Istanbul is a huge contrast to Vienna.
The Viennese are very nice and treated us well, but they are quite reserved.
Our hotel desk fellow "Mahmet" has been like a big brother to us (and to all the other guests)... when we first arrived, he insisted on carrying our luggage up the three flights of spiral stairs and then invited us down for a drink and a chat. He sat us down with a glass of Turkish tea (chai) and showed us all sorts of options for what to do during our stay... recommended an honest carpet seller and a few good restaurants to try. Mahmet used to be a manager of a hostel in another, more southern city of Turkey, which is where he learned to speak English. That is why he speaks with a very distinct Australian accent... since most of the guests there were from Australia. It's funny to hear a Turkish fellow say "no worries, mate!" :-)
We just got back from dinner at a "Meyene" style restaurant (Turkish Tapas) across the Gallata bridge (other side of the Golden Horn) from the old city of Sultanahmet where we are staying. We had a wonderful meal and met a Parisean family who have been walking everywhere. It seems that they have walked further than many people go by tour bus!
The taxi drivers here are crazy! The restaurant arranged for a taxi for us, so we didn't get ripped off coming home. (Marg H. ... you'll remember that infamous New Year's Eve taxi ride back to our "home stay" in Costa Rica, where the return trip cost us 8 times the trip to the restaurant?) Anyway, we figure that, for Turkish taxi drivers, the most important part of the car is the brakes, followed closely by the horn. It was a very fast trip, with most of it being on the bumper of the car ahead of us. We had to focus on looking out the side windows, 'cause looking straight ahead was too scary!
We're here for two more full days and then leaving for Crete on Saturday. Looking forward to some time at the beach. (It's really cold here - we had rain today!).
We took a few nice photos of the Ayasofya Museum/Church , Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace today... will try to upload them to share with you tomorrow.
Gardens and fountain in front of the Aya Sophya.
The Viennese are very nice and treated us well, but they are quite reserved.
Our hotel desk fellow "Mahmet" has been like a big brother to us (and to all the other guests)... when we first arrived, he insisted on carrying our luggage up the three flights of spiral stairs and then invited us down for a drink and a chat. He sat us down with a glass of Turkish tea (chai) and showed us all sorts of options for what to do during our stay... recommended an honest carpet seller and a few good restaurants to try. Mahmet used to be a manager of a hostel in another, more southern city of Turkey, which is where he learned to speak English. That is why he speaks with a very distinct Australian accent... since most of the guests there were from Australia. It's funny to hear a Turkish fellow say "no worries, mate!" :-)
We just got back from dinner at a "Meyene" style restaurant (Turkish Tapas) across the Gallata bridge (other side of the Golden Horn) from the old city of Sultanahmet where we are staying. We had a wonderful meal and met a Parisean family who have been walking everywhere. It seems that they have walked further than many people go by tour bus!
The taxi drivers here are crazy! The restaurant arranged for a taxi for us, so we didn't get ripped off coming home. (Marg H. ... you'll remember that infamous New Year's Eve taxi ride back to our "home stay" in Costa Rica, where the return trip cost us 8 times the trip to the restaurant?) Anyway, we figure that, for Turkish taxi drivers, the most important part of the car is the brakes, followed closely by the horn. It was a very fast trip, with most of it being on the bumper of the car ahead of us. We had to focus on looking out the side windows, 'cause looking straight ahead was too scary!
We're here for two more full days and then leaving for Crete on Saturday. Looking forward to some time at the beach. (It's really cold here - we had rain today!).
We took a few nice photos of the Ayasofya Museum/Church , Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace today... will try to upload them to share with you tomorrow.
Gardens and fountain in front of the Aya Sophya.
Flowers and K in front of the Blue Mosque.
take care everyone... hugs and kisses....
Kathy
Kathy
