Istanbul: Day Three

We didn’t have much planned for our last day together.  That’s why we stayed up talking all night long.  We missed the breakfast but grabbed some coffee instead.  We took our time getting ready in our rooms.  I made sure I started packing my things since I had decided I was going to go to the airport tonight.  I had a 4am flight back to Paris.  From there I was going to fly out at 12pm back to Chicago.  That was the best option for me when I booked these flights.  My friends were leaving at 2pm the next day.  

Today the Grand Bazaar was on the agenda.  I knew I wanted to pick up a few souvenirs for my mom and for myself.  We grew hungry since we didn’t eat yet and I decided a fish sandwich was going to be the best choice for me.  I wanted to try some local cuisine and a fish sandwich around the port area was what kept coming up in my searches.  I was too curious not to try!  My friends found a restaurant and I walked over to a fish stand and ordered my sandwich.  The man preparing it added paprika and lemon juice.  To my surprise, the fish was very meaty and filling.  For 7 turkish lire I would definitely recommend it!

We found the Grand Bazaar, and yes, this place was HUGE!  They were selling everything imaginable.  I found a trivet for my mom since she uses them a lot, and found some cay tea to bring back to the States.   I kept walking around to look for something for my male co-workers, but in my opinion, everything seemed too girlie.  I even tried to find some souvenir socks, but kept finding regular black trouser socks instead.  In the end I got them both a can opener with the Turkish flag on it.  Oh well; what can you do?

My friends wanted to go back to the Spice Bazaar.  This part was confusing because I wasn’t sure what else they had in mind.

We rode back the other direction on the tram and headed to the Spice Bazaar.  We stuck around until it closed.  Beforehand, we had made arrangements with the concierge to have a pickup at the hotel by 7:45pm.  They were going to take me to the airport, and unfortunately it was the last drop off for the evening.  We got back to the hotel in time for my ride.  I said bye to my friends and their parents.  They were going to freshen up and head out to dinner.  I wish I could have joined them.

Just like I expected, the caravan had to pick up other passengers at different hotels.  This part took almost an hour.  It wasn’t explained to me at the time but at least I wasn’t in a hurry.  It also gave me a chance to see different neighborhoods since we mostly stayed in the Old Town neighborhood.

In the end, I got to the airport close to 10pm and once it hit midnight, I checked in and decided to kill some time at a café and use their plugs to charge my phone.  I completely knocked out on my flight and landed safely in Paris after 6am.  There I killed some more time by messaging my friend in Italy.  I even got a chance to enjoy one last chocolate filling muffin before I boarded my flight home.  I wish I could find those muffins in Chicago!  They are delicious!

When you are trying to make up for lost time...

Since I felt I didn’t get a chance to do much the day that I landed, I was glad I had a good night’s rest.  I showered up and headed to the café down the street for my croissant and latte.  I got to the Opera a little after 12pm.  There wasn’t much of a line yet, but there were groups of students everywhere.  I didn’t wait too long to get inside.  This opera house is truly extravagant!  I was amazed at how much detail was put in place.  I took a bunch of photos there and even made it to the gift shop to pick up something for my mom.  

I felt the Pantheon was a good choice for my next stop.  It took me a while to figure out where it was.  I was getting frustrated, but eventually I found the little street that led me up to the building.  Again, tons of students everywhere, but I walked in right away.  Talk about grand!  It was one of the most impressive city buildings I have ever laid eyes on.  I was a bit confused on what the pendulum was about.  Regardless, I left to find some crepes.  I was dying for something sweet.

Towards the metro stop I remembered I saw a man selling crepes and decided to have one with nutella.  By now the sun was beating hard, so I headed to Luxembourg Garden to have a seat and enjoy the view.  People were sunbathing everywhere.

I was excited to find out that it was barely 3pm.  I felt I could still sneak in another museum.  I headed back on the metro and exited at the Notre Dame stop.  I looked at the cathedral at a glance and noticed the long line of tourists waiting to get inside.  Who knew that was the last time I would see the Notre Dame in one piece?

I had to walk along the Seine river to get down to the other side to the musee de l’orangerie.  I was worried I wasn’t going to be able to get inside.  I wasn’t sure how long the wait would be.  I asked a bicycle-cab how much would he charge to take me over there.  His rates were listed at 15 euros.  Unfortunately I did not have enough cash with me and I preceded to walk away.  The man stopped me and asked how much I had.  We came to an agreement at 10 euros.  I was not aware they can negotiate. 

What a ride!  It felt good to be off of my feet.  He got me there in no time.  The line was long (by now it was later in the day and that was to be expected).  I was relieved when they let me in.  It was close to 4pm and the museum closed at 5pm.  I did something that got me in a bit of trouble with security.  I found a wall plug and used it to charge my phone.  I HAD TO!!  I couldn’t be here with a phone that was dying out!  I wanted to take my pictures.  Regardless, I charged it for 15 minutes before security yelled at me.  Off I went!

I found the main room of Monet’s Water Lilies right away.  It was amazing!!  I absolutely loved it!  I walked through the rooms and stared at each of the paintings.  This museum was quick to navigate.  I left shortly before 5pm.

I made my way back to my hotel and quickly changed.  My friend and I had made plans for dinner.  I made it back to his place to pick him up and we headed over to Rue Mabillon to Marcello.  I joked to him that he ended up taking me to an Italian restaurant, but the food was very good.  We talked through the night about the changes that were coming up for him.  I like hearing a different perspectives.  It took me a moment to realize he was pretty concerned about the decisions he was making, but I feel confident that things will be fine.    

Unfortunately, by the time I made it back to my hotel, my other friend was messaging me to come out.  We had made plans for tomorrow, but now she’s out and about and wanted to meet up.  I couldn’t do it.  My feet were killing me.  I turned her down and we settled to meet the next day.

Paris: A ride up The Eiffel Tower!

Hello everyone!  I am back and feeling better than ever!  This is ONE OF THE REASONS I LOVE TRAVELING!  When you get that euphoric feeling of bliss looking back on all the pictures you took and realizing it was not a dream!  I can confess my anxiety was pretty bad leading up to this trip.  I would wake up in the middle of the night having terrifying thoughts.  I was informed a few weeks ago that my friend who I was going to meet up in Istanbul had a flight modification.  She was now arriving 12 hours later with her family.  Initially I had booked my flight based on the time she was arriving so I could meet up with her at the airport.  Now everything had changed.

Although I have traveled solo to other countries, I have never been to such a huge city!!  I was mortified when I realized 15 million people live in Istanbul.  The last big city I had visited was London and that had a population of just 9 million.  I was worried I was going to get lost, or would stand out wandering around by myself.  I read up as much as I could leading up to my trip.  Initially that backfired on me (I had read a disturbing article about a female solo traveler who went missing in Istanbul).  I knew the only way to overcome my fears was to be fully prepared for anything.

One of the tidbits I learned during my frantic need of information is ways to be safe in another country for female travelers.  I attached a whistle to my key chain to carry with me at all times.  I registered to the United States Embassy for any updates on France and Turkey.  I also brought with me a plastic door stopper to use for my hotel door room in case I didn’t feel safe.  I realized I should have been doing these things years ago, but now I felt better in knowing that I did the best that I could to prepare myself.

Turkey were holding their local elections the week prior and I monitored the news as well.  In the meantime, Paris were still battling the Yellow Jackets on a weekly basis.  For the first time in years I felt uneasy about visiting Paris.  The only comfort I had was knowing that most of the protests were taking place during the weekends, and I would be in Istanbul during that time.  

Regardless, I had to get through my time in Paris first before worrying about Istanbul.  As usual, I didn’t have much sleep leading up to the trip.  I worked that day and left early to go back home.

I was pretty nervous at the airport.  Luckily, my brother who works for O’hare airport, came by to visit me at Frontera Grill while I had my pre-flight glass of wine.  That was very sweet of him.

Unfortunately, my flight was not too comfortable.  I couldn’t put my seat back.  I slept on and off throughout the whole time.  I did manage to watch some films.  I finally saw Lady Gaga’s movie “A Star is Born”.  At least now I know what the fuss was about!

Once I landed I contacted my friend who wanted to see me during his lunchtime from work.  I took a cab to Paris (which ran about 55 euros) and waited for him until he showed up.  It was nice seeing him.  We made plans to see each other later on again.

I made my way to my hotel and showered up.  Since now it was late afternoon, I knew I didn’t have much time to check out a museum.  I decided to find Rue L’Universite on my own.  I’ve been secretly wondering where the infamous shot of the Eifel Tower was and I managed to track it down on Instagram.  Many tourists have taken photos there because of the street leading up to the tower.  It was gorgeous indeed.  I decided to walk over to see how long the line was to ride up the elevator.  Since the weather was crappy, the line was not too bad.  I decided to go for it!

It took about half an hour to finally get up the elevator.  I am afraid of heights so I chose to not go all the way to the top.  Regardless the view was amazing!
Afterwards my friend messaged me that he was getting off from work.  The winds were very gusty and I decided to head over to his place instead of venturing out some more.  Like they say, tomorrow is another day!

Paris: Day Three

Day 3 in Paris was by far the BEST day of my trip.  Looking back on it now, I didn’t realize how perfect this day was going to turn out.  Isn’t it funny how that works sometimes?

I woke up and got ready.  Once I made my way down there I figured I should have breakfast before the day got busier unlike the day before.  I quickly found a café and ordered some croissants, coffee and juice.  This was their breakfast special and it was about to end soon.  Travel tip:  Since I was a bit tight on schedule, I forgot how much slower the service can be in Paris, especially if you want to grab something quick.  I took my time when the food arrived regardless.  I realized I have not sat down in a café since I got here.

The waiter got aggravated with someone and literally kicked him out of the restaurant; no pun intended.  That part surprised me, even if he was bothering customers for money.  I didn’t realize Parisians can have a temper.

I got lost (again) looking for Atelier des Lumieres.  I really wanted to see their art installation on Gustav Klimt but now I was wasting too much time looking for this place.  I told myself not to get too cheap in situations like these.  Even though I knew I was close by, I hailed a cab and gave them the address.  After a couple of twirls through the rues, she dropped me off in front.  I was so grateful.

The security had a line for tickets, but I did not have one.  I could not understand what was going on or what he was saying to people coming up to him, but once it was my turn, he told me to go inside.  I got the tickets from the ticket booth and walked through the door they told me to go to.  I must have missed something but the lights were on in the room.  There were people everywhere but I looked around to see what was going to happen.

Then, out of the blue, the lights shut off.  It did scare people a bit, but the lights quickly turned back on, with the opening credits of the installation.  I found a spot to watch everything.  It was basically set up in a warehouse, but the visuals were amazing.  The whole thing lasted about 45 minutes, but I loved every minute of it.

I browsed through their gift shop and then realized I could knock something else off of my itinerary.  I wanted to see the Sainte Chapelle de Paris.  I found the train and headed back towards Notre Dame.  I knew I was nearby again, but this time I walked up to two police officers and asked them where it was.  They were helpful and told me to go down the street.  I found the line forming and waited for a bit to get inside.  I didn’t realize once we got around the corner that there was another line to get in.  Here we had to pay for a ticket to get inside which I found odd. I didn’t realize how much smaller this cathedral was compared to the other ones I have visited in Paris.  You had to climb up a narrow stairway to get inside, but once you did, the beauty of the stain glass overwhelms you.  People would stop dead in their tracks!  I took my time inside and admired the details.

I didn’t take as long as I thought I would because of how small it is in size.   I had always wanted to check out the neighborhood of Trocadero.  Since I knew it would be close to the Eiffel Tower, I decided to head towards that direction via metro.  I entered the directions through my phone and was pleasantly surprised when I rode the train above ground.  I caught the stunning view of Paris and grew excited to get to my destination.  Btw, there were a TON of people in the Trocadero neighborhood!  It was a little overwhelming at first, but I managed to find the infamous platform in no time.  I grabbed a baguette sandwich while I walked around.  I enjoyed people watching too.  Everyone just loves the Eiffel Tower!

At that point, I wanted to head back to my hotel and freshen up since I was out in the sun all day.  I also wanted to get my suitcase together since I had to get up in the morning.  My flight was at 1pm but I knew I had to be at the airport a lot sooner.  

My friend was waiting for me at a café.  It was officially my last night in Paris and I needed to make the most of it.  For my commute, I had to catch a bus outside of my hotel.  It was nice looking out the window and seeing the passing streets.  A half hour later, I got off my stop and walked down the street.  I found my friends at the café and we enjoyed a glass of wine.  We decided to walk around and find another café and there we ran into Le Dome.  It was a happening place, and luckily they seated us right away.

In the end, it was bitter sweet leaving Paris.  I didn’t expect to enjoy my last day so much.  The morning was a bit chaotic.  I’m glad I got to the airport early again, because there was another backup, and this time people were yelling at the employees in French.  Not good on my nerves, but I caught my flight back to Iceland.  This time, my layover was 6 hours.  I figured I could make arrangements to go to the Blue Lagoon, but no such luck.  They told me right then and there that they were at capacity.  Oh well.  I found a spot at the airport used their WiFi to catch up with my friend in Italy.  I even had dinner there at the airport since I was going to land in Chicago later in the evening.

Recapping my stories have made me miss Paris all over again.  It’s funny that a place can leave you feeling that way…

Paris: Day Two

I woke up early to head down to the Catacombs of Paris.  I heard the lines to get in were terrible, and they were right!  I also read online that it’s a bit chilly down there, so I wore some leggings underneath my dress.  I figured I could easily take them off somewhere once it was over.  The weather was tipping 80 degrees, but I did my best not to think about how warm it was.  Since I literally ran up to the line, it never occurred to me to grab some coffee and munch on a croissant while I waited.  The line was moving very slowly.  At one point, I couldn’t take it anymore.  I asked the people in front of me if they could hold my place in line.  I was so out of it.  I needed my java fix.  I ran to a bakery nearby and ordered a cup of espresso along with a baguette sandwich.  I scarfed it down as soon as it was ready.  I enjoyed talking to some of the people in line with me.  Behind me were two pretty girls from Demark.  They had been staying in Paris for one week now.

Once we finally got inside the entrance, I realized my tickets came with the audio.  I offered to share my headphones to the girls behind me so they could listen in on what was happening.  I didn’t realize how far down we were going!  I counted 150 steps!  This is definitely not for the weak-minded.  Luckily, no one was freaking out, although there was a group of students that started to screech a little.

The catacombs were very impressive.  Each of the bones were layered up evenly as if they were bricks.  There were times I felt I wasn’t really “there”.  It’s hard to grasp seeing 6 million people layered up like that.

I never felt afraid, and everyone around me was well behaved.  I bought a book from the shop above and said bye to the girls.  They were flying out that day.  I decided I still had time to do something else off of my itinerary.  It was now past 3pm.  I wanted to continue so I headed to le Cimetière du Pere-Lachaise to see if I could find Jim Morrison’s tomb.

It took me another 45 minutes to get there.  By now I had been using my phone to find directions.  I entered the cemetery with a 30 percent charge.  I walked around and took some footage but my phone started to act up.  Next thing you know, it turned off completely.  I tried turning it back on, but it said I was out of battery.  Weird.  I figured “someone” didn’t want me to film.  I didn’t let it creep me out.  I just went on my way. 
Too bad I kept going in circles.  I walked around aimlessly but couldn’t find any help around, and the tourists I did run into didn’t know where his tomb was.  I figured I will walk back to the main entrance to look at the floor map again, but people told me it was now closing.  I must have misread the wrong information online.  I thought the cemetery closed at 8pm but it closes at 6pm.  I had to leave.

I found a café to charge up my phone.  I thought about my time in Paris.  I felt I could still knock off le Jardin du Luxembourg.  It was sunny out and I knew I didn’t have time to see another museum.  Off I went!

Since it was now early evening, people were dining everywhere outside.  The cafes were filled with people.  I walked my way over to the entrance.  It was pretty massive.  I covered as much ground work as I could before resting up.  It was nice seeing everyone enjoy their time in the garden.  People were reading, taking pictures, and absorbing the beauty of the palace.  I didn’t get a chance to go inside, but it looked lovely.  

By now it was getting close to 8pm.  I figured I should head back if I wanted to rest up first.  I took a quick shower and laid down once I got to the hotel.  I didn’t want to leave my hotel too late.  This time around, I found my hotel a bit unsettling.  I had some very noisy neighbors who kept going in and out of their hotel room which was right next to mine.  I felt uneasy but I didn’t want to make a fuss since I knew my hotel was at full capacity when I booked online.  I wanted to rush out before I ran into any of them in the hallway.  Oh well.  What could you do?  The area was filled with people, so I never felt unsafe there.  I just felt uneasy.  The receptionist who was wonderful to me last time I had visited was not there anymore.  I missed him a lot.

From a friend’s recommendation, I wanted to checkout Kong.  I had on my new red ankle strap heels which were barely 3 inches.  I felt fine the whole  night I was walking in them.  They are now my go-to heels for traveling.  I found the Seine river and went down to the river walk thinking it was there.  I found out Kong was up on the street, but I did walk around a bit and enjoyed the view.  The Eiffel Tower was twinkling.

I finally found Kong and walked up to the bouncers.  They let me in, but this place was intimidating.  I was worried it was out of my price range.  Luckily, I did ask the bouncers if I could have a drink at the bar since I didn’t have reservations for dinner and they said it was fine.

Once upstairs, I tried to compose myself.  The bartenders were sweet.  I ordered the Asian Porn Star cocktail and loved it.

Since it was a bit pricey in there, I finished up my cocktail and messaged my other friend in Paris.  He was bar hopping all over and we decided to meet at O’Sullivans.  I took a cab and ended up st the wrong place.  I guess there’s two different O’Sullivans, but I finally found my friend in the end.   Everyone inside was so young.  But they had so much energy!  I loved it!  We danced all night long.  I had a blast with him and his friend.  We caught up a bit before we ended our night there.  I’m glad I got the chance to see him…