istanbul Monday Ju

Monday, June 11, 2012

Our last day in Turkey. Carl is the leader and he has chosen a ride up the Bosphorus.  The dawn breaks sunny and warm.  We rise, enjoy a breakfast at our hotel and off we go.  We cab it to the ferry dock and then wait for an hour to board.

Carl has given us instruction on where to sit on the ferry to stay out of the sun and still in the wind.  Good thing he did as the line for the ferry surged in and we all made a mad rush for seats we thought everyone wanted.

We passed this gate and wall at the narrow part of the waterway. There was a similar structure on the opposing shore.  Turkey is just full of this awesome stuff.

Tom watching the water.  On the way home we looked for an saw schools of dolphin swimming south to warmer waters; a thing a great beauty.

There were probably wish stops until we reached the mouth of the black sea.  This was a cute village.

This boat was enormous.  It is hard to tell here but it was huge.

The cove where we put in at the last stop.  The waiters from these waterfront restaurants are yelling and waving their menus at us as we approach.

Men mending the fishing nets.  There is a huge pile of nets behind them.

We walked an steep and arduous hill to arrive at this castle on the top where the Bosphorus meets the Black Sea.  That looks like a Christian cross in the middle of the tower.

A view of the opening to the black sea. Still stunning water.

A hole in the castle wall revealing south toward the Bosphorus.

Tom and the Black Sea meet.

Leslie and Belinda on the way down.

A look back at the Castle ruins. Great location.

Another stunning view of the opening to the Black Sea.

Road bikers that got off the ferry.

A view from the restaurant we had lunch in.

More variety of headscarves.

Old Ottoman houses on the shore.

Margaret relaxing on the way home.

On the cab ride home we passed this park.  On Friday and Saturday these parks along the canal way were packed with picnickers.  Lots of shish being cooked on little grills.

And so, another day ends and we go home tomorrow.  Lovely time.  Thanks again Carl and Leslie.

Back to the USA

We are packing and heading out to the airport for our 11:25am flight on Turkish Air to JFK.

Our Final Tourist Day in Turkey

After getting a bite to eat for breakfast, we met at our guide, Carl at 9am to set out on a journey up the Bosphorus.

Carl will be sending me his writeup for the wonderful day we had, complete with nice pictures.

Dinner at Mehmet's Home

Monday, June 11, 2012
Mehmet was very gracious to invite the remaining 5 of us to a Sunday meal at his home to meet his family.  He picked us up at the hotel and drove us out to the suburbs.  He lives in a very nice gated community.  He said that a large 1999 earthquake scared a lot of the people into buying updated homes and even single family homes if possible.  With the help of mortgage products it made it possible for many people to buy more updated homes.

We were welcomed and introduced to Mehmet's wife Ozlem and 3 children.  They have a 17 year old boy and twin 9 year old girls who were very shy.  Ozlem spoke very good English but had not practiced her English as much when she once worked at the US accounting firm Arthur Andersen.  She is now going back to finish her university work in food nutrition and diet.

They have a beautiful home and family.  We had a nice Sunday BBQ in the back yard.  Mehmet tried out his new charcoal chimney starter for the coals and it worked like a charm.  Carl chipped in to help Mehmet manage the grill of chicken and lamb.  Just when we thought the meat was cooked, out came the meatballs, sausages, peppers, and tomatoes.

Ozlem had prepared many mezes including green beans, yogurt, eggplant/tomato dish, and salad.  Mehmet even warmed up some flat bread on the grill.  It was a delicious meal around a beautiful table outside.  We had a very nice time with our gracious hosts.

The traffic going back to the hotel was very heavy.  Mehmet said that this would be his normal commuting traffic which would take an hour each way.  Mehmet dropped us off at the hotel at midnight and we said goodbye.  We will see him one last time on Tuesday to see us off to the airport.

A beautiful home.

Before dinner chat.

Very comfy.

The cooking begins.

A beautiful table and wonderful mezes.

As soon as you thought he was finished cooking, there was more!

He must be a good cook, the children are anxious.

Good food.

The travel organizer.  Good job Carl.

Beautiful family. What a blessing this meal was.

The Adventure Continues - Day 13

Sunday, June 10, 2012
Belinda the intrepid explorer had been scouting out churches on the Internet and along our walk yesterday and is determined to go to Sunday Mass.  She would like to go to St Anthony's in Beyoglu (the area we visited yesterday).

She thinks Mass is at 9am so we headed out at 8:15am.  She talked to the front desk person to look over the map and to call a taxi to take us to the closest spot we could get to by auto.  We then walked a little way to the main street.  We discovered that the English Mass is not until 10am.

Belinda decided to try and find Santa Maria for 9am Mass by using her map.  We walked down a very long hill and came to what looked like a mosque and a christian church where she thought the church would be located..  We tried to find our way to the church entrance but had to retrace our steps somewhat to find the entrance.

We encountered a person who spoke English and he said service was not until 10am but come in and have a seat.  We went into the church but Belinda realized it was not a Catholic Church.  We asked the man where Santa Maria was.  He indicated that we basically had passed it on the main street.  It had a very small opening gate to the small chapel.  We walked back up the long hill and found the church.  We got there just in time for the Italian service.  We were a little sweaty and out of breath at the beginning of the service.    There were probably a dozen people in attendance.

Then we went to Starbucks for my first Starbuck's coffee since being in Turkey.  While I have stopped into many of the stores looking for city mugs, I had resisted and have been only drinking local coffees (Turkish, Necafe, cappuccino, and lattes).  Boy, was that cup of coffee good.

We walked to the same street where we were left off to get a taxi.  Belinda gave the driver our hotel card but he had no idea.  Another taxi driver basically told him to head over to the Blue Mosque.  We did not have good enough street directions in our minds to lead him back to the hotel.  We knew the general direction of where our hotel was.  We got out of the taxi on the wrong side of the Blue Mosque as there was no way to go back around the Mosque.  We had to walk uphill a distance to get back to our hotel.

We got back to the hotel and hung out awhile before meeting the rest of the group at noon.  This is Paul's last meal in Turkey for this trip.  He has a flight and will be leaving at 3 for the US.  We stopped by a restaurant just down the clock from the hotel.  After 2 weeks in Turkey I have discovered that my favorite dish is Ali Nazik (roasted eggplant, sweet peppers, garlic, yogurt and cooked lamb).  The others say that their meal was just so, so.

We then said goodbye to Paul and we split into two groups for the afternoon. Carl, Margaret and I went to look for a book Carl wanted "Ancient Roads of Anatolia", ATM, pomegranate vase, and to the Archeological Museum.  Belinda and Leslie went back to a shopping area that Leslie had found earlier in the day while we were at church.

On our (Carl, Margaret and me) way back to the hotel we stopped at Denizen Coffee for a refreshment.  Margaret had a strawberry frappe while Carl and I had iced coffees.  Our server was an American from the Jersey Shore who has been living in Istanbul since October.  We had a short conversation with him and then we walked back to the hotel by 3:30pm.

Belinda and Leslie saw many nice items while shopping.  Belinda bought a silk scarf and Turkish towel.

Istanbul Day 12

Saturday, June 9, 2012
We have a new tour guide today.  Carl has been to Istanbul 4 times before this and certainly more qualified than us new timers to lead an expedition.  We are headed for Taxim Square which is across the Bosphorus.  We spoke to one of the men at the front desk who said it should be a maximum of 20TL for cab fare.

We went to the Hippodrome to try and get 2 taxis at the same time.  The first 2 taxis we saw wanted too much money (35TL) and would not come down in price.  Leslie waved down a taxi and then Carl.  We took a 10-15 minute ride and both taxis arrived around the same time.

We walked down a very nice pedestrian street with all sorts of shops, consulates, restaurants, and churches.  We wandered through many of the side streets as well taking in the interesting sights.

Opps, animal remains from a butcher.  That is why we like the side streets best.

The place where Carl had rice pudding just like Mom's.

Many dining areas within this large domed building.

We were entertained by one of the Turkish ice cream vendors.  The ice cream is very thick and they use a large metal stick to gather the ice cream to put on a cone.  They play all sorts of tricks with the customers which was very funny.

We went into an Armenian Christian church that was preparing for a wedding, an Orthodox church, and Catholic church.  

St. Anthony of Padua.

We came upon a street festival where young people were playing drums and dancing to a Disney song.

We went into a bookstore that had some English books. Upon Margrets request,Ca rl bought a Turkey guide on great eating places.  This led us to a very nice restaurant that took a little time to find but was well worth it.  http://istanbuleats.com/2010/03/sahin-lokantasi-edible-complex/

Margaret did a great job of ordering mezes from the chef.  She sure is a gem.  Carl and Leslie should be very proud.  We then ordered some meatballs, which were delicious.  We finished the meal with a few rice puddings to share.

Margaret and Tom checking out the dishes.

Margaret ordering.

Paul cleaning his plate. The food was so good.

I tried to find an Istanbul City cup at each Starbucks we encountered but no no avail.  So far Bodrum was the only place I have found one.

We went to the Galata Whirling Dervish (Mevlevi) Hall which is now a small museum as the religion was outlawed in 1925.  We saw the Hall, cemetery, fountains, etc.

We went down a narrower street through an area that had many, many music instruments for sale.  Margaret bought a cool finger harp.  The girls found a nice leather slipper/shoe shop and purchased a couple of items.  Margaret also bought a couple of clothing items.

The Retro clothes shop in the basement.  Chock full of 70's and 80's era clothes.

Refreshing juice just waiting for you to order.

The music shop. Only he could sort through the stuff in the back.

Tom, Carl, and Paul resting outside the slipper shop.

After a bit wee stopped for tea and beer near the Galata Tower.  We the got in line for the elevator to get to the top of the tower.  What great views of Istanbul we experienced.  The tower was built as Christea Turris (Tower of Christ) in 1348 during an expansion of the Genoese colony in Constantinople. 

From below.

The Golden Horn.

The Bosphorus.

Carl and Margaret.

Belinda and Tom

We then continued our walk down towards the Bosphorus through an industrial supply area.  Crossing the street was quite a challenge but we made it down to an area where large and small boats were ferrying across.  We stopped at a small dock and Carl and Leslie negotiated with the captain of a small craft to get across the water.  It was an interesting but choppy ride. What a treat Carl.  No, you are not crazy, just a good tour guide.

There is Margaret out there letting the sailor know we are interested in a ride.

We watched Carl and Margaret negotiate for the fee. It went from 25 to 30 for all of us.

The cabin of the boat; life vests above.

Self photo. Lucky the camera didn't fly from our hands, it was bumpy. Wheee.

Carl, Leslie, Margaret, Paul, and Tom.

When we crossed the water we then had to cross the busy street which was no small feat.  We headed over to the spice market which was loaded with everything you could imagine to buy for the house, especially the kitchen.  Paul was able to buy some nice jewelry he was very happy with.  Margaret bought some nice warmed pistachios and sesame coated nuts.  We munched on these while Paul, Leslie and Belinda shopped.  We also stopped at an Arab chocolate almond shop (yes, Belinda bought some).

Leslie checking out the housewares.

Paul eyeing the grills.

Lots of pied choices.

We walked all the way home from Taxim Square. Carl never had a doubt about which way to go.

We were walking by a very large mosque and right on time the call to prayer began, beautiful.

Carl then took us to his favorite Turkish Delight store.

A headscarf shot.  Such a variety.

We still had a 15-20 minute walk uphill to our hotel.  We went to the rooftop for cocktails before going out to dinner.  The Istanbul Eats book did not really provide to many suggestions in our area so we decided to go back to the local restaurant that Mehmet had taken us previously.  The waiters and owner recognized us and were grateful for us coming to dinner.  We were successful in convincing some other westerners to dine at the restaurant.

Finally, the bread that Margaret had been waiting for, the big fluffy stuff. Yum.

The day was really nice but I must say I was ready for bed at the end.  It was a wonderful long walking day with so many great experiences.