Blogs from Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Marmara, Turkey, Middle East - page 18

We managed to sleep in a bit today since we both are getting used to the time difference, but we sure weren’t late for breakfast! It’s one of the best parts of the day as I love walking in and talking to Lynn; Dad and I don’t understand how she gets anything done as she is so attentive to the guests at the hotel and she really goes the extra mile. I also just love Ayse, she is so sweet and her smile just lights up my day! Today we decided to try our hand at the Turkish public transportation system! This is a first for Dad as well as me since when Dad was last here they only had buses and taxis. We needed to get the Tram to the Dolmabache, which was built as ... read more

I woke up at 4:30 to the sound of the morning prayers, which is quite soothing to me and was a wonderful way to wake up and start the day. Dad was still adjusting to the time change and was up shortly after as well. I was counting down the hours until I could eat the wonderful breakfast at the Apricot Hotel! Now that I had a chance to sample everything at the buffet I knew what I really wanted. I had received my birthday presents from my parents (I will be spending my birthday on the road with a tour, so Dad brought my presents with him)and I got a Netbook which I absolutely love (I thought I could do this trip without a computer but it proved to be very difficult) and a Bloggie. ... read more

We left Cape Town with butterflies in our tummies but soon settled down on our wonderful flight flying Turkish Airways. The plane seemed brand spanking new with all the fruit. The tv's in front of us were touch screen, you could plug in your laptop and cell phones. AS for the food - it was better than many restaurants I have been to. Yes I am talking about airline food - there was nothing airline about it and we were sitting in economy. So we could not fault the flight but heck what was to come when we landed I was not prepared for. We had to queue for our visa and then we had to queue for immigration - I saw over 108 arms for landing bays and I think all were full with planes ... read more

today me and dad visited two world famous mosques (blue mosque and aya sofya mosque/church) we both thought that the aya sofya was the best! after the mosques we decided to take a walk in the local park and have a small nap then we went back to the hostel for dinner and watch the liverpool last game of the season however we lost. whilst watching the game we ate lamb kebabs and met some really nice south africans (they supported man city = ). after dinner we took a long walk round the city but on the way back we went down some creepy dark allys and a wierd man followed us trying to sell us crappy old socks (100% cotton lol). ... read more

Shortly after midday yesterday I arrived safely in Istanbul, having slept through most of the flight. Fortuitously, an Australian who was on my flight was booked to stay at the same place as me (Bauhaus Guesthouse), so we helped each other find our way here. We checked in with an eccentric Turkish receptionist who's obsessed with the British TV series "The Only Way Is Essex", and who insisted on playing me several clips. After having checked in, the Australian and I went for a walk around the environs of the hostel. We're located in the Sultanahmet district, about halfway between the world-famous Blue Mosque and the straits separating this (European) side of the city from the Asian side, so there's a lot to see right on my doorstep. The city's really amazing, just as I'd imagined ... read more