Weekend in Istanbul
Third season in Istanbul
On one of the hot Argentine evenings, we returned home after a romantic dinner. Going online with a tablet to see the likes, we stumbled upon our favorite promotion from Turkish Airlines. The mobile phone was quickly taken out of flight mode, the card was ready iii… Yes, the trip to South America was distinguished by the fact that during one trip we planned and organized the next one for ourselves. Oh yes, that Argentinian evening was truly magical.
Since it’s quite stressful with a vacation, and it’s not that you want to fly, it’s just a good tradition already, so we decided to arrange a pure weekend for ourselves.
It was not just a trip, but real food tourism. Istanbul has two advantages: it is beautiful and very tasty. We ate everything and everywhere. Iskander in tomato sauce with yogurt, dolma with sour cream sauce, mussels with lemon juice right on the street, fresh juices came at once 3-4 cups and many times a day, and of course the traditional Turkish cinnamon sahlep. Oh how we love Istanbul. Even my mother, when talking with her brother on Skype, my brother said that his son-in-law went to Europe for shopping, and my mother said that the children (Dasha and I) went to Istanbul to eat. In general, as always, Turkish food is on top.
This was already the fifth visit to Turkey, and the second visit to Istanbul in a year and now it is our most visited country. It was +12 outside, I wore a T-shirt during the daylight hours. In Istanbul and Ukraine, inflation occurred and, accordingly, prices over the year have changed more than twice relative to the hryvnia. In order not to spend foreign currency, we took a hryvnia card and in Istanbul we either paid with it or immediately withdrawn lira from the partner network of ATMs. According to the exchange rate, taking into account all kinds of commissions, it turned out that the whole trip cost $ 5 more than if we were traveling with dollars. Our hotel was right in the center of the old city, we can say that there is nowhere to go to the center. We took the metro from the airport, then 30 minutes on foot, and in an hour we were in the very center of Istanbul on Sultanahmet.
A year ago, we switched to the tram so as not to walk at all, but now the difference in rates is enormous. During the check-in, I noticed that flying helicopters were heard all the time. When we left the hotel, at first we saw a huge number of police, cameras and moving vans in which officers were sitting and conducting surveillance. Then I realized that there were a lot of people in the center, and the square itself was completely blocked. It turned out that the Pope also visited Istanbul that day. Yes, there is something in this city alluring. The officer explained that the square would be opened within an hour. It’s generally gorgeous for us, everything is now around the square, which means transport along the planned route will be free. After passing through the central streets, we took the city ferry to the Asian part. There we walked a little in a new direction for us, and now it seems that in this giant metropolis, wherever you go, everywhere is beautiful and cozy. We also love Istanbul very much for the cat kingdoms, cats and cats on the streets very, very much!
Not a single cat was hurt during the voto.
It is clear that we not only walked there, but also ate constantly) From the Asian part, we swam to the business part and walked on foot to our favorite district, which is located at the entrance to the pedestrian bridge. We noticed this district for the first time two years ago when we rode on a boat. Now this is our favorite place for evening gatherings. In general, it is so unusual when you already know a foreign city well. After South America, communication with the Turks is not noticeable at all, remembering the trip, it seems to me that we spoke Russian. Although not all Turks knew English, but most importantly, we communicate using the same gestures!
A pleasant atmosphere reigned on the square, locals sat on benches and talked, cafes are everywhere, everything is illuminated, and next to it is a very beautiful bridge, as if in a magical glow. Since everyone was eating baked potatoes with salads, we could not restrain ourselves and decided to have another meal. By bus, we moved to Taksim - the business center of the capital. And from there we walked along Istiklal Street. We met a traditional old tram in which an orchestra played. By the way, this year we bought a card for public transport, with a discount of up to 60%, which greatly simplified our movement around the city. So, whoever needs it - take it from us for temporary use. The strangest thing is that for some reason we didn’t eat anything at Taksim. That was probably the only place on this trip when we didn't eat. From Taksim on foot to Sultanahmet to another part of Istanbul, and from there a walk through the courtyards of the residential area of the old city. Thus, in a day we visited our most favorite places.
Princes' Islands
The next morning it began to rain. Along with the appearance of rain, many sellers of disposable umbrellas also appeared on the streets. Although the price was initially broken down completely inadequate, for the fifth time in Turkey I was able to determine the exact price of an umbrella up to lira, such an umbrella should cost 5 lira. In the tourist information, to the question “how to get to the Princes’ Islands”, we were asked, “and which island specifically? ". For some reason, I imagined these islands as something one whole))) Of course, we sailed to the most beautiful one) First, we had to swim across to the business part in Kabatash, and from there sail further. In anticipation of the next ferry, we sat down in a cozy cafe with an obviously Italian inclination, having agreed that we would pay by card. While Dasha was in the toilet, the lights were turned off in the restaurant. Dasha told how difficult it was to find a way out of the basement. After 5 minutes, the light was turned on, and I decided to go to the toilet. When my light was turned off, I was locked up in such a dark place that for a long time I could not find the handle. Since we were traveling without mobile phones, there was nothing to highlight. While I was looking for a pen, by touch, I even took something out of the socket and put it back in. Finding a way out of the room was the first half of the trouble, the second half was that the toilet was on the underground floor and then we had to get acquainted with the stairs in the dark. When the light was turned on, without waiting for the order, I quickly paid with a card in the terminal, since the cash was worth its weight in gold, given the current situation with the availability of the dollar in Ukraine. When they brought me the ordered pasta. The waiter asked if I would like parmesan. I checked if it's free. The waiter nodded his head in the affirmative, and somewhere completely left the restaurant in the rain. When he returned 10 minutes later, he already forgot about the Parmesan campaign. In general, somehow unusually sat in a cafe. I was pleasantly pleased that everything that was sold inside the ferry was at the same prices as in the city. In Kyiv, for some reason, a completely different scheme is practiced. Although everything was flooded with rain, or even a "light shower", as the Forecaster stated, we still liked the island. The rain poured a little more and stopped.
When we returned to the ferry, my feet got so wet that I had to urgently look for a store with socks, and there was enough time just to drop into the market. Instinct prompted - there should be socks! Among the various products, there was only a large basket with pillows. Instinct suggested that socks should definitely be there. Rummaging through the pillows, I found one pair of tights. Intuition told me: “Look better”, after a couple of minutes of unsuccessful searches, I really found a sock! No price tag.... One... But clean. Aha! So there are definitely socks here, after a painful search of a pile of pillows, a second sock was found. When I brought them to the checkout, the cashier told me in pure Turkish that they do not sell socks. I took the cashier by the hand and led him to the basket. She showed that since there is no price tag, then the socks are not for sale, and in general she is not in the business that they ended up there. Well, since there is no price, let me call mine “One lira, two lira? "The cashiers talked among themselves, she spread her hands that she could not do anything because the market does not sell socks. Dasha suggested the following move - since the market does not trade, and socks do not belong to the products of the market, can we pick them up for free? I gestured to the cashier, saying that I would just pick them up then and asked, “OK? ". The surprised cashier showed with a hand gesture “Whatever you like, in principle, we don’t care. ” Is that what we agreed? These socks really warmed my wet, icy feet. I don't think they were the only one there. From the ferry we jumped to the tram, from the tram straight to the hotel. The hair dryer was able to dry the shoes in an instant and you can continue to walk.
Evening Istanbul, as always, was at its best, and its restaurants delighted us with their culinary masterpieces.
Road home
This is what a two-day weekend turned out to be. And here is the most interesting moment - I go to bed in an Istanbul hotel, and in the morning I should already be at work in Kyiv on time. The alarm clock gave us only 2.5 hours of sleep and the return journey began. 2.5 hours to sleep and stay awake during the working day was not enough, so I needed to get a good night's sleep on the road. I slept everywhere. I slept in a minibus going to the airport. Then at the airport, waiting for check-in, then quickly going through all the controls and looking at the dutik with one eye, I slept in anticipation of take-off. As soon as I got on the plane, I also fell asleep, then I remember that acceleration began and the captain announced that the weather was good in Kyiv minus 10. land, then, using our trick, we were the first to pass the border control and the sky bass driver announces that we are on the Kharkovskaya metro station, then I remember how my transfer station showed up. In general, I slept absolutely in all the intervals of our journey. It took me 30 minutes to get from the hotel to work.
This trip went down in our history as the 50th anniversary flight in 2 years and 3.5 months of our travels.
Tour information
Date of travel: 29.11. 2014 – 01.12. 2014
Duration: 2 full days
Air tickets: UIA, bought on the promotion 13.10. 2014
Hotel: Akdeniz Hotel (Recommended)
Excursions: All by yourself
Trip difficulty: 2/10 (below average)
