istanbul, citytrip 2006travelfans

After a shower and good breakfast, we started off at the grand bazar. A 15 minute walk mostly up hill. The route was a guess, but the signs made it hard to loose the way. The entrance is nice, big bow to walk trough. Inside you have so many little shops, you don’t no where to look. But 5 minutes later you have seen the same stuff every where. They all sell the same. T-shirts, sunglasses, purses, yewelry, but all fake. So after 20 minutes we did see enough and headed back down hill to the blue mosk.

During this walk there were some man that talked to us. My sister was asked
if she was interested dating him while she was here. This was very funny to watch. When it became clear that she wasn’t into this, he politely backed off.

It was during noon, so we had not much tim e to go in, because the mass was starting soon. But what a beautiful building, the windows with blue glass, the light falling in. Before we came in we had to cover up our shoulders and knees, and we had to take our shoes off.We took our time to let it all sink in and sat down in the mosk.

Time for lunch. We bought some bread and some drinks and sat down in the park, the same as yesterday. It’s such a nice park, calm and busy t the same time. There were so many people in the park today . The mass started and the man began singing again.

After lunch in the park we went to the Aya sofia witch is situated at the other and of the park. A big building witch was under construction in the main hall I believe it was. Nice building, not all that impressive Ithought. But I was getting tired so that may have clouded my jugdement.

On our way back to the hotel we passed the topkapi palace, so why not go and have a look. We did. This was a big and beautiful residence back in the days. With a little bit of imagination you can see yourselve walking around back in the days. Many buildings with many different goals. There our lot’s of things on display. Jewelry, arms, clothing, if youlike history then you have to come and see the sights.

Now I’m getting pretty tired, time for a nap in the hotel. My sister joines me and my boyfriend goes out for a walk to see the other side of the town, maybe spot a good restaurant.

We had diner in front of our hotel, but it was good, we had a laugh and talked about the day. It beacame late but we had a great day and a good diner.

On may 24 we flew with Corendon form Eindhoven Airport (the netherlands). This was the first time I flew from this airport. If you are used to Schiphol, this is a very small airport. But everything goes 10 times faster. Within half an hour we were checked in. At 8.15 we were airborn and at 11.30 we were in Istanbul. A short flight in a small airplane, but with low costs. No food and drinks on board (or we had to pay) but that we had in our bags.

The transfer was arranged so after customs and paying 10 euro a person to get into the country we got on the bus that drove us to our hotel. At 14.00 we checked in. We stayed in the old centre in hotel Centrum. Basic hotel, basic food, good geographical place for a hotel, everything was within walking distance.

The day is young, let’s explore the city. Within 10 minutes we figured out where we were and where the sites were. On the streets there are many signs that lead the way. If I remember correctly the signs were brown.
The weather is great, the sun is out and we are enjoying the green
parks. We went in to the cistern, under ground, nice and cool. a water reservoir from the past with wishing pols. There are fish here to. Strange to see. Entrancefee was not expensive.
After seeing this site we walked up to the hippodrome, a lttle park with statues. Not that thrilling but nearby, so we walked throug it.

This was enough for me, i’m tired and thirsty. We walked to a park that is situated between the aya sofia and the blue mosk. A beatiful park with fountains. It’s very green, has lot’s of seating possibilitys. We bought some drinks from streetshops and enjoyed the sun, watched the people walk by and the sound of mass (don’t know the other word). That was special/ different. A singing man trough speakers out of every tower from the blue mosk. Now you know your in an islamic country.

Time to go back to the hotel and sleep for a while. Then: out to eat. We went to a turkisch restuarant and ordered a typical turkisch dish, I have no idea what is was, but you could taste the use of different spices. Some good, some less good.

After a long day we went back to the hotel and had a good night sleep.