Day 1 Off to Istanbul
With Skyelark having completed being refurbished in Thailand, she made her way to Turkey on the deck of a freighter, awaiting our next adventure “The Grand Tour”.
I took the Megabus from Buffalo to Toronto, at $20 roundtrip how could you beat it, I had planned to use the transit to get to the airport but the directions seemed daunting so I opted for a taxi. My Air Canada flight was delayed in leaving, funny nobody ever complains about the delay when they tell you the plane needs some maintenance work done; the flight was uneventful and we arrived in Istanbul at 10:20 am. I was a little nervous having never been to this part of the world, I seem to remember a rhyme we used to say as kids about Istanbul and Constantinople; it seemed like such an exotic place to me then, so far away. Looking out the window as we landed I could see the vastness of the city, “what have I gotten myself into”, was the thought going through my head. I took the Havatas Bus from the airport to Taksim, per recommendations on TA and then a taxi to my hotel, the Faro Old City.
Upon arrival the manager told me there was a slight problem, their computer system has a glitch and they were over booked. They made me a reservation at a nearby hotel, Hotel Sultanhan, I was pleasantly surprised when I got there as the original place was $80 a night, but this one listed for $250.
Since I only have a couple days here I showered and headed out to see the nearby sights. I walked the main road to get my bearings and check out the area. The street is lined with shops and restaurants; at the end of the road is the famous Blue Mosque and the Hippodrome originally a racecourse for chariots built in 203 AD. The ploy here seems to be, “come to my shop and have some tea, I will give you my card and you can look at my goods”; but after several trips and numerous cups of tea, I still didn’t buy any carpets.
I had a list of places I wanted to visit so I set off for the Grand Bazaar; it’s a large complex with 1000’s of shops selling all sorts of items, especially carpets, leather goods and ceramics. I had hoped to find a wine skin, but no luck there. The complex started as a small warehouse in the 1400’s and has spread out over the centuries to the sprawling complex you see today.



The entrance to the Grand Bazaar



The intricately decorated vaulted ceilings of the bazaar

In the evening I decided to do a boat tour on the Bosphorus, I’m glad I brought a jacket as it was quite cool once the sun set. The 2 hour trip was nice, the guide pointed out all the historic buildings and gave some background on each.



Restaurants line the area underneath the Galata Bridge, as the Yeni mosque looms in the background



The Ataturk Bridge spans the Bosporos joining Europe and Asia

After the boat trip I stopped at a small restaurant and had dinner, and finished off with my first taste of Raki, a local liquor similar to Sambuca.
It was about 11:00 pm when I started to make my way back to the hotel, having to stop several times to ask directions as the streets look different at night and not all the names are on the map I got at the hotel. Even walking down small dimly lit roadways and alleys I never felt unsafe and people were happy to steer me in the right direction. Not being fully on local time, 7 hours ahead of home, I took my time and strolled up and down the main road a bit, the street and restaurants were still very busy; jet lag finally caught up with me around 12:30 so I called it a night.