turkey: instanbul, with seoullites

i think this was my 3rd visit to istanbul...though when i came to turkey for my winter holidays in 2011-2012 i started and ended my trip in istanbul, so i guess i could say i've been here four times...anywho, the purpose of this visit was to hang out with a girlfriend from my years in korea...
my flight left kyiv at 0640, which meant i didn't get much sleep and was at the airport plenty early...ugh...the benefit of an early flight means i don't waste the day traveling, i landed in istanbul right on time...visa and passport control went really fast, there weren't many people in the queues...the visa guy even put the sticker right where i asked him to, no questions asked! (usually they - passport people and visa people - want to know why i want a stamp or sticker in a particular place)...

my second favourite coffee chain is called caffe nero...i like them because they have good chai lattes and chocolate fudge cake...there are a number of branches in istanbul, including two at the airport...guess what i had for breakfast? :)
i took the havatas airport shuttle bus to their dropoff near taksim square, it's a 40 minute ride or so...(depending on the time of day, of course)...amanda picked me up and we went back to her flat for a while...we've known each other a few years and have some of the same issues going on in our lives right now, so it was great to catch up...

eventually we got moving, and went back to the hotel at the bus dropoff point...there we picked up lancelot, another seoullite...i didn't know him, but we have mutual friends, and he's a traveler, so i figured he was okay...
the three of us hopped in a taxi, amanda told the driver where to go, and asked for the meter...the driver said no, and his fixed price would be 40TL...amanda threw a fit, told him he was dishonourable for trying to gouge foreigners...(she spoke in turkish)...all three of us got out of the taxi, and found another...this one said his set price was 15TL, as there was bad traffic along the way we wanted to go...

amanda said absolutely not, so we climbed out of that taxi as well...eventually we got a third taxi, and the driver agreed to use the meter...our final fare? less than 10TL...
we went to a hotel next to Ciragan Palace, on the Bosphorus river...the setting is lovely...amanda and some of her friends had arranged to gather to enjoy the holiday (Christmas) by having high tea...it was nice, we enjoyed ourselves...at one point we walked out to the edge of the river to take photos as the sun was setting...beautiful...
somehow, we didn't have to pay for any of the three of us...when we asked for our bill, the waiter said there was nothing left to pay...

then we asked for the bill of the other table in our group, to see if they had somehow paid extra...they didn't, and our waiter didn't seem to care...so, happy holidays to us, and we will pay it forward...
we took a taxi to an area of the city known as galata...you have to get up a steep road/stairs to get to the base of the tower, but its not a long way...we didn't go up the tower, maybe next time...i'm told there are great views from up there...galata is an area with heaps of little restaurants and places to hang out...amanda told us the steps in the area are usually covered with young adults on weekends, just hanging out with their friends...

we finally got home around 2300 that night, i crashed fast...since i hadn't had much sleep the night before, then been awake and social most of the day...
the next morning amanda and i got up slowly, it was awesome...after tea and breakfast, amanda searched online to find a hamam for us...she found a great deal for the botanica spa at the radisson blu hotel in pera...IT WAS AWESOME...our ticket got us towels, bathrobes and slippers...we were also able to hang out in the jacuzzi for a while, drink water, and stay warm in the sauna...

our hamam service included a full body scrub, a mini massage, foam bubbles all over, and shampoo...i haven't been that relaxed in a while, it felt soooooo good...plus my skin was super smooth...i would love to do that regularly!!
lancelot met us that night for dinner, i wanted to have tantuni...kinda like a turkish version of a soft burrito...(foodies will scream at me for that comparison, but i don't know what else to say)...sooooo good...plus we found a place with friend mussels, and mussels with rice inside a mussel shell...by the time we got home, we were full...awesome!

the next morning we got moving a little earlier, and went to the organic market not too far from amanda's flat...it was fun to wander around and see what was available...honey, vegetables, fruit, dairy products, etc...
after the market, we hopped on the metro to meet lancelot...amanda noticed we could take the metro a way she hadn't gone before, then we would take a tram afterward...lets just say it took us much longer than it should've to find the connection to the tram after leaving the metro station...eventually we figured out where to go (thanks google maps)...we met lancelot, and made our way to the mosaic museum...

along the way, amanda noticed a carpet store...she's been looking for a carpet, and had already been to the mosaic museum, so she told us she would find us in a little while...the museum was fairly small, she didn't think we would spend much time inside...it was indeed a small museum, but the mosaics were pretty impressive...the mosaics are displayed on the walls, and in a fenced off area in the middle...
after exiting the museum i walked through another market area...lots of jewelry stores, random souvenir stores, and more...

then i found amanda in the carpet store...when i got there, she had one carpet she liked a lot spread out on the floor, but was still looking...she ended up finding another carpet she liked even better, then the negotiations started...amanda had no intentions of buying a carpet that day (she told me later she'd told the salesman from the beginning that she was just shopping) but the salesman kept trying to negotiate...
after leaving the carpet store, amanda and i went to an indian restaurant for snacks...while i'd been in the mosaic museum, lancelot had left to go to the archeology (or is it architecture?) museum, and had agreed with amanda to meet up at 1730...amanda and i had some time to kill before then, and decided we were hungry...that restaurant had an amazing lassi...sooooo good, and big :) ...the top floor was a covered balcony with a fantastic view of the hagia sofia...

we met up with lancelot and started making our way toward dinner...when i first sent a message to amanda asking if she would be around during these holidays, i mentioned i wanted to go to this steak house again, as we had during my first istanbul visit...the steak house is in a mall with fancy shmancy stores, and isn't the cheapest place to eat in the city...but it's sooooo worth it...dry aged steaks: perfectly tender and full of flavour...YUM...two of amanda's friends joined us, dinner was lovely...

the next morning i headed out by myself, as amanda had to do a lot of paperwork...another activity i'd wanted to do during this trip was go on a bosphorus cruise/tour...i chose one that was 2.5 hours, and involved getting off the boat for 30 minutes to visit a palace on the asian side of istanbul...(one of the awesome aspects of istanbul is that it is the only city in the world - i think - on two continents)...
the cruise was nice, though the guide had a peculiar way of speaking english...it was fun to see the palace where we'd had tea a couple days ago from the river, as well as other sights in the city...plus, although it was cold, it was also sunny, which always makes me happy...
the palace we visited is called Kucuksu, and was built by the sultans as a hunting lodge...no one ever spent the night, it wasn't meant as a residence...according to the guide there are also kitchen facilities, he also said no cooking was ever done there...it's relatively small, but very fancy...every room has a fancy ceiling, and a chandelier...

the floors are all wood, and are beautiful...the patterns of the wood are complicated, no nails or glue were used in the building of the floor...no photos are allowed, but i broke that rule, as did plenty of other folks...our group entered through the back side, the front side is on the river...it's quite nice...i asked the guide how many people were in the hunting parties, he said minimum 300, sometimes several thousand...!!!
the boat dropped everyone off at the pier near the spice market...i ate a fish sandwich from a boat docked next to the tour boat, it was good and not as expensive as i expected...i then walked through the spice market, only stopping when i saw a stall with ginger...i liked the guy, he didn't pressure me to buy, he just waited as i looked...
after the spice market i made my way up the hill of sultanahmet...i went back to the indian restaurant, i wanted another lassi :)

i ended up spending too long drinking the lassi, i got to the blue mosque 10 minutes after it closed for the day...booo...i was disappointed, but i've seen the mosque before, and it's not worth getting upset about something i can't change...
i made my way back home, i had some time to relax before picking up lancelot at the metro station and bringing him back to amanda's flat...amanda had told us she would cook dinner, it was really really good...not only was the food awesome, she made it...i love turkish food, so eating out all the time isn't horrible, but who doesn't love yummy homemade food??
lancelot left after a while, and i started packing up...boooo...
my flight leaving istanbul was scheduled for 0555, and the earliest airport shuttle bus was at 0400...i get nervous about being on time for flights and such, i figured it was better to take the 0100 bus, and take no chances...either way, i knew i wouldn't get much sleep...
the lady who checked me in to the flight put me in an exit row, so i had plenty of leg room...i also had all three seats to myself, so i was able to lay down and sleep a little on the flight, yippee!!
i love istanbul...

following the racesteps of my cousin (istanbul, turkey)

at some point while cousin bryn was living in Germany, he mentioned something about running a race in Istanbul...randomly I remembered him having run this race, so I figured out when it was, asked a friend about staying with her, booked my (surprisingly cheap) tickets, and I was ready...I love that there is an evening flight by Turkish air straight from Kyiv to Istanbul!
Amanda met met at the bus stop in the city, then we took a taxi back to her place...it wasn't far, but it was quite late at night and she didn't think it was a great idea to walk...we stayed up quite late chatting about everything, getting caught up on each other's lives...it's funny how the friends i've made as an adult have a wide variety of opinions, and are able and happy to talk about so many different topics...I love having friends all over the world...(a major benefit to living abroad, and keeping in touch with friends from those places who then move to other places:)

the next morning we got up and went to where we thought the expo would be for the races...unfortunately, the expo was in a different place, and Amanda had to go to a weekend conference for work, so I was on my own to figure it out...fortunately, I had a map, and a clue of where to go and how to get there...plus the buses going that way had their own dedicated lanes, so they move more quickly than the rest of traffic...yay...
before splitting up for the day, we had lunch...Turkish pizza, yum...I wish Kyiv had better food!! I added rice pudding for dessert, even though I didn't really have any room...
it was easy to find the right building where the expo was held, and the expo itself, but I got a bit confused as to where to pick up my bib number, timing chip, bag, etc...i'm pretty sure I walked through every square inch of the expo while searching...

afterward I took the metrobus, metro, and dolmus to dolmabahce palace...it was the biggest sight I hadn't yet seen in Istanbul...the entry fee is 40TL, you have to go with a tour group, and no pictures are allowed...for that price, and those restrictions, I was expecting a lot...
unfortunately, reality did not live up to expectations...the tour guide didn't speak very loudly, and didn't usually wait for the entire group (which was big) to catch up before starting his spiel in each area of the palace...he didn't give nearly as much information as I was expecting, Wikipedia probably has a better explanation...argh...that being said, the palace was beautiful...or rather, it was impressive in a fancy shmancy sort of way...huge rooms, giant chandeliers, gold leaf, a crystal staircase, etc...

the information given, and descriptions in the harem were even more disappointing...it was still impressive though...during the tour of each building (the palace and the harem) everyone had to wear blue plastic booties over their shoes to keep dirt from being tracked everywhere...
by the time I left the harem the sun was down...I was a wee bit scared, but I still had to go home...
I stopped for tantuni on the way home...I don't know how to describe it other than to say: YUM...meat, cooked on what looks like a big wok, with spices thrown in, placed into a thin tortilla, and rolled up...SO GOOD...yet another turkish food i'd be willing to eat all day every day...

the next morning both of us were up at 0600...Amanda walked me to taksim square and put me on a shuttle bus to the starting point of the race...thank you sooooo much for getting up that early for me!!
the bus took me across the bosphorous bridge, to the starting point of the races...(I was running a 15K, others ran a full marathon, or a 10K)...there were heaps of these shuttle buses, each dropping off runners from around the world...I must've been on one of the first buses, it was awesome to watch everyone as it got closer and closer to race time...I love the atmosphere right before races...everyone is excited, everyone is happy to say hello and good luck, etc...lots of random photos taken, just because...eventually I dropped my bag at bag check, and went back to watching people doing last minute prep...it's funny how marathon runners train for months for a specific race, but all the stress comes down to those last minutes before the race starts...

the race was well organized and supported...the course is great (how awesome is it to run from one continent to another - asia to Europe - as well as see some great historical sights while running? plus, there were regular aid stations, nicely spread through the course...my time probably wasn't any good, but i'm not very competitive, and 15K isn't a common race distance, so it didn't matter...(my time has never mattered to me in races I've run in the past 15 yrs)...the only downside to the race was the finishing area...it was waaaaay too crowded right after the finish line, and not easy to figure out where to go...I was given a bag with water, a banana, juice, a race finisher medal, and a rain poncho...
I grabbed all my stuff and walked further into the neighborhood of sultanahmet (sp?)...another sight I hadn't seen during previous time in Istanbul was the basilica cistern...basically the area where water was kept in the days of the ottoman empire...

it's a little spooky down there, and would be chilly if the humidity didn't keep it warmer...occasionally water dripped on my head, which of course I didn't love, but oh well...according to the pamphlet, the cistern was only discovered relatively recently when considering how much historical stuff there is in Istanbul...in the 80s or 90s I think?
another downside to the race: public transport was shut down in the race area, (which is great if you're running city streets) but that meant I had to walk 30-40 minutes to get to an open metro station so I could get back to Amanda's flat...if i'd just run a full marathon there is no way I would've been able to walk that fast or that far!

back at Amanda's flat I showered and packed up, then met Amanda at the bus stop for the shuttle back to the airport...(she was in her second day at a weekend conference she wasn't able to get out of)...despite traffic, we got to the airport in plenty of time...we found a café nero, as I wanted a last chance at a great chai latte and chocolate mousse cake...YUM...I was sad to go back to Kyiv...

the end of turkey

from canakkale i originally wanted to take a bus to erdine, a town on the european side of turkey...but the only time a bus to erdine left canakkale was at 3 in the morning...i decided not to go, basically because i didn't want to wake up at that hour...i am not a night person...
so i took a night bus back to istanbul instead...the bus i chose was supposed to leave at 2300...when i got to the bus office at 2230 they told me there was something wrong with that bus, and that i could take the 0100 bus instead...yippee skippee...i hate having to do things in the middle of the night...but i did...i went back to the hotel and read a book until 0030, when i went back to the bus office...
the bus ride was fine...faster than expected...the bus pulled into the massive bus station in istanbul at 0630 the following morning...i was expecting 0700...just like most airports, the arrivals and departures section of the bus station are in different spots...since i didn't know this ahead of time, i was a bit worried that i was getting off the bus in an unknown section of istanbul...thankfully, it was fine...that bus station is surprisingly busy at that hour of the morning...

it was easy to catch a service bus into the middle of town, then catch the metro back to close to amanda's flat...an easy walk from there...
we spent most of saturday doing a whole lot of nothing...the weather was crap, neither of us was motivated to do much of anything...we were productive in going to the grocery store, but that's about it...i picked up a bunch of tea to bring back to ukraine with me, as well as 2kgs of chickpeas...they're probably somewhere in ukraine, but i haven't found them...i also got pudding...my last chance to have real chocolate pudding until this summer, when i return to the states for a few weeks...dinner that night was roast chicken...sooooo good...
the next day the weather was even worse...rainy and windy...yuck...but i still needed postcards, and i wanted to go to a steak restaurant amanda had mentioned previously, so we had no choice but to leave the flat...(which was probably a good thing really)...we walked, took the metro, took the tram and walked into the city...a quick search for postcards, and then we made our way to a different bus stop, one where we could catch a bus to the mall where the steak restaurant was located..

a fabulous steak dinner followed...the meal was mostly steak, there was a small side of vegetables served with the meat...this had to be one of the best steaks i've ever had...cooked just as i ordered, the flavour was awesome...the only downside to the meal was the family next to us...a couple with one young child...they let the child run all over, and several times they lost track of where the child had run to...the waitstaff in the restaurant rescued the child more than once...i know i'm not a parent, but i found the behaviour appalling...shouldn't the child learn that meal time is meal time, and they shouldn't be allowed to run all over? especially because it wasn't just the parents involved...it was the waitstaff, and us because we were sitting next over, etc...we were both annoyed...
after dinner we walked through the mall...it's one of those fancy shmancy malls with a lot of high end named stores...the turkish government taxes imported goods like i've never seen before, so goods that shouldn't be expensive end up that way...a simple, black and white cell phone ends up being almost $100!! crazy...i got a phone just like it in ukraine for $30 or so...hmmm...we stopped at a cafe and had dessert and chai...my chai and chocolate fudge cake tasted just like what i love from coffee bean...coming from me, that's really high praise...basically, when we left the mall, i was in hog heaven...fat and happy...

sadly, i had to leave turkey the next day...booooooo...i said goodbye to amanda, then slowly packed up my stuff, had a cup of tea, etc...i left her flat, took the metro to the center of town, then took a bus to the airport...everything at the airport went really well, including changing the rest of my lira back into dollars...the best part of that was the way the dollar had depreciated against the lira since i'd exchanged upon arrival, so i actually made money on the exchange...gotta love an airport where they don't have obscene rates to exchange money!!! woo hoo...

not constantinople

i took a taxi to the airport with cloe straight from school...her flight back to france left a lot earlier than mine, so i wasn't in any hurry, and could've taken the subway and a bus...but the convenience of a taxi is always desireable, especially when you share the cost with someone else...when i first looked at flights, mine wasn't listed...as it turned out, i departed from a different terminal than cloe, even though we were both flying internationally...
my flight to istanbul was easy, and smooth...though i was rather disappointed in my meal...when given the option while reserving flights, i always choose a different meal...why go with the normal food when you can choose something else...this time i chose raw vegetarian...i ended up with fruit...and a roll...hmmm...not at all satisfying...not really a meal...and the roll definitely didn't qualify as raw...i'm not expecting anything different on the way back to ukraine...
amanda met me at the airport, she's a mate from rugby in korea...we took a bus to the center of town, an area called taxim...then a taxi from there...as i learned later, we could've taken the subway and walked to her flat, but at that point, the taxi was very much desired...especially because it was windy and rainy...i wasn't thrilled when she said that had been the weather for several days...i hate rain...we had a late dinner that night, caught up with each of our lives, then crashed...i gave her the ham she'd requested...turkey is politically secular, but in reality the dictates of islam determine a lot of daily life...which means finding pork/ham is difficult...ukraine doesn't have that problem...

i slept like a rock, though i woke up at my normal time...amanda said her saturday habit was poached eggs and coffee...i joined in for poached eggs, but had tea instead...i've got to try making poached eggs by adding vinegar to the water, she said that keeps the eggs together...in the past when i've tried poached eggs it's always really messy...
after hanging out too long, we made our way to a grocery store...i know i've said it in previous posts, but i love grocery stores, in any country...based on the grocery store alone, i'm already in love with turkey...a huge section for spices, tons of yogurt...how could i not like a country that sells yogurt by the gallon??!?!

after the grocery store we headed downtown to meet up with one of amanda's coworkers and her husband...we met at a fancy shmancy hotel called pera palace...jill said one of the papers had written that liam neeson was staying there while filming...hmmm...anywho, we all met for high tea, and it was fabulous...every employee was super deferential, i can't remember ever being treated that way by staff anywhere...i guess that's what four stars gets you:)...this was high tea properly done...tea served in silver, heaps of desserts to choose from...(over and over again, of course:)...it was a great way to relax and do something a little different...after stuffing ourselves for three hours, amanda and i walked up and down the main street nearby (called istiklal)...it was crowded as, and i can see why amanda doesn't particularly like the area...there are plenty of shops, but as it turns out, the turkish government taxes imported goods like nobody's business...why bother looking when you don't have any intention of paying twice what you would in the states? it was a great time for people watching...it was windy, snowy and cold though, so not good for just standing around...we found a few bookstores, and i bought a guidebook for turkey...i am nothing without a guidebook...lol...when i leave the country i'll leave the guidebook with amanda, she'll be able to get some use from it, as she has misplaced her guidebook...

christmas morning we again had poached eggs...this time with ham...amanda tried to do a hollandaise sauce, but apparently it didn't work out...i didn't see it...and salad, and grapes...YUM...
that afternoon we went into town again, and this time made our way to a hamam...a turkish bath...sooooooo relaxing...more expensive than korea, but still great...being in there really made me miss the saunas (jim-jil-bangs) of korea...i loved the scrub and massage, and just wish they'd been a little harder...i'm not a wimpy foreigner!! when we left i was cozy and warm, and didn't want to leave at all...lol...
after the hamam we headed toward the grand bazaar...it's always mentioned as a must see sight in the city, and amanda needed a new wallet...unfortunately, by the time we got there, most of the stalls had closed up shop for the day...oh well, another time...dinner on the way back to a tram stop was a chicken doner roll...oh how i love the food of this country...
after dinner we made our way to dan and kathleen's flat, in the crowded area of town i mentioned earlier in this post...amanda used to work with these two, they were hosting a christmas party...we didn't stay long, but we did meet a few people...fun...amanda said she would recommend that school as a place to work, if anyone who reads this is so inclined...shockingly, they treat their employees well...who woulda thought that was possible in the world of ESL?

despite already having eaten dinner, we still ate cherry cobbler when we got home...YUM...then went to bed early, as amanda had to work the next day...
fortunately, i didn't have to work...the joys of being on holiday:)...i got myself out the door of the flat before 1030, for which i was quite proud of myself...i'm quite often a very late starter when by myself...(though when i'm traveling with others i'm usually ready to go really early...why is that?)...i walked/took the subway/rode the tram back to the historical area of the city...and that's where my adventure started...
for the first time in a while, i wasn't able to orient myself easily...that is, even though i had two maps, i couldn't figure out which way i was facing...it didn't help that i could see two huge mosques, and couldn't figure out which was which...(the blue mosque and aya sofia)...i ended up at the blue mosque, though just as i was ready to go inside, it closed to tourists for prayertime...oh well...since i'd finally figured out where i was, i knew where i wanted to go next...

topkapi palace is another place always listed on must see lists for istanbul...the queue for tickets was crazy long, and this is off season...i can't begin to imagine what it's like during high season...yuck...fortunately, the queue moved quickly...inside the palace there were queues as well for the more interesting sections, though they moved quickly as well...i enjoyed the displays in the treasury and the privy (a private chamber for a high ranking person, as opposed to a privy during pioneer days in the US, which is an outhouse)...i also liked the harem area a lot...heaps and heaps of palace intrigue and gossip ruled the day back then!

i made my way to the grand bazaar, this time early enough that everything was still open...i've traveled a lot, so i wasn't super keen to see this particular market any more than i have been to see any other well known market...this is the world's largest market under one roof...something like 4000 vendors in all...just about anything you could want...i didn't want any of it, so i just wandered for a while...it's amazing how many guys want you to look in their store...do i look as though i want a carpet? or a hookah? i did exchange money though, they had good rates in the bazaar...not surprisinly, i got lost in there, and ended up exiting on the other side of the bazaar...whoops...fortunately it was easy enough to circle around outside and get back to the side i wanted...

after the bazaar i finally got to see the inside of the blue mosque...for all that it's famous, i wasn't supremely impressed...i liked it, but i wasn't overly impressed...i liked the mosques of malaysia better...i've always loved the light and airy feeling of mosques...
then it was time to head back to amanda's flat, and be there before she came home from work...we went to a doner place nearby for dinner, and i loved it...YUM...again, both of us crashed early...
the next day i was slower about getting going for the day, but i didn't have the problem with orientation, so my real start time on visiting sights was about the same...i started with the aya sofia, and absolutely loved it...now that's a place i can understand being on all the must see lists...it was a church, then a mosque...now it's a museum...you can see all the influences of both religions, it's amazing...turkey has a long and complicated religious history...the frescoes and mosaics are fabulous...watching all the people was fun too...

from there i walked to the spice bazaar...i meant to stop at the post office along the way, but i missed that turn...whoops...i did get there on the way home though...the spice bazaar sells more than just spices, not surprisingly...and i'm pretty sure the prices are higher than they should be...but it was fun to see what is available, should i decide to bring stuff back to ukraine...i miss spicy food there, so paprika might be in my future:)
from there i walked to yet another mosque...it starts with an S, and is located near a university...near the spice bazaar...i liked this mosque the best of what i've seen so far in turkey...i was there during prayertime, something i haven't experienced previously...one of the things i like about islam is that it is practiced several times each day...not just once a week...part of being muslim is daily prayer...you can go to the mosque for each prayer time, but most people only go on fridays at noon...this was a midweek, midafternoon prayertime, so there weren't too many people there...
that night amanda put me on a bus to the massive bus station, i was off to my next destination!