Istanbul Diary - day 1

Will we, wont we?

This summer, I seem to be carrying a holiday jinx.  First there were uncertainties about our train tickets to Melghat, and this time it was whether the Turks would process our visas in time!  Tickets were booked, as also hotels, but the Delhi Turkish embassy - reportedly snowed under by a rush of Indians wanting to visit their country - would not even accept our applications until two days before departure!  Luckily, Vijay and his efficient team at eTravel Value  kept us posted, picked up the visas from the Turkish embassy in Delhi, sent it to us by Jet Cargo, so that we could travel as planned.

Travelling from Chennai

Gulf Air was the only viable option, Chennai-Bahrain-Istanbul, with the least hours spent on the commute, so that was the route we took.  Each leg is roughly four hours.  To their credit, they didn't lose our bags and they kept to time, but the in-flight service was truly mediocre.  The wierd thing was that every flight they would go through this charade of giving you headphones and when you tried them on they wouldn't work!!

First impressions

We arrived around 3pm local time, and there were no immigration forms to fill (wow!). The hotel had sent a car, and we were whisked into the city in less than an hour. Highways, huge apartment complexes, but not so many trees. Orderly traffic, and minimal horning - is it only us then who are so rude and impatient?

I was completely taken in by the Pierre Loti Hotel. This small, hotel had a certain atmosphere, the rooms were well appointed, and we had a great view of the street below.
The tram was at our doorstep, and the road that it ran on was called Divan Yolu Caddesi, and was the main street for the old town. Filled with eateries, souvenir shops and everything a tourist needs.
Soon we were down, walking the streets, and everything was around the corner!

To our right was the Blue Mosque, with its characteristic 6 minarets, and a bit further down to the left was the Aya Sofiya - church/mosque/museum!

Big it was, but I thought to myself, its not all that great looking from outside - a bit rustic and unsophisticated, so what's all the fuss about. A subsequent visit inside and I changed my mind!

Around the Topkapi complex, a few cobbled streets, narrow one-ways and down the hill, we chanced upon a garden restaurant, where my son had his first doner ekmek, which started a love affair that lasted through the trip.

And then we hit the Kennedy Cadesi that circles the peninsula and gave us a great view of the Sea of Marmara!

Much like us, there were vendors selling corn (misir), a local bread called simit, nuts and even water! The view was gorgeous and we kept walking wanting to see what was around the next bend! the only problem with this was that we had to walk back as well, and this time it was uphill.

On our way back, we saw a familiar sight - these cars with the Tata symbol, and I must say I was rather pleased on seeing them!

9.00 pm - and the sun was only then beginning to set. Our body clocks were still on Madras time, and so we dropped off to sleep, with much anticipation of the next day.

Continued here