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our first days in Istanbul
Oct. 21st, 2014 12:33 amI packed my stuff, admired E's handywork of putting a low fence up to keep the dog in and walked the dog. It felt slightly unreal that I was leaving for Istanbul that afternoon, but it got real quickly when I said goodbye to my husband and dog at Schiphol Airport.
An uneventful flight ended at Istanbul airport where it was suprisingly cool (17 degrees celcius). Last time in Istanbul was in august 2012, with Ozma it was significantly hotter. Good changes are the online booking of your bisa: one queue less to wait in. little Brother T and I got into a cab and the adventure began.
Our cab driver spent the first ten minutes trying to figure out where our hotel was. He had some trouble reading our printed document, but he managed to drive his taxi, leer at the document, light himself with his phone and call several numbers at the same time. We decided that it was safer to not disturb him in his multitasking glory. He delivered us safely to the Sultanhamet Newport Hotel next to the Grand Bazar.
The hotel looked freshly painted and decorated, except for some oddly placed holes in the ceiling every now and then. The personel is very eager to please and set us down with a bunch of flyers and a talk about Istanbul. They urged us to ask them for anything we might want. We thanked them and went up to tiniest hotelroom ever. It looks good and has a decent sized bathroom. Too bad we can only get in and out of bed on one side, as the rest of the bed is against walls. Lucky for us, T and I are used to crazy hotelrooms and we just shrugged it off.
T found a recommendation of a Kebab House and we had dinner there, which was lovely. Good food and good service, decently priced and within walking distance. We congratulated ourselves on our keen nose for finding restaurants.
The next morning, we were in for a suprise: no electricity. Breakfast became a romantic candle lit affair in the cellar of the building, and the waitet was desperately trying to make us coffee and tea without electronic equment, which was hard. He opened the coffee,achine to show us the different powder options and offered to scoop some of it in a cup and add hot water. We kindly thanked him for his offer nd left for a coffee on the go and the Topkapi palace.
About the topkapi palace: wow. Mindblowing. I never knew there were so many different hand painted tile designs, all used in one place. One good advice: take a whole day to see the palace, as it is huge and contains many sparkly things. I really liked the treasury with unrealistic huge diamonds, fist sized emeralds and thrones covered in solid gold and rubies. It madr me hungry for more bling! We walked to the spice ,arket and back through the Grand Bazar where I quickly tried a costume at May bellydance costumes. It was a gorgeous Legend satyle costume with silk skirt but it was too tight in the hip area and he quoted me 1600 lira (550€). Too expensive for my budget, so when I respectfully declined he mentioned that the bra-belt sets are 400-900 lira (135-300€.). I might go back tomorrow or Wednesday to check it out.
We dined at a fish restaurant under Galata bridge, where the fishing lines are thrown in above your head and you can literally see the fish being caught right before it ends up on our plates. Tomorrow we plan on the Blua Mosque, going to the hamam together and going on the famous Bosphorus cruise with tourist entertainment. The reviews are mixed: we might end up very happy with the dinner and the show, or it will give me enough material to snark about for the next two years. Both options are a total win.
I'm going to sleep now, wondering about the dedicTion of Turkish people to do home renovation after midnight. We also have someone from the reception in our room, who is trying to figure out why our airco is heating up our room to 37 degrees. We live in interesting times.
An uneventful flight ended at Istanbul airport where it was suprisingly cool (17 degrees celcius). Last time in Istanbul was in august 2012, with Ozma it was significantly hotter. Good changes are the online booking of your bisa: one queue less to wait in. little Brother T and I got into a cab and the adventure began.
Our cab driver spent the first ten minutes trying to figure out where our hotel was. He had some trouble reading our printed document, but he managed to drive his taxi, leer at the document, light himself with his phone and call several numbers at the same time. We decided that it was safer to not disturb him in his multitasking glory. He delivered us safely to the Sultanhamet Newport Hotel next to the Grand Bazar.
The hotel looked freshly painted and decorated, except for some oddly placed holes in the ceiling every now and then. The personel is very eager to please and set us down with a bunch of flyers and a talk about Istanbul. They urged us to ask them for anything we might want. We thanked them and went up to tiniest hotelroom ever. It looks good and has a decent sized bathroom. Too bad we can only get in and out of bed on one side, as the rest of the bed is against walls. Lucky for us, T and I are used to crazy hotelrooms and we just shrugged it off.
T found a recommendation of a Kebab House and we had dinner there, which was lovely. Good food and good service, decently priced and within walking distance. We congratulated ourselves on our keen nose for finding restaurants.
The next morning, we were in for a suprise: no electricity. Breakfast became a romantic candle lit affair in the cellar of the building, and the waitet was desperately trying to make us coffee and tea without electronic equment, which was hard. He opened the coffee,achine to show us the different powder options and offered to scoop some of it in a cup and add hot water. We kindly thanked him for his offer nd left for a coffee on the go and the Topkapi palace.
About the topkapi palace: wow. Mindblowing. I never knew there were so many different hand painted tile designs, all used in one place. One good advice: take a whole day to see the palace, as it is huge and contains many sparkly things. I really liked the treasury with unrealistic huge diamonds, fist sized emeralds and thrones covered in solid gold and rubies. It madr me hungry for more bling! We walked to the spice ,arket and back through the Grand Bazar where I quickly tried a costume at May bellydance costumes. It was a gorgeous Legend satyle costume with silk skirt but it was too tight in the hip area and he quoted me 1600 lira (550€). Too expensive for my budget, so when I respectfully declined he mentioned that the bra-belt sets are 400-900 lira (135-300€.). I might go back tomorrow or Wednesday to check it out.
We dined at a fish restaurant under Galata bridge, where the fishing lines are thrown in above your head and you can literally see the fish being caught right before it ends up on our plates. Tomorrow we plan on the Blua Mosque, going to the hamam together and going on the famous Bosphorus cruise with tourist entertainment. The reviews are mixed: we might end up very happy with the dinner and the show, or it will give me enough material to snark about for the next two years. Both options are a total win.
I'm going to sleep now, wondering about the dedicTion of Turkish people to do home renovation after midnight. We also have someone from the reception in our room, who is trying to figure out why our airco is heating up our room to 37 degrees. We live in interesting times.
