Blogs from Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Marmara, Turkey, Middle East - page 4

Lauantai 6.6. Istanbul Lento meni hyvin lukuunottamatta puolituntista, jonka aikana kaikki räjähti käsiin. Just kun ruokakärry oli kohdalla, A alkoi huutaa täysillä, L:n piti päästä vessaan, tarjottimet liukui syliin, ruokailuvälineet lattialle, vedet penkille, mikään ei toiminut tai sujunut. Ja kuin taikaiskusta kaikki oli taas hyvin kun tarjottimet kerättiin. Pitäis varmaan suosiolla luopua koneruokailuista, mikä ei olis hirveä menetys. Meitä oli vastassa kuski nimikyltin kanssa, helpottavaa. Auto kiemurteli pikkukatuja, kunnes kääntyi ihan mahdottomasta kulmasta parikerroksisen puutalon eteen. Vastaan tuli yltiöystävällinen hotellinpitäjä, joka hymyili korvasta korvaan ja hoki tervetuloa. Tultiin ekaan kerrokseen, josta paljastui olohuone pikkukeittiöllä ja makuuhuone. A:lle oli matkasänky ja sen päällä vaipanvaihtoteline, L:lle oli tehty sänky olkkariin. Paikka on jotenk... read more

The next day the weather changed with heavy rain and the temperature dropped to 6 degrees. Between the rain I visited the Topkapi palace including the Harem section it was an interesting place, it really was a real golden cage. Then on to the Archaeological museum next door to see it’s collection of Hittites and Babylonian artefacts. There were impressive tulip displays all over Istanbul, while the original Tulip plants were natives of Turkey, these were all Dutch hybrid tulips that are more impressive and easier to grow in mass. In the afternoon I visited the military museum it had a special display about Gallipoli campaign plus its normal display about the conquest of Constantinople, together with a collection of armour, swords, bows, shields and firearms . The next day I visited the mosaic museum which ... read more

Woolly says – Pulling the curtains aside the weather seemed to be getting brighter, it still felt bitter so having added a further two layers to my current five I decided to brave the Siberian temperatures for the day. First stop breakfast at my favourite city hangout…… Alice’s. I’m beginning to think that he will be moving into the place at this rate, although it might cut down on the food bill! It was still to bitter to want to venture through the streets so having checked that it was open a taxi was commandeered as we set off for the Rahmi Koc Museum. Woolly says – Even though it was only a few short months since my last visit I was keeping my paws crossed that this time I would be able to board the ... read more

It was a slow start to the first day of the year although to be fair it had taken until 4am to remove the mammoth from the party! The snow appeared to have stopped but the temperatures weren’t any warmer, so having bundled up well we set forth for another inside tourist attraction. Woolly says – I like to move it, move it…… it was a great night and with balloons and sparklers everyone seemed to have had fun. The music, dancing and food provided were brilliant and even my request of a few snacks to keep up my strength were meet with bowls of pistachios, showing that you can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant! While Jo was mustering the troops I stuck my trunk out of the window to access the conditions and ... read more

Blog Entry Two Before we get too far along I want to make it clear that Istanbul is fantastic ... great city ... super clean (more on that later) ... warm and welcoming people ... good food ... everything a traveler could want ... except ... of course ... sunshine. It has been raining and windy since my arrival, which is tremendously disappointing. I had dinner with some German friends who lamented that they were going to have to go home to Munich to warm up (for those who are a bit lax on their German geography, Munich is in the foothills of the Alps, and is not generally considered balmy). Speaking of geography, I am attaching a simple map of the Istanbul in hopes that my descriptions will make more sense ... there will, of ... read more