During the past month I've been out on the road again starting off with a trip to Zurich for a European developer marketing meeting. It was then off to Istanbul for the Microsoft OneEd conference which brings together the Academic Developer, Education and Microsoft Research teams from across Europe to collaborate and share their academic plans and strategies for the next financial year. Fortunately we arrived in Istanbul pre the arrival of the hoardes of Liverpool and AC Milan fans for the UEFA cup final and Clare from the Education Group and I managed to fit in an intensive day of sightseeing over the weekend. I’ve been to South Western Turkey a few times before on holiday but this was my first trip to Istanbul and I was impressed!
Straddling the Bosphorus, its skyline studded with domes and minarets, İstanbul is definitely one of the great romantic cities, where East literally meets West. With only 24 hours Clare and I set out on a mission of intensive sightseeing taking in the Aya Sofya mosque (below), the stunning Topkapi Palace and Harem, home to Selim the Sot who drowned in the bath after drinking too much champagne..., the magnificent Blue Mosque (above) resplendent with its 6 minarets and blue tiles, the Grand Bazaar, one of the world's most famous souqs, rounded off with a trip to the Basilica cistern, the underground water reservoir built by the romans. Aside the sightseeing we managed to find time to drop in at the very stunning Four Seasons Hotel, a former prison, for a drink and then headed off to Ulus 29 for dinner, perched high above the Bosphorous with the most amazing views back towards Istanbul.
From Istanbul I then joined the developer team and headed up to Harrogate, synonymous with Betty’s Tearoom and Yorkshire Tea, for the penultimate of this year’s Technical Roadshows where we were joined by a number of academics including David Grey, a lecturer and MVP from the University of Hull as well as Peter, a budding 14 year old developer!
After my trip to Istanbul I'm left with a final thought, can you ever drink too much champagne?