istanbul, citytrip 2006travelfans

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.