Our first visit to Turkey!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Greetings from Istanbul! We actually made it!! To be honest, I'm very grateful that we were able to work around the civil unrest and strikes in Greece!

Got up around 7 this morning and started getting assembled. As our plane wasn’t scheduled to leave until 2 p.m., we figured we had quite a bit of time. Went downstairs for breakfast, and it was great! Large glasses of fresh orange juice, hot chocolate & coffee, a plate of ham and wonderful cheese, breads and rolls, eggs AND yoghurt! Whew! Couldn’t get through half of it! We were ready to leave around 9:30 a.m. – (and Anne just rolled her eyes!!) so out we went. So glad that we allowed a lot of time! We planned on taking a taxi from the hotel to Syntagma Square and then catching the metro for the airport. First, there was some sort of police trouble which caused quite a traffic jam when we were in the taxi. Then, when we got on the metro, turns out it wasn’t the train to the airport! It headed out in that direction, but then stopped 5 stops short – and everybody had to get out and wait for the suburban train…which was coming along in 24 minutes! So, we were glad that we had lots of time to spare. Found Aegean Airlines check-in counter and we were on our way! The flight was right on time, and voila, we were up in the air! Unbelievably, on a flight that was scheduled for an hour, they served a real dinner – at no charge! Wasn’t great – beef with orzo, a roll with Greek cheese, and a sweet – but these gals really had to move in order to get everything served and then picked up, all in less than 60 minutes! Whew!

Had a great view coming into Ataturk airport. Lots and lots of what looks like new apartment blocks. Also, many mosques – easy to recognize thanks to the multiple minarets! We were in row 6, so got off the plane quickly. Headed first for the VISA station, but guess what? Nobody there!! Where next, we asked. Another visa section near the customs hall – and then the fun really started. Got the Visa stamps in our passports, then went to immigration. They had two lines – Turkish passports and “all others” – and to be honest, I’m thinking that there are probably still people from our plane in that line!! It was a MESS! Very frustrating!! We waited probably 45 minutes in an absolute SCRUM – no order whatsoever. No idea what they were looking for or why things took so long, but it definitely was a very negative beginning to our Turkish visit. Fortunately, things got better from there.

First of all, the weather is really lovely; somewhere in the low to mid-60's and very comfortable. We were concerned about entering mosques in shorts, which is usually a no-no, but looks like that's not going to be a problem! Yea!

Once we got through, it was easy to locate our bags – heaven knows how long they’d been going around on the carousel! Everything was there and collected, and then we headed out – and there was the guy from the Orient Express Hotel with a sign saying “Mr. Robert Brucato” – it was TERRIFIC! He came in a minivan, and zipped us out of the airport and into the city. The ride probably took about half an hour, and was just lovely! We followed along a huge park that lined the Sea of Mamara; lots of people out walking or jogging; many ships in the harbor – an incredibly busy place! Then past the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia and finally, to our hotel, the Orient Express. Very nice people, and nice public rooms (pool in the basement!), but to be honest, I’m not really impressed at all with our room. It’s 606, on the 6th floor, so nice and high, but in the back and in my opinion, rather pokey. However, the price is right, the internet is free and we’ve got lots and lots of satellite TV channels – but best of all is the location! We are right in the middle of things, which will make sightseeing much easier. Settled in as best we could (lack of drawers…) and then headed out for an exploration walk.

Got Turkish Lira at the local ATM, AND found a laundry just a block away!! The plan is for us to take our clothes over tomorrow morning, and then they’ll be done in the afternoon. Very exciting!! Walked down to the water, then back and past the old train station – from whence the Orient Express train used to leave and arrive! So neat!! We are both feeling like Istanbul is a wonderfully vibrant, colorful city, and we're very pleased with this discovery! We've already heard the call to prayer twice -- and so far I can't really tell if the so-called voice lessons are paying any dividends yet!

Found a self-service kind of mezze place which looked really good, so decided to have dinner. It was rather like an Italian antipasto display – you point and they put some on your plate. We got mushrooms, potatoes, eggplant and tomato to split, with R getting a chicken shish-ka-bob and me getting a beef. They came with servings of wonderful cous cous with mint, baked tomatoes and a great onion relish for the meat! We were very, very happy with the food! Only a few steps back to the hotel, and now we’re in for the night.

The plan tomorrow is to first deliver the laundry, and then head to the National Archeological Museum…

So – more later!!
Lots of love,
m
x