Wow, time has flown...
Last time I wrote I was finishing up in Israel, packing for the airport. I wanted to get sleep since I had only slept three hours the night prior, but it did not happen. I talked to Rachel a bit and the blog actually took hours longer than expected.
Three A.M. approached quickly, I got all my stuff, left a bottle of wine for the landlord and met Jack at the hostel. Jack was always ready and on time, a great quality and much appreciated, thanks Jack.
We took off for the airport and got there way faster than I expected, we followed the signs to rental car drop off but it turned out we had directions that said "do not follow the rental car return signs" - we didn't really figure out why but it took us a bit longer than expected to figure it all out. No one told me when I rented the car that I had directions in the bundle of papers they give you and that I may want to know not to follow the clear signs that say where to return the rental car... The actual directions were rather unmarked and very unclear... Random.
I finally got into the airport and started the process around 4 A.M. - my flight was at 750... The security team had to rush their questions and when they found out my flight was at 750 they relented and let me go through - rushing me past the line and putting me in special screening lines. I barely made my flight but did get to stop by the VAT Return (tax return) place for about $175 of taxes back on my iPhone purchase. Everything worked out.
The flight was really empty, and it was a very nice plane- probably the nicest I've been in in a while. All my flights have been the same company - Turkish air, but this flight was really much higher quality (same price). I passed out, completely. I vaguely remember waking up in Istanbul, went through the motions and hopped on a bus to Taksim - the center of the city and near my apartment.
Day 0:
The end of the bus line was Taksim so I knew I was safe sleeping, I woke up when everyone was getting off the bus, around 11:45 which worked out nicely. The plane ride was only two hours, so backtracking I must have landed around 10 am and the bus ride was probably around an hour and twenty minutes.
My airbnb host said he would meet me on his lunch break at noon. I grabbed a quick chicken quesadilla at a nice hotel that offered free wifi as soon as I got off the bus to reconnect and let Damir the host know I was near. I noticed the food was cheap, only $7 at what seemed like an expensive hotel.
I checked into the airbnb apartment and fell asleep for about six hours. The apartment was nice, 124 stairs to the top with no elevator was unfortunate but truthfully barely noticed it because I only walked up them once a day. The view was good, the bathroom, bed, laundry machines were all really nice/high quality. I think I paid $70 a night for a two bedroom centrally located nicely furnished apartment with a view.
Once I woke up I double checked my booking for the hostel, and gave them a call wondering what was going on in the evening - they responded "a pub crawl". I showered, got dressed and headed over to the hostel to meet the pub crawlers. Taxi's here I would soon find out are a pain! 50% of the time you get someone you just cannot work with and you end up getting out, paying them or not, and walking... The other 50% of the time when it works out and they know where you're trying to go, it's really cheap. Random roll of the dice I guess... Only one ride was more than $10 and I've been all over town - I think that taxi driver ripped me off.
Once I changed four taxis I finally got a good taxi driver. He said "25 liras" and I agreed (it's roughly 3 to 1 so that is $8-$9) once I got in he knew exactly what he was doing and sped through traffic like I was a VIP... I was impressed, thanks for that. I got to the hostel right on time and met the group I would soon grow quite fond of.
The night went smooth, we checked out a rather empty pub, then went to a half filled bar, ending at a packed club. The promoter / guide / leader Deniz did a great job. I was kind of minding my own business but ended up making some good friends that night that stuck together the entire time I was in Istanbul.
DAY 1:
We ended the evening and I woke up at the hostel talking to some roommates. Thomas, from Vienna was going on the ferry and had all his times set - I had 10 minutes to make a decision whether I wanted to go with him or not (I had not met him yet), I decided to go.
The night prior I had asked someone I trusted to hold onto my phone because I didn't want to lose it, and we got split up, so they still had my phone. I really didn't want to leave it since I just lost a phone in Israel and it was expensive to replace but I had to make a decision and it was the right one, everything worked out perfectly. We took a ferry up the bosphorus to the dead sea, hopping off on the asia side and meeting a couple french people randomly. We walked up to the fortress on the top of the hill and got a great view of the bosphorus opening up to the black sea. A new bridge was being built - a massive bridge, quite a view. I have pictures of this but not enough time to post them here. I will post them on Facebook or in the picture slide / video.
We eventually made our way over to the European side of the Bosphorus in an attempt to go north to see the black sea and dip our feet / go for a swim. The path we had to take was quite off the beaten path, we ended up taking a bus west/inland to Sariyer and then from there taking a bus north to Kilyos. Once in Kilyos we walked to the beach, the bus trips and walking through these little cities was really quite nice. The day couldn't have been better, and we ran into no problems, only nice people and smooth transitions. We rarely waited more than 30 seconds which was probably just random luck - in fact one ferry even had already departed but then came back just so we could board - how nice.
We purchased entrance to the public beach, it had showers and washrooms, mostly populated by families. There was an area that had what resembled a cement boat launching area that was much more populated by the younger crowd. People just laid on whatever was available and free, jumping off the end of the cement "dock" and having a good time. Later I would see more people laying on rocks in Istanbul/Turkey than I've ever seen anywhere else.
The beach was nothing special. We checked the block (I didn't have my phone so I don't have pictures). Thomas went for a swim I just dipped my feet (the water was freezing). We stood there for a while getting a feel for the beach and he explained the countries on the Black sea - Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Georgia, etc... Neat little body of water. There were a lot of large shipping freighters out there, not sure what they were doing.
We left the beach and grabbed a quick schwarma type sandwich from a local shop, heading back to the buses to get back to Istanbul (it was past 3pm - the last ferry time). We took the same bus back to Sariyer then a local turkish woman around our age spoke perfect english (rare) and told us how to get on the next bus which would take us to the metro. We arrived at the metro and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the public transportation. It was real cheap - around $1.50 one way! The ferry was around $3.50 one way.
The metro was fast, clean, and made perfect sense. Well built, well ran, couldn't be happier with it. We arrived at our stop fast, and we were back at the hostel before we knew it. I grabbed my phone and went back to the apartment to change before the pub crawl that evening, I had made many friends including some air force guys stationed in turkey, two women with college degrees from new zealand, a guy with a masters from san jose working in IT, a guy from germany in school for his phd, - people I genuinely enjoyed being around - how lucky.
The evening went well, we went to a couple new spots and ended up at the same club at the end of the night. It got way too packed, WAY too packed, people were smothering me, I didn't like it at all and started feeling kind of upset at people so I just left... It was so packed I couldn't even get to most of my friends to say I was leaving - I just told the people I was near and I decided to head back alone, grabbing some food on the way. Josh must have had the same idea (the german working on his phd) because after I came out of the potato shop I saw him eating and walking back alone as well. Apparently everyone pretty much left at the same time, in the same fashion, for the same reasons.
I had ordered meat off of the rotating skewer, put into a pita bread wrap type thing (basically schwarma) but asked them to put cheese and olives in it from the potato bar... They gave me really weird looks but did it. I thought it was good?
Day 2:
Day two I woke up and met up with Josh and his roommates, the two new zealand women for a guided tour of the Roman chariot racing area, the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and since the Grand Bazaar was not open on sundays, a smaller bazaar in its place.
The girls were not ready so I decided to maximize the time and grab some breakfast. We met up and walked to the bus stop for transportation from Taksim area to the Hagia Sophia area (not sure what else to call it, but the area south across the Golden horn that has all the sites). We shared two omelettes on the bus with two forks between four people like we had been family. It actually worked out well, and we had a good start for the day. We saw all the sites, took all the pictures (will post them later).
The chariot racing area was neat. The romans had made it their second capital and transported huge displays from different countries such as egypt to show their power and wealth. There was a lot of history in that little spot such as the three snake scepter missing the heads made from bronze weapons and shields from the enemy to celebrate victory. Still standing to this day!
The blue mosque was alright, nothing to write home about. Women and men alike had to be covered (legs and shoulders), you couldn't wear shoes inside, and it was pretty massive. There were no ways to cut the line as in mosques they said everyone is equal. Sounds like a good idea.
Hagia Sophia was much more impressive in my opinion. It seemed much larger, and much more sturdy. The guide said even in the huge earthquake the hagia Sophia didn't suffer any damage, not even a crack, while other buildings fell down. Hard to believe with such a massive, old building.
The bazaar was small and quiet, it seemed like a more personal / private bazaar compared to the massive and kind of crazy grand bazaar with so many people. We bought some dried fruits and Josh got ripped off haha. He ended up returning them after some haggling and taking about a $7 loss only. He said it was quite an experience.
After we finished the guided tour, we were dropped back off at our hostel and Josh and I went to the Sulimaniye Mosque to check out some more sites. It was very similar to the other two and I see why the tour left it out. We spent a few minutes there and soaked up some quality quiet time outside relaxing in the courtyard.
After the mosque we went in search of a recommendation from the hostel pub crawl group leader Deniz - a restaurant with a view near the mosque. On the way we found a really nice looking courtyard restaurant unlike much I've seen before. It was literally a square with one way in, directly outside the mosque - all outdoors but walls on all sides, quite private (except the open doorway). We peaked inside and saw quality looking people creating a good environment and kids playing around the fountain in the middle. The food and furnishing seemed really good quality so we decided to grab at least a snack and a peak at the menu. The food turned out to be amazing - Josh and I shared an appetizer and a single entree... Green beans and I think lamb kebob. Yum. It was so good we got a dessert - though I don't remember what it was called it tasted good also. A really high quality experience and greatly appreciated. I left a good tip and thanked our waiter who taught me turkish words : Thank you - Tesheku Ederim. Good bye : Gulee Gulee (or something close). Very good : Schock Guzel.
Our stomachs somewhat filled, we decided to continue our search for the rooftop recommendation with a view. Asking for some help from people that didn't speak english we slowly made our way with the help of iPhone maps and navigation. We ended up visiting three rooftop terraces on the walk back to the hostel - each one getting better and better. We met a couple people and made some friends in the process with two local guys a little younger than us wanting to go to school in the USA.
We made our way back to the hostel and I went back to the apartment to change. We made plans to check out the 360 restaurant because I wanted to see if it was affiliated or on par with the 360 in Toronto at the CN tower and the 360 in Dubai. True to its name it did deliver and was on par, the views were awesome. A new arrival joined us, Seif, and we had a good time. I wanted to check out the top rated club before going to bed just to see the view from it (supposed to be great) but when we got there it was clear from the Lamborghinis outside and the people in suits, that we might be a little underdressed (the reviews said it was impossible to get in but we thought we would try). We asked to see the views but they said we needed women with us (also in the reviews). A third note about this place, it was in the reviews that they really didn't like tourists either, so we had all that working against us. The area was really nice though and it was good to see more of istanbul, not a complete waste. Josh had a birthday party there previously, locals with women, with good clothes, and he said it was not his kind of place, overly high end, to the point of making a statement. I understood what he meant better once I saw it for myself.
Seif and I took a taxi back to the hostel / apartment area (I forgot to mention josh did not join us, he already was home and it was just Seif and I). We got some sleep and I woke up around mid morning, maybe 9-10 am.
Day 3:
I hit the ground running. I didn't have any messages, people seemed to be quiet, so I decided to just take off on my own. I enjoy having someone with me or tagging along with someone else, but when it's just me I can get to work and not have anyone else to worry about... I walked for HOURS, probably 5-6 hours of straight walking... I walked for miles through the south side of the city, from west to east, leading up to the grand Bazaar and the area all around. Endless shops... endless knock offs... the smell of chinese production, really impressively bad. Miles of shops with the same stuff, really cheap.
I hit the Grand Bazaar, Egyptian Bazaar (Spice market), Gulene Park, Topkaki Palace, and then got a massage.
The bazaars were huge, I didn't buy anything just checked it out. A few gold shops, and a lot of stuff I didn't want. Same with egyptian bazaar/spice market. Not really anything different than the small bazaar we went to with the tour guide - but much larger and busier.
Gulene park was HUGE, it surrounds the palace. The park was free to enter and I walked the entirety of the park - ending at a rear entrance to the palace with what looked like Turkish army guards. I asked them how I get into the palace and they said the other side. Ouch. Huge park - and I had to walk all the way to the other side of the huge palace. Probably a 20 minute walk in itself. To paint a picture, I was on the north side of the palace walls, walking east until I hit the water and the rear entrance with the guards. I then turned around, walked away from the water and followed the wall curving west/south until I exited the park and went into the south gate (of two gates) which was for Topkaki palace and the Archaeological museum. I walked straight past the Arch museum and went into top kaki. There were not many signs, I was walking ahead of another english speaking solo tourist and everything I did, she did, we kind of laughed at how little instruction there was - trial and error.
Eventually after a couple hours (the palace was huge) I caught a few solid views, and decided the palace was impressive, no doubt, but really quite simple at times too. It was obviously rich, yet had very plain cement floors and couches I wouldn't even want. It was weird. It had 86 karat diamonds and what seemed like endless property / buildings / views that could kill but I just wasn't impressed by anything other than those couple spots in the palace that were about 40 feet high on walls overlooking the water and surrounding city... Extremely powerful spots... Other than those spots, I wouldn't even want to live in this "impressive" palace. I think it might have something to do with muslim culture being basic, and if that's true, I could respect that - but I am unsure/uneducated.
After Topkaki, I saw a nice hotel on the walk home that said Lenvi Spa, and when I saw spa, I thought massage. I hadn't had a massage in a long time... And my legs were sore from walking for hours. I asked if they had availability and they said they could squeeze in a quick half hour session. I fell asleep - I remember liking the massage but woke up completely alone - weird - I guess the massage was over. I paid and used their wifi to set up some plans for the evening... I was trying to bring everyone together again... In the back of my head I kind of knew everyone was leaving soon - I had all of their contact information and went to work influencing a group gathering because I just genuinely liked all of them. Everyone made it happen , it was great ... things just fell into place perfectly and as I was finishing up the last of my texts, got out of the shower, walked back to the hotel for the suggested meeting time, everyone else had just finished their day and started gathering naturally at the hostel as well. The beginning of a perfect night while traveling.......
What a great night. We smoked Sheesha, ate a traditional and absolutely delicious local turkish dinner, drank their local drink, went to one of my favorite rooftop bars, arm wrestled, and just had a good time. Everyone was leaving the following day, this was it, we had arrived at about the same time and were departing around the same time, how convenient.
We stayed up pretty late and enjoyed beautiful views the entire time as we sat in the best corner table and talked about our travels etc. The evening came to a close and I went back to the apartment and fell asleep. I was kind of sick from the sheesha and local drink (not my favorite).
Last time I wrote I was finishing up in Israel, packing for the airport. I wanted to get sleep since I had only slept three hours the night prior, but it did not happen. I talked to Rachel a bit and the blog actually took hours longer than expected.
Three A.M. approached quickly, I got all my stuff, left a bottle of wine for the landlord and met Jack at the hostel. Jack was always ready and on time, a great quality and much appreciated, thanks Jack.
We took off for the airport and got there way faster than I expected, we followed the signs to rental car drop off but it turned out we had directions that said "do not follow the rental car return signs" - we didn't really figure out why but it took us a bit longer than expected to figure it all out. No one told me when I rented the car that I had directions in the bundle of papers they give you and that I may want to know not to follow the clear signs that say where to return the rental car... The actual directions were rather unmarked and very unclear... Random.
I finally got into the airport and started the process around 4 A.M. - my flight was at 750... The security team had to rush their questions and when they found out my flight was at 750 they relented and let me go through - rushing me past the line and putting me in special screening lines. I barely made my flight but did get to stop by the VAT Return (tax return) place for about $175 of taxes back on my iPhone purchase. Everything worked out.
The flight was really empty, and it was a very nice plane- probably the nicest I've been in in a while. All my flights have been the same company - Turkish air, but this flight was really much higher quality (same price). I passed out, completely. I vaguely remember waking up in Istanbul, went through the motions and hopped on a bus to Taksim - the center of the city and near my apartment.
Day 0:
The end of the bus line was Taksim so I knew I was safe sleeping, I woke up when everyone was getting off the bus, around 11:45 which worked out nicely. The plane ride was only two hours, so backtracking I must have landed around 10 am and the bus ride was probably around an hour and twenty minutes.
My airbnb host said he would meet me on his lunch break at noon. I grabbed a quick chicken quesadilla at a nice hotel that offered free wifi as soon as I got off the bus to reconnect and let Damir the host know I was near. I noticed the food was cheap, only $7 at what seemed like an expensive hotel.
I checked into the airbnb apartment and fell asleep for about six hours. The apartment was nice, 124 stairs to the top with no elevator was unfortunate but truthfully barely noticed it because I only walked up them once a day. The view was good, the bathroom, bed, laundry machines were all really nice/high quality. I think I paid $70 a night for a two bedroom centrally located nicely furnished apartment with a view.
Once I woke up I double checked my booking for the hostel, and gave them a call wondering what was going on in the evening - they responded "a pub crawl". I showered, got dressed and headed over to the hostel to meet the pub crawlers. Taxi's here I would soon find out are a pain! 50% of the time you get someone you just cannot work with and you end up getting out, paying them or not, and walking... The other 50% of the time when it works out and they know where you're trying to go, it's really cheap. Random roll of the dice I guess... Only one ride was more than $10 and I've been all over town - I think that taxi driver ripped me off.
Once I changed four taxis I finally got a good taxi driver. He said "25 liras" and I agreed (it's roughly 3 to 1 so that is $8-$9) once I got in he knew exactly what he was doing and sped through traffic like I was a VIP... I was impressed, thanks for that. I got to the hostel right on time and met the group I would soon grow quite fond of.
The night went smooth, we checked out a rather empty pub, then went to a half filled bar, ending at a packed club. The promoter / guide / leader Deniz did a great job. I was kind of minding my own business but ended up making some good friends that night that stuck together the entire time I was in Istanbul.
DAY 1:
We ended the evening and I woke up at the hostel talking to some roommates. Thomas, from Vienna was going on the ferry and had all his times set - I had 10 minutes to make a decision whether I wanted to go with him or not (I had not met him yet), I decided to go.
The night prior I had asked someone I trusted to hold onto my phone because I didn't want to lose it, and we got split up, so they still had my phone. I really didn't want to leave it since I just lost a phone in Israel and it was expensive to replace but I had to make a decision and it was the right one, everything worked out perfectly. We took a ferry up the bosphorus to the dead sea, hopping off on the asia side and meeting a couple french people randomly. We walked up to the fortress on the top of the hill and got a great view of the bosphorus opening up to the black sea. A new bridge was being built - a massive bridge, quite a view. I have pictures of this but not enough time to post them here. I will post them on Facebook or in the picture slide / video.
We eventually made our way over to the European side of the Bosphorus in an attempt to go north to see the black sea and dip our feet / go for a swim. The path we had to take was quite off the beaten path, we ended up taking a bus west/inland to Sariyer and then from there taking a bus north to Kilyos. Once in Kilyos we walked to the beach, the bus trips and walking through these little cities was really quite nice. The day couldn't have been better, and we ran into no problems, only nice people and smooth transitions. We rarely waited more than 30 seconds which was probably just random luck - in fact one ferry even had already departed but then came back just so we could board - how nice.
We purchased entrance to the public beach, it had showers and washrooms, mostly populated by families. There was an area that had what resembled a cement boat launching area that was much more populated by the younger crowd. People just laid on whatever was available and free, jumping off the end of the cement "dock" and having a good time. Later I would see more people laying on rocks in Istanbul/Turkey than I've ever seen anywhere else.
The beach was nothing special. We checked the block (I didn't have my phone so I don't have pictures). Thomas went for a swim I just dipped my feet (the water was freezing). We stood there for a while getting a feel for the beach and he explained the countries on the Black sea - Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Georgia, etc... Neat little body of water. There were a lot of large shipping freighters out there, not sure what they were doing.
We left the beach and grabbed a quick schwarma type sandwich from a local shop, heading back to the buses to get back to Istanbul (it was past 3pm - the last ferry time). We took the same bus back to Sariyer then a local turkish woman around our age spoke perfect english (rare) and told us how to get on the next bus which would take us to the metro. We arrived at the metro and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the public transportation. It was real cheap - around $1.50 one way! The ferry was around $3.50 one way.
The metro was fast, clean, and made perfect sense. Well built, well ran, couldn't be happier with it. We arrived at our stop fast, and we were back at the hostel before we knew it. I grabbed my phone and went back to the apartment to change before the pub crawl that evening, I had made many friends including some air force guys stationed in turkey, two women with college degrees from new zealand, a guy with a masters from san jose working in IT, a guy from germany in school for his phd, - people I genuinely enjoyed being around - how lucky.
The evening went well, we went to a couple new spots and ended up at the same club at the end of the night. It got way too packed, WAY too packed, people were smothering me, I didn't like it at all and started feeling kind of upset at people so I just left... It was so packed I couldn't even get to most of my friends to say I was leaving - I just told the people I was near and I decided to head back alone, grabbing some food on the way. Josh must have had the same idea (the german working on his phd) because after I came out of the potato shop I saw him eating and walking back alone as well. Apparently everyone pretty much left at the same time, in the same fashion, for the same reasons.
I had ordered meat off of the rotating skewer, put into a pita bread wrap type thing (basically schwarma) but asked them to put cheese and olives in it from the potato bar... They gave me really weird looks but did it. I thought it was good?
Day 2:
Day two I woke up and met up with Josh and his roommates, the two new zealand women for a guided tour of the Roman chariot racing area, the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and since the Grand Bazaar was not open on sundays, a smaller bazaar in its place.
The girls were not ready so I decided to maximize the time and grab some breakfast. We met up and walked to the bus stop for transportation from Taksim area to the Hagia Sophia area (not sure what else to call it, but the area south across the Golden horn that has all the sites). We shared two omelettes on the bus with two forks between four people like we had been family. It actually worked out well, and we had a good start for the day. We saw all the sites, took all the pictures (will post them later).
The chariot racing area was neat. The romans had made it their second capital and transported huge displays from different countries such as egypt to show their power and wealth. There was a lot of history in that little spot such as the three snake scepter missing the heads made from bronze weapons and shields from the enemy to celebrate victory. Still standing to this day!
The blue mosque was alright, nothing to write home about. Women and men alike had to be covered (legs and shoulders), you couldn't wear shoes inside, and it was pretty massive. There were no ways to cut the line as in mosques they said everyone is equal. Sounds like a good idea.
Hagia Sophia was much more impressive in my opinion. It seemed much larger, and much more sturdy. The guide said even in the huge earthquake the hagia Sophia didn't suffer any damage, not even a crack, while other buildings fell down. Hard to believe with such a massive, old building.
The bazaar was small and quiet, it seemed like a more personal / private bazaar compared to the massive and kind of crazy grand bazaar with so many people. We bought some dried fruits and Josh got ripped off haha. He ended up returning them after some haggling and taking about a $7 loss only. He said it was quite an experience.
After we finished the guided tour, we were dropped back off at our hostel and Josh and I went to the Sulimaniye Mosque to check out some more sites. It was very similar to the other two and I see why the tour left it out. We spent a few minutes there and soaked up some quality quiet time outside relaxing in the courtyard.
After the mosque we went in search of a recommendation from the hostel pub crawl group leader Deniz - a restaurant with a view near the mosque. On the way we found a really nice looking courtyard restaurant unlike much I've seen before. It was literally a square with one way in, directly outside the mosque - all outdoors but walls on all sides, quite private (except the open doorway). We peaked inside and saw quality looking people creating a good environment and kids playing around the fountain in the middle. The food and furnishing seemed really good quality so we decided to grab at least a snack and a peak at the menu. The food turned out to be amazing - Josh and I shared an appetizer and a single entree... Green beans and I think lamb kebob. Yum. It was so good we got a dessert - though I don't remember what it was called it tasted good also. A really high quality experience and greatly appreciated. I left a good tip and thanked our waiter who taught me turkish words : Thank you - Tesheku Ederim. Good bye : Gulee Gulee (or something close). Very good : Schock Guzel.
Our stomachs somewhat filled, we decided to continue our search for the rooftop recommendation with a view. Asking for some help from people that didn't speak english we slowly made our way with the help of iPhone maps and navigation. We ended up visiting three rooftop terraces on the walk back to the hostel - each one getting better and better. We met a couple people and made some friends in the process with two local guys a little younger than us wanting to go to school in the USA.
We made our way back to the hostel and I went back to the apartment to change. We made plans to check out the 360 restaurant because I wanted to see if it was affiliated or on par with the 360 in Toronto at the CN tower and the 360 in Dubai. True to its name it did deliver and was on par, the views were awesome. A new arrival joined us, Seif, and we had a good time. I wanted to check out the top rated club before going to bed just to see the view from it (supposed to be great) but when we got there it was clear from the Lamborghinis outside and the people in suits, that we might be a little underdressed (the reviews said it was impossible to get in but we thought we would try). We asked to see the views but they said we needed women with us (also in the reviews). A third note about this place, it was in the reviews that they really didn't like tourists either, so we had all that working against us. The area was really nice though and it was good to see more of istanbul, not a complete waste. Josh had a birthday party there previously, locals with women, with good clothes, and he said it was not his kind of place, overly high end, to the point of making a statement. I understood what he meant better once I saw it for myself.
Seif and I took a taxi back to the hostel / apartment area (I forgot to mention josh did not join us, he already was home and it was just Seif and I). We got some sleep and I woke up around mid morning, maybe 9-10 am.
Day 3:
I hit the ground running. I didn't have any messages, people seemed to be quiet, so I decided to just take off on my own. I enjoy having someone with me or tagging along with someone else, but when it's just me I can get to work and not have anyone else to worry about... I walked for HOURS, probably 5-6 hours of straight walking... I walked for miles through the south side of the city, from west to east, leading up to the grand Bazaar and the area all around. Endless shops... endless knock offs... the smell of chinese production, really impressively bad. Miles of shops with the same stuff, really cheap.
I hit the Grand Bazaar, Egyptian Bazaar (Spice market), Gulene Park, Topkaki Palace, and then got a massage.
The bazaars were huge, I didn't buy anything just checked it out. A few gold shops, and a lot of stuff I didn't want. Same with egyptian bazaar/spice market. Not really anything different than the small bazaar we went to with the tour guide - but much larger and busier.
Gulene park was HUGE, it surrounds the palace. The park was free to enter and I walked the entirety of the park - ending at a rear entrance to the palace with what looked like Turkish army guards. I asked them how I get into the palace and they said the other side. Ouch. Huge park - and I had to walk all the way to the other side of the huge palace. Probably a 20 minute walk in itself. To paint a picture, I was on the north side of the palace walls, walking east until I hit the water and the rear entrance with the guards. I then turned around, walked away from the water and followed the wall curving west/south until I exited the park and went into the south gate (of two gates) which was for Topkaki palace and the Archaeological museum. I walked straight past the Arch museum and went into top kaki. There were not many signs, I was walking ahead of another english speaking solo tourist and everything I did, she did, we kind of laughed at how little instruction there was - trial and error.
Eventually after a couple hours (the palace was huge) I caught a few solid views, and decided the palace was impressive, no doubt, but really quite simple at times too. It was obviously rich, yet had very plain cement floors and couches I wouldn't even want. It was weird. It had 86 karat diamonds and what seemed like endless property / buildings / views that could kill but I just wasn't impressed by anything other than those couple spots in the palace that were about 40 feet high on walls overlooking the water and surrounding city... Extremely powerful spots... Other than those spots, I wouldn't even want to live in this "impressive" palace. I think it might have something to do with muslim culture being basic, and if that's true, I could respect that - but I am unsure/uneducated.
After Topkaki, I saw a nice hotel on the walk home that said Lenvi Spa, and when I saw spa, I thought massage. I hadn't had a massage in a long time... And my legs were sore from walking for hours. I asked if they had availability and they said they could squeeze in a quick half hour session. I fell asleep - I remember liking the massage but woke up completely alone - weird - I guess the massage was over. I paid and used their wifi to set up some plans for the evening... I was trying to bring everyone together again... In the back of my head I kind of knew everyone was leaving soon - I had all of their contact information and went to work influencing a group gathering because I just genuinely liked all of them. Everyone made it happen , it was great ... things just fell into place perfectly and as I was finishing up the last of my texts, got out of the shower, walked back to the hotel for the suggested meeting time, everyone else had just finished their day and started gathering naturally at the hostel as well. The beginning of a perfect night while traveling.......
What a great night. We smoked Sheesha, ate a traditional and absolutely delicious local turkish dinner, drank their local drink, went to one of my favorite rooftop bars, arm wrestled, and just had a good time. Everyone was leaving the following day, this was it, we had arrived at about the same time and were departing around the same time, how convenient.
We stayed up pretty late and enjoyed beautiful views the entire time as we sat in the best corner table and talked about our travels etc. The evening came to a close and I went back to the apartment and fell asleep. I was kind of sick from the sheesha and local drink (not my favorite).
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