Istanbul: Day Two

My friends woke me up at 1am.  By the time I headed back to my hotel they were already boarding their flight.  And just like I warned them, it took them a while to get out of the airport.  They found a  driver and hired him to drive to the city.  It didn’t take them 2 hours like it did for me, but there probably wasn’t much traffic at that time.  I was so happy to see them!

We caught up for a bit and knocked out around 3am.  The hotel’s complimentary breakfast was going to be served from 7-10am.  I woke up around 8ish and headed up to the rooftop to see what they had to offer.  I ran into their parents who have a room across from us.  We all sat together and discussed their trip in Italy.  Eventually we decided to wake up the sisters so they wouldn’t miss out on breakfast.  They finally came up and joined us.

The weather was acting up.  At first it seemed the sun was trying to peek out but the clouds started to roll in.  I also noticed that it wasn’t as warm as it was the day before.  We decided to get things moving and got back to our rooms to shower up and get ready.  First up was the Hagia Sophia Museum.

We walked over down the street from our hotel and I showed them the restaurant I had dined in.  We made our way over to the plaza and noticed how many people were already up and roaming around.  Luckily, most of the sites are near each other.  We found our spot in line and proceeded to wait.  It seemed to be moving quickly, but we waited close to 40 minutes.  As the afternoon got later and later we noticed the line was noticely longer than when we had first waited.  As we got closer the crowd seemed more aggressive.  It got to the point that there were some shoving around, but it settled once we all made our way inside.  I think people didn’t want to lose their groups, but it did get hectic for a bit.

The Hagia Sophia is massive, and once we were inside we had more space to move around.  For the most part, the building itself was detailed more on the dome ceilings and low chandeliers.  We found the infamous Hagia Sophia cats napping over by the fenced area.  They didn’t seem to mind all of the commotion.

We walked around and admired the 2^nd floor when we decided to move along to the Blue Mosque.  We headed outside and found the main entrance.  My friends’ parents wanted to pray so they walked over to the area to rinse their feet.  My girlfriend convinced me to stay in line with her and not go in the visitor’s line, but in the end everyone met in the same area once inside.

Me and my friends stayed at the visitor side while their parents prayed at the other end.  For the most part, the carpet in the Blue Mosque was rich and plush.  Although in person the lighting was not as bright, my iphone did capture the blue tiles inside.  It was a lovely experience and one I will remember in the years to come.

Afterwards, we grew hungry.  We passed by the café I had dined the night before and decided to have lunch there as well.  My friends loved the food and we even made a friend with the local cat.  We figured we still had time to hit one more spot.

We went back to our rooms to freshen up and headed out to find the Spice Bazaar.  This time, we needed to take the tram and that was an obstacle itself.  Luckily, someone explained to us where to purchase our metro cards and how to use the machine.  For the most part, people were very helpful to us.  We jumped on the packed tram and headed to our stop.

It wasn’t too bad of a ride.  But with all of the people walking around, we knew we our chances of getting there quicker were better off on the tram.  We slowly got familiar with the new area, and my friends’ family wanted some Turkish delights.  They stopped at a café to rest up before we all made our way to the Spice Bazaar.

Upon entering we had to go through a security check point, but once inside we decided to part ways.  Her parents wanted spices and I wanted to look around.  My friends were looking for souvenirs to bring back to their family.  The Spice Bazaar was a great place to find interesting goodies.  They even plastic sealed their spices!

We stayed there until it closed and then made our way back to the tram station.  We had a funny moment not knowing that some trams operated at both sides.  We witnessed a tram come to a complete stop, and then the driver got off and walked to the other end to jump on and drive the opposite direction.  

We decided to stick around our neighborhood off of the hotel to check out that local bazaar.  We found a wonderful store selling Turkish lamps and I knew right away I wanted one for my place.  It took us a while to find the combinations we wanted since they were all so beautiful.  

We walked over to our hotel, but my friend grew hungry again and went to a local restaurant nearby and picked up some food.  We stayed up talking most of the night and made some wonderful memories.  I miss them now that I’m thinking about them...

Istanbul: Day One

I ended up taking an uber at 4:30am.  I arrived at Charles De Gaulle airport around 5am.  My flight was at 8am, but boarding time was at 7am.  It was very confusing, but needless to say, I felt better getting there earlier than later.  Once I boarded, I took a nap right away.  I knew I had to get some sleep since I was going to land in Istanbul at 12pm.  I still hadn’t figured out how to get to my hotel yet.

I was out of it once we landed.  Since they had transferred flights to the new airport, I noticed right away how long it was taking us to get to our gate.  Our pilot even reminded us that he had not taken off the remove-your-seat-belt sign.  Passengers got back to their seat and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  At first I felt the pilot was riding down the runway, but it took another 40 minutes until he pulled into our gate!  How big was this airport???

Well, it was HUGE.  Once we got off, it looked like a marathon race.  Passengers were walking quickly to get to passport control, but after they realized how much walking was going on, they slowed down their pace.  We must have passed at least 10 walking terminals until we reached check point.  Luckily, that line wasn’t too bad.

Since I had my carry-on luggage with me, my only concern was trying to find a place to exchange my euros so I wouldn’t have to do it outside of the airport.  The cashier took my bills, and once she asked for my passport, she looked at me and smiled and said, “America.”  I smiled back at her and realized my nerves went away.

My friends whom I was meeting later in the evening were messaging me.  They were still roaming around Naples.  I told them I landed safely, but needed to have some coffee so I could wake up and figure out how to get out of there.  According to google maps, there was a bus that would take me to Istanbul.  It was going to take 2 hours!  I was hoping that wasn’t true, but unfortunately they were right.  By the time I figured out where the ticket booth was to catch this bus, it was nearing 3pm!

I was worried when I boarded the bus since I almost got on the wrong one.  I was too busy following where everyone else was going, but the bus driver assured me I was on the right bus.  Once the bus filled up, he was all set to go.  Unfortunately, they were not going exactly according to schedule.

As we rode into the city, I took the opportunity to look out the window to check my surroundings.  Once we got into the city, I felt a little bit better.  But then I realized the traffic started to back up.  That’s when I looked into the horizon full of buildings after buildings.  Istanbul is HUGE!!  I realized how populated it was.  Sure enough, we got stuck in traffic, and the rest of the ride was bumper-to-bumper traffic.

I noticed palm trees and figured we were getting closer to the tourist part of Istanbul.  I ended up missing my stop.  I should have asked the bus driver but I knew something was up once the majority of people got off a stop.  He reassured me he will drop me off the next stop, but it was towards the port area.  A German lady tried to help me once we got off together and told me to head back to where I was supposed to get off.  I walked along the water front and noticed all the families enjoying the weather.  At this time, the temperature was nearing 80 degrees.

I felt I was way off course, but I knew I was going the right way.  My friends were now making their way to Naples airport, but were surprised I hadn’t gotten to the hotel yet.  After 30 minutes of walking I noticed a building up a hill that had a spike peeking out from the trees.  I felt it was the Blue Mosque.  I knew I was almost there.

I saw some tourists walking around and asked if I was near the Blue Mosque.  I had to go up the hill (a nightmare with my luggage) but the cabs wouldn’t take me up the narrow road.  Apparently, they were not allowed to go into the Old Town.  Only the large charter buses got inside.  I kept walking.

Of course, once I got inside the neighborhood, it took me another 20 minutes to find my hotel.  This area was heavily populated with back to back hotels.  A sweet old man came up to me after he found me standing in front of his hotel and asked if I was lost.  He took the number of my hotel and called on his cell phone to find the exact location.  So far everyone was super sweet to me.

I FINALLY found my hotel.  I was exhausted.  It was now 5:30pm.  I had landed in Istanbul at

12pm and it almost took me 6 hours to get to my hotel.  Unbelievable.  I messaged my friends and told them I was safe.  They’re flight was going to be delayed, but only for 20 minutes.  I ended up knocking out for a bit.  I slept for about 40 minutes, but wanted to have some dinner since by now I was starving.  I jumped in the shower and got ready.  When I checked in, the concierge told me people in Istanbul have dinner around 7 or 8pm.  I knew I didn’t want to walk around by myself too late.

I walked down the street off my hotel and found a Bazaar.  One particular restaurant looked lively, so I settled in there.  They had live music playing.  People seemed to be enjoying themselves.  Others were ordering hookahs for their tables.  I think I found the right spot!

The waiter was very friendly and I ordered the most delicious kabobs I’ve ever had in my life!  At one point a whirling deverish dancer came out and twirled for the audience.  I had to pinch myself!  My first night in Istanbul was magical and I was loving it!