Friday, March 24, 2006
Istanbul
Istanbul! Wow, it’s an amazing city!
We landed with no trouble on a cloudy day. At times there is a slight drizzle, but not enough to pull an umbrella out. We landed about 20 minutes early (10:00 AM EET) and soon meet up with our travel group. They divided us up into three groups. Each going to a different hotel. We were sent to the Orsep Royal Hotel. It’s very nice considering what a busy location it is set in. The equivalent would be near Time’s Square in NYC or 6th Street in Austin. This part of the city is the oldest. It is inside the old Byzintine era walls. All the streets are curvy and it’s easy to get lost here. Luckily we are just a few meters from all the key sites here in Istanbul.
After we landed we had a short drive of about 30 minutes from the airport to the hotel. During this drive we saw the walls of Constantinople, a fishing village, the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia Mosque. Once you pass the walls of Constantinople and enter the old city, the streets become narrow and winding. At our hotel there is construction going on, so our bus had to drop us off a block from the hotel. This was not bad as we got to see immediately the wonderful cobble stone streets and the many eclectic shops that make this area so unique.
Our hotel room is very small. It’s just big enough to have 2 beds, a tiny desk, 2 tiny night stands, a small bathroom, and a small closet. But this is about what you would expect from any metropolis. You’d be hard pressed to find something like this in NYC for the price.
Once we checked in and got settled we walked to the river and then walked to the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia Mosque. We found our only complaint so far with Istanbul. And that’s the pushy street vendors, and crooks. Several stores have guys that stand out side and try to ploy you to go into their store or restaurant or store. At times it just feels incessant. The other street annoyance is the guys that pretend that they want to be your friend or guide. Our tour guide warned us about how they use this to try to rob you. As well as many other street scams.
The Hagia Sofia is amazing. It’s size is a little daunting. To think that it is so old and still around is amazing. To think that they could build something like this so grand so long ago is also amazing.
We walked over to the Blue Mosque which is just across the park. We took off our shoes and stepped inside. I didn’t think they would let us in since I was in blue jeans and Yulia didn’t have a head scarf. They didn’t seem to mind as we were with quiet a few tourists without scarves and wearing blue jeans. The size of the mosque is immense. It’s huge!
There are so many intricate details it is hard to describe with words. The first thing I noticed was the size of the four columns supporting the roof. Then I noticed the roof. The roof has many smaller domes and a large central dome. There was a few people working on updating the mosque’s lights while we were there. It looks like there is much intricate work done to take care of the mosque.
Tonight we are having a dinner with our tour group. We will be eating at our hotel. Then it’s probably going to be an early night for us. The next day we start at 8am to travel to Gallipoli. I can’t wait!
We landed with no trouble on a cloudy day. At times there is a slight drizzle, but not enough to pull an umbrella out. We landed about 20 minutes early (10:00 AM EET) and soon meet up with our travel group. They divided us up into three groups. Each going to a different hotel. We were sent to the Orsep Royal Hotel. It’s very nice considering what a busy location it is set in. The equivalent would be near Time’s Square in NYC or 6th Street in Austin. This part of the city is the oldest. It is inside the old Byzintine era walls. All the streets are curvy and it’s easy to get lost here. Luckily we are just a few meters from all the key sites here in Istanbul.
After we landed we had a short drive of about 30 minutes from the airport to the hotel. During this drive we saw the walls of Constantinople, a fishing village, the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia Mosque. Once you pass the walls of Constantinople and enter the old city, the streets become narrow and winding. At our hotel there is construction going on, so our bus had to drop us off a block from the hotel. This was not bad as we got to see immediately the wonderful cobble stone streets and the many eclectic shops that make this area so unique.
Our hotel room is very small. It’s just big enough to have 2 beds, a tiny desk, 2 tiny night stands, a small bathroom, and a small closet. But this is about what you would expect from any metropolis. You’d be hard pressed to find something like this in NYC for the price.
Once we checked in and got settled we walked to the river and then walked to the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia Mosque. We found our only complaint so far with Istanbul. And that’s the pushy street vendors, and crooks. Several stores have guys that stand out side and try to ploy you to go into their store or restaurant or store. At times it just feels incessant. The other street annoyance is the guys that pretend that they want to be your friend or guide. Our tour guide warned us about how they use this to try to rob you. As well as many other street scams.
The Hagia Sofia is amazing. It’s size is a little daunting. To think that it is so old and still around is amazing. To think that they could build something like this so grand so long ago is also amazing.
We walked over to the Blue Mosque which is just across the park. We took off our shoes and stepped inside. I didn’t think they would let us in since I was in blue jeans and Yulia didn’t have a head scarf. They didn’t seem to mind as we were with quiet a few tourists without scarves and wearing blue jeans. The size of the mosque is immense. It’s huge!
There are so many intricate details it is hard to describe with words. The first thing I noticed was the size of the four columns supporting the roof. Then I noticed the roof. The roof has many smaller domes and a large central dome. There was a few people working on updating the mosque’s lights while we were there. It looks like there is much intricate work done to take care of the mosque.
Tonight we are having a dinner with our tour group. We will be eating at our hotel. Then it’s probably going to be an early night for us. The next day we start at 8am to travel to Gallipoli. I can’t wait!
// posted by Lee @ 12:11 PM 
