild goose chase, so I did a u-turn, parked at some nearby residential area and googled fresh to take us to a better spot. It happened to be Maxi-A, a big supermarket at the southern edge overlooking the south coast. We did some shopping there, grabbed a cup of coffee and touched the cold southern waters.

Afterwards, we decided to go to Ales Stenar, the Stonehenge of Sweden, since it is open all year round. This took us on a beautiful coastal drive along the southern coast for a hour and a half, dotted by small townships and villages. The houses were all uniform in their construction. The driving was a bit annoying at times due to the constant speed changes as we go through these populated areas, but apart from that it was beautiful. In between, we suddenly spotted a sign that said southern most point of Sweden, so we did a quick photostop there. 

We reached Ales Stenar early afternoon amid light rain and bustling winds. We had to do a small trek to reached the shores were the stones lay in magnificent oval formation. We were awestruck by the stones as well as the background and the surrounding landscape. We went all the way to the tip of the cliff overlooking the Baltic Sea to enjoy a 360 view. Unfortunately there was no vegetarian food there with the restaurants selling only fish products. 

We returned back to the car and decided to drive down to Landskrona, where my wife's aunt had lived for about 25 years. This was a 1.5 hour drive through light rain, fog and night, with a lot of cross wind. I had run out of phone battery as well, so had to rely on step by step instructions from my daughter. It required a lot of concentration but the road conditions were extremely good, so it wasn't too stressful. Only regret is that it would have been a much more beautiful drive in the daylight. 

Upon reaching Landskrona, we went to the aunt's old house and drove by her workplace, and she reminiscenced how things have changed dramatically around the town. We located a restaurant to have a late lunch,  but the wait time was high, so we decided to skip that and head to Max Burgers. It was a good choice and it had an amazing vegetarian menu, with plenty of options for veg burgers, sides and drinks. We took a lot of time to order and enjoy the food. We ordered a bit more that we could chew though, maybe overwhelmed by our hunger at first. The burgers were hugh, the patty was delicious and the large cheese fries tub were so large we couldn't finish. 

Once we had finished dinner, sharing plenty of laughs along the way about our trip today, we did the short 30 min drive back to Malmo to refuel, return the car and crash in the hotel. It was a wonderful day driving around Skane, and was left wondering how much more beautiful it would be in the summer with longer days to explore the region.