Blogs from Turkey, Middle East - page 14

Die 12. Woche in Stuttgart ist auch problemlos vorbei gegangen. Am Samstag bin ich dann mit der Bahn von dort nach Frankfurt gefahren, wobei diese zum Glück nicht überfüllt war. In der Mainmetropole habe ich dann übernachtet. Diesen Plan habe ich ausgearbeitet, als ich noch in Helmstedt war. Eigentlich hätte ich am Sonntag direkt von Stuttgart zum Frankfurter Flughafen fahren können. Aber so konnte ich zumindest länger schlafen und hatte in dem 5-Sterne-Hotel am Hauptbahnhof noch ein gutes Abendessen und Frühstück. Die Bundesliga ging ja an dem Wochenende auch sehenswert in die Winterpause. Am Sonntag bin ich dann nach dem Auschecken zum Terminal 1, wo ich mein Gepäck abgab und weiter zur Sicherheitskontrolle gegangen bin. An diesem Sonntag vor Weihnachten war dabei erheblich weniger los, als am Samstag vor dem letzten Weihnachten auf dem Weg nach ... read more

We have arrived in Istanbul and I thought the Polaris Lounge in Newark was nice. The Istanbul Airport is absolutely beautiful. Kevin and I both agree that it’s the prettiest airport we’ve ever visited and Kevin has been in many, many, many more airports than me. The entire airport is like a huge mall with shops everywhere and beautiful detailing on the walls and ceilings. And I haven’t even got to the Turkish Air Lounge yet (for business class travelers). We are sitting in comfortable leather lounge chairs surrounded by food stations where chefs are preparing various Turkish dishes, as well as Asian cuisine, a beautiful salad bar, dessert bar, coffee bar and even a movie theater and a slot car racetrack for kids and adults. This is not a bad place to relax for 4.5 ... read more

Pamukkale is a well known place to visit within Turkey where there are amazing white tiered calcium deposits, old Roman ruins, an amphitheatre and pools all in the one place, it's a great place to visit for a day! Many people will come here for a day trip and we were the same. We had spent the night in Denizli and caught a bus in the morning to get to Pamukkale. It is better to get there in the morning before the tour groups get there. We entered from the South Gate and walked up the Calcium deposits while Hot Air Balloons drifted ominously above. By the time we slowly made our way to the top, more people had arrived so we decided to go to the quieter places like the pools and amphitheatre. We contemplated ... read more

Back in Çeşme, the immigration process was slightly swifter and facilities much better. We found our new hotel, a Boutique (Butik) hotel in the back streets of the main shopping street. The charming couple that run the hotel were very keen to teach us some Turkish and found the language translation apps very useful in welcoming their guests. We had dinner in the main area of town, and a quick wander around. The next day we took a taxi to the nearby village of Alaçatı. Alaçatı is a picturesque village (that now seems to exist solely for tourism) about 9km away from Çeşme. Think white-washed houses with vivid blue doors and window sills, blooming pink Bougainville flowers and ample opportunities to take that perfect photo. It was a lovely walk around town – a little busy ... read more

We arrived into the new Istanbul Airport (one word HUGE) late Monday evening from Seoul. We were swiftly picked up by our pre-arranged pick up service by a nice young man in flash BMW and taken to our hotel in the old city. We love staying around the Sirkeci/Fatih area of Istanbul – close enough the Sultanahmet and all of the old city attractions, and only a short walk over the Galata bridge to the shopping/hip district of Beyoğlu. My 6th visit to Turkey, and Bill's 5th. This city will never grow old for us – indeed this country sparks something special for us. Early the next morning (which is a great time as not too many people are out) we walked up the winding street dodging trams and cars to Sultanahmet. As we've done the ... read more