istanbul, day 1

We finally got into Istanbul about 7. We had pre-ordered transportation to the hotel. So we got our luggage and headed out the doors where the taxi service was waiting. Ataturk airport is also a long way out from the old city, so it was a long ride, at the end through windy old streets. But we finally stopped in Front of the Faros Hotel. It is a neat, old-fashioned place and the manager is a very kind man who let us leave our luggage there until our room was ready after noon.

So out we went to get money from the bank and start to explore. We are literally in the middle of the old city, five minutes away from Haifa Sofia, the Blue Mosque and other major attractions. We stopped at the tourist info office first. (Yes, We found it this time.)

The lady was very helpful and explained all about attractions and the multi-entry card we could get to see lots of museums cheaper. So we headed right over to Hagia Sofia and stood in line for about 20 minutes only to find out that they don’t have anymore of the discount cards. When are they going to be available again?  Nobody knows. So we bought individual tickets because we weren’t going to come and NOT see the sights. After that we walked over to Topkapi Palace and waited in line 45 minutes to buy tickets. In line we got into a conversation with a Dane and some Brazilians. The Dane and I put a body check on on a Turkish guy and his wife she were trying to cut ahead of us. You really thing I’m going to stand there for 45 minutes and let you go first?! The same thing happened in line for the ladies’room. A Turkish lady tried to cut ahead of me and about 10 Japanese. Man, they would have stuffed her head down the toilet. They were really mad.

 We spent about two hours in topkapi Palace then we headed back to the hotel and stopped at a restaurant on the way that the tourist lady had recommended. This place was not touristy. It wa good, spicy, typical Turkish. I had a salad and a lamb kebab which was excellent. And I also thank Turkish tea(chai) in those neat hour-glass shaped glasses. We went home full and rested up because the best was yet to come. Sonia’s old friend Sherhat lives in the Asian part of Istanbul and he was going to meet us after work. What a nice guy and great conversationalist. He knows so much about the city and explained it all as we walked through the old part of Time to a nice little restaurant. He ordered typical Turkish cuisine for us and it was nice and spicy. And they serve  spicy banana peppers with everything. Oh,joy! These beats russian food any day. After that Fouad wanted to smoke a hookah, so Sherhat walked us to another Restaurant where we sat for a long time with a great view of the Bosporus from the 6th floor. 

After talking for a long time, We finally just had to quit because we hadn’t slept at all last night. We tried to get a taxi but the driver was trying to cheat us so Sherhat told us we should get out. We were right by the subway station so we went in, bought a multi-use card and hopped in the funicular that took us down to our tram line . It stops just down the street from the hotel, so it was the perfect way to get home without a jerky taxi driver. Now I’m really ready for bed but just wanted to get caught up with the blog so I can  start fresh tomorrow. And tomorrow  I’ll have pictures of Istanbul.