Istanbul Live

[nyyhoneybee]

Is anyone interested in a live from Istanbul thread? Seeing as how I'm spending 10 days here figured I would offer!

[marazul]

Go for it!

Thanks.

[stcruise]

Hope to be there in 2013. Would love for you to share your experiences!

[Caughrons]

Please continue, we will be there next month and can use all the advice we can get.

 

Caughrons

[nyyhoneybee]

I have not forgotten about you! Every time I try to sit down to write I get pulled out lol. I plan on skipping the afternoon sessions of the conference I am at so I will get the first 3 days typed up then. Including an intro post about what brought me here, my camera type, thoughts before leaving etc.

[nyyhoneybee]

I promised an intro post so here goes!

 

I'm a 27 year old going for my MPA. As part of my program there is a study abroad trip. For our trip, we are in Istanbul for a 4 day conference and then we have some time to sight see and do some other stuff around the city.

 

When I first heard that we were going to Turkey, I wasn't happy. I didn't think I would like the city at all and I figured I would be bored there. Then I started doing some research and it wasn't long before I changed my mind. Rick Steven's guidebook for Istanbul is good and highly recommended by me.

 

I have pictures to post and I'll post the link to my Photobucket once I get home and upload everything. All the pictures were taken with a NikonP500 camera. I love my camera and this is the first big trip that I am using it for, and I have to say it hasn't disappointed me yet.

 

We flew out of JFK this past Saturday on Turkish Airlines. Security was easy to pass through and the terminal was decent. I couldn't connected to wifi though so that's something to think about if your planning on trying to get computer stuff done. Few bars and places to eat and of course, duty free shopping. You can check in 4 hours before a flight, by the time the windows opened to check in for our 6:25 flight there was already quite a crowd.

 

Getting through customs was easy. If you need a Visa (US travelers do) you need to go to your right before you go through customs to get it. Hand over $20 USD and your set to go. Easiest customs I've been through. Collect your bag and your off. We had a bus from the airport to the hotel we are staying at.

 

We are staying at the Grand Oztanik Hotel right by Taskim Square & Istiklal Street. The only good thing I have to say about the hotel is the location, it's close to a lot of stuff. Otherwise, I have nothing good to say at all. My roommate and myself got up to our room and found a ton of mold in the shower. We switched rooms just to find mold in the other shower as well, but not as much. I know we aren't the only ones who have mold in the shower also. They don't do a good job cleaning the rooms, it's 2 twin beds, mattresses are hard as a rock and the pillows suck. there are rooms that stink. They say they have free wifi however the wifi isn't good and keeps going in and out. Needless to say I'm not impressed at all.

 

We went out to go exchange some money and grab something light to eat before heading back up to the hotel and trying to figure out what we were going to do that night. I wound up on Istiklal Street with one of my fellow classmates. For those of you that have been to NYC, it reminds a lot of us of Times Square. Lots of stores and places to eat. We had dinner at Nosta Cafe & Bar. It's on the second level of a shopping plaza and it overlooks the whole street. The food was pretty cheap and good but my stomach didn't like it :(

 

Then it was back to the hotel to try to get some sleep.

 

First day impression:

 

- People don't know how to take no for an answer. I heard it happened a lot at the Grand Bazar but I didn't expect it when walking in the streets. They will try to sell you everything and anything.

- Watch out for people who try to scam you. From shoe shining to asking if you want help finding a place to eat etc and charging you a ton of Lira after...just watch out and be smart. One of my classmates got told he owed a guy 20 Lira for him helping to find a place that he went to eat, he said he would buy the guy a cup of tea....the tea was 65 Lira! And there are a lot more stories like this from people that I am with.

- Turkish Delight = good

- The drivers make NYC drivers look sane. And this is coming from a life long NYer who admits we aren't sane when driving. They will run you over they don't care. Be super careful when crossing the street!!!!!

 

 

Day Two & Three coming up shortly......

 

 

 

[nyyhoneybee]

I will spare you all the details of the conference I am at that I will spend most of the next four days at, as it is very dry.

 

But I will say this: don't believe everyone when they say that your a far walk away from someplace! The front desk told us that were were about a half hour walk away from the conference and they got a bus for the first morning only to find out it's about 5 minutes walking distance away!

 

By the time we got back to the hotel most of us were tired but we decided to head out for dinner as a group. I would say there were at least 20-25 of us, maybe more, together for dinner, back on Istiklal Street. I need to get the name of the place we went, I enjoyed it but I know not everyone did. They brought out tons of food without us ever ordering it....and then charged us for it, of course. So make sure your aware of that.

 

We were drinking Raki. For the alcohol drinkers....this isn't to be missed. Mix it with some water and drink it. It goes down super smooth and gives you a nice feeling...and no hangover the next morning.

 

More thoughts after day 2:

 

- Try cherry juice. Yum.

- Hardsole shoes are a must, almost everything is cobblestone. I wish I brought my hiking boots and not regular sneakers for all the tour stuff that we will be doing, as the bottom of my feet hurt from the cobblestone.

[nyyhoneybee]

This was a day I was looking forward to. The conference was only a half of a day with a half day city tour built into it.

 

It's been awhile since I've been on a full tour with a bus that size. It reminded me instantly why I hate them and if I wasn't already planning small, private tours for my cruise this summer, the experience would have left me doing it.

 

Very unorganized, a lot of people, hard to keep up with the guide, etc. I was actually told to stop taking pictures at one point and move along (I didn't, and I still caught up just fine). And we skipped something that we were supposed to do because we ran out of time.

 

First up was Aya Sofya. If I didn't read the Rick Steven's guide before, I would have been lost and not realized there was stuff we were able to see that we didn't. I'm debating going back there on my own, but I'm not sure if it is worth it as we saw most of it. It will depend in the end how much extra time I have, as there is a lot I want to see and do still. It was amazing, there are no other words for it. I was in awe of the beauty and the work it took to build it. I got close to 100 pictures overall of just Aya Sofya and I am very happy with how most of them turned out.

 

Next up we walked to the Blue Mosque. From the outside, I was in awe of the beauty. Once we got inside though I was very underwhelmed, expecting a lot more. Compared to the outside and Aya Sofya, it wasn't what I expected.

 

The schedule said Hippodrome next but that didn't happen because we were late on time. They took us to a totem pole type thing, I didn't catch the name of it but maybe someone here knows right outside of the Blue Mosque almost. I have pictures of it as well when I post pictures.

 

Next up was the Grand Bazzar. I didn't take any pictures of it this time, I was to busy shopping. I picked up some stuff that I wanted and other stuff as gifts.

 

I chose to grab the bus back after because my ankle was starting to hurt so I could upload pictures to Facebook and regroup and figure out dinner. I wound up going out with several people to a place recommended by Rick Steven's right by the hotel and I didn't enjoy. I don't remember the name off hand, I will get it later or tomorrow, depending what time we get back tonight.

 

Day 3 thoughts:

 

- Bargain is the name of the game in the Bazzar.

- Read a good guide book and do the tours on your own. There really is no need for a tour guide, things are close together and easy to get to, and you can go ahead and buy the audio tours if you want.

- Learn how to say no very sternly and walk away. Street guys don't stop trying to sell you postcards, guide books and more. Although you can find a good deal sometimes, I brought 24 post cards for $2 USD.

- Going from the Blue Mosque to the Grand Bazzar, if you have people with you that walking is hard, figure out how to do it on the tram. A lot of it is uphill or across uneven streets.

- Be careful of the drivers! I know I have said it before but it is worth repeating!

- As much as I hate to say it, if your only there for a few hours and trying to figure out what you can miss, the Blue Mosque would be on my list to be cut. Take pictures of the outside, but going inside can be missed in favor of something else.

[marazul]

nyhoneybee -

keep them coming! This is a refreshing outlook on touring Istanbul!

Thanks.

[nyyhoneybee]

Day four was spent at the conference in the morning, catching up on some sleep/cruise critic in the afternoon and at a dinner for the conference at night.

 

However, we did have a tornado today in Istanbul. I was inside for it but at least some of my classmates got caught up in it. Everyone is okay thankfully!

 

Feel free to ask me things if you want :)

[cruisemom42]

 

The schedule said Hippodrome next but that didn't happen because we were late on time. They took us to a totem pole type thing, I didn't catch the name of it but maybe someone here knows right outside of the Blue Mosque almost. I have pictures of it as well when I post pictures.

 

I'm enjoying your experiences. I'm curious: the thing you described as looking like a totem pole....did it look like one of these? (Three are on the Hippodrome; one is just across the street.)

 

 

 

 

[nyyhoneybee]

Yes it w! We only saw one. Is that all there is tO the Hippodrome or does it pay to go back?

[cruisemom42]

Yes it w! We only saw one. Is that all there is tO the Hippodrome or does it pay to go back?

 

The Hippodrome is basically the area where the ancient chariot track was, back in the days of the Roman empire. Like the Circus Maximus in Rome, there isn't much left to physically "see" other than the fact that it still retains its ancient outline.

 

Traditionally, the center of the track, called the spina or "spine", had various monuments that were set up there to commemorate military victories or other military events. Three of the monuments pictured above were a part of the spina -- the twisted "serpent" column (which originally was topped by the head of the serpent, now in the Istanbul museum); an Egyptian obelisk (the smooth one carved with hieroglyphs) brought from Luxor, and another obelisk that was built by a much later emperor, called the Walled Obelisk.

 

Interestingly, the four horses that are now well-known for their association with St. Mark's in Venice were taken by Venice from this location in Constantinople!

 

Other than these monuments, and a fountain, there isn't much else to see on the area that was the Hippodrome.

[nyyhoneybee]

The Hippodrome is basically the area where the ancient chariot track was, back in the days of the Roman empire. Like the Circus Maximus in Rome, there isn't much left to physically "see" other than the fact that it still retains its ancient outline.

 

Traditionally, the center of the track, called the spina or "spine", had various monuments that were set up there to commemorate military victories or other military events. Three of the monuments pictured above were a part of the spina -- the twisted "serpent" column (which originally was topped by the head of the serpent, now in the Istanbul museum); an Egyptian obelisk (the smooth one carved with hieroglyphs) brought from Luxor, and another obelisk that was built by a much later emperor, called the Walled Obelisk.

 

Interestingly, the four horses that are now well-known for their association with St. Mark's in Venice were taken by Venice from this location in Constantinople!

 

Other than these monuments, and a fountain, there isn't much else to see on the area that was the Hippodrome.

 

Thanks! We saw the last one, if I'm back in the area I will try to see the other 3 monuments and the fountain. Seeing as how I'd like to do Aya Sophia again (we skipped quite a bit) if I have the time, I probably will be.

 

My goal for the next few days:

 

Tomorrow we have a meeting with the mayors office and then after do the Basilica Cistern and depending on time after that maybe the Solumane (sp?) Mosque. Saturday I want to do Topkapi Palce and Grand Bazzar/Spice Market. I'm trying to put together a full day Bosphorus River Cruise for Sunday. Monday I'm not sure yet and Tuesday is a meeting with the governor's office. There are a few more things I would like to see some of it depends if we do the full day cruise as a tour or on our own. Does this sound good? Am I missing any must sees you think?

[cruisemom42]

Thanks! We saw the last one, if I'm back in the area I will try to see the other 3 monuments and the fountain. Seeing as how I'd like to do Aya Sophia again (we skipped quite a bit) if I have the time, I probably will be.

 

My goal for the next few days:

 

Tomorrow we have a meeting with the mayors office and then after do the Basilica Cistern and depending on time after that maybe the Solumane (sp?) Mosque. Saturday I want to do Topkapi Palce and Grand Bazzar/Spice Market. I'm trying to put together a full day Bosphorus River Cruise for Sunday. Monday I'm not sure yet and Tuesday is a meeting with the governor's office. There are a few more things I would like to see some of it depends if we do the full day cruise as a tour or on our own. Does this sound good? Am I missing any must sees you think?

 

I think you're doing a pretty good job of covering the "must sees". The only other thing I might suggest is a visit to Chora Church (especially if you liked Haghia Sophia -- and I really like it too, btw, much more than the Blue Mosque!) plus if you do that you can also see the old city walls that are nearby -- in some places you can even climb up them and get great views. Your Rick Steves book should have the info (and notes) if you're interested in doing this. But honestly, I didn't do it until my second visit to Istanbul....:)

[msdurk]

Wonderful job so far.....do you know anything about the tram. We will be coming in by cruise ship and want to see , Haghia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar, there will be "some" walking difficulty. How much is the tram and where can we get on it? I would like to purchase jewelry, did you use your charge card?

Did you get your currency there or before you arrived. This will be the only place we will need Turkish currency.

Thanks so much for all your help. Sounds like you had a wonderful time- how did you know what to get for food.

[nyyhoneybee]

I think you're doing a pretty good job of covering the "must sees". The only other thing I might suggest is a visit to Chora Church (especially if you liked Haghia Sophia -- and I really like it too, btw, much more than the Blue Mosque!) plus if you do that you can also see the old city walls that are nearby -- in some places you can even climb up them and get great views. Your Rick Steves book should have the info (and notes) if you're interested in doing this. But honestly, I didn't do it until my second visit to Istanbul....:)

 

Thanks! I went ahead and changed what I wanted to do just because of how the schedule worked out and I don't want to be around people I came with right now. My plan tomorrow is to do a tour that includes the following tomorrow morning: Fener Patriarchate, Church of Panagia of Blachernae, Church of St. Savior in Chora (Kariye Museum) Anemas Dungeons, Tekfur Palace (from outside) Byzantine City Walls all located along the Golden Horn. I think after that I am going to go to the Underground Cisterns because I didn't get a chance to do it yesterday. Then Sunday I'm doing a Bosporus River Cruise along with Dolmabahce Palace that looked good. Monday will be Topekia Place and the Spice Bazaar, done on my own, with maybe some of the Galata Bridge area as well. I haven't figured out the rest of today yet.

 

Wonderful job so far.....do you know anything about the tram. We will be coming in by cruise ship and want to see , Haghia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar, there will be "some" walking difficulty. How much is the tram and where can we get on it? I would like to purchase jewelry, did you use your charge card?

Did you get your currency there or before you arrived. This will be the only place we will need Turkish currency.

Thanks so much for all your help. Sounds like you had a wonderful time- how did you know what to get for food.

 

The tram is 1.75 TL, I'm not sure where you get it from the cruise ports as I haven't been down there yet. I have used my credit card once and that was only because I wasn't sure if I would get to an ATM before dinner that night. I've been using ATMs for money. Most places we've been at have menus that are half in English and understand or have at least one person who understands English pretty well.

[explore4ever]

Just thought I would share my experience as it happens. Usually, I would write a review after I get home; some details might be missed or forgotten. My husband and I are here a few days before our cruise on 23rd, Monday.

First of all, just want to mention about Turkey visa. It is easy to obtain, and they accept US or EURO. We Canadians pay the most $60 US. Americans I believe was only $15US. Once we paid, getting our luggage and getting out of the airport was a breeze.

We booked Maywood Hotel in Sirkeci for 3 days. They offer free pick up shuttle. The hotel or the driver ( not sure which) hired or got some young kids to stand by the airport exit with our names on it. We were happy at least we found our name. The driver came, and the kids just wanted tips for dragging our luggage out for us. The drive was about 20 min from the airport to the hotel.

We Were pleasantly surprised with our hotel and room. I have read the rooms are super tiny because of the hotel location being in the old part of town. We thought it was plenty sufficient for us and our luggage. The room is clean, and the staff are friendly and helpful.

[nyyhoneybee]

Just thought I would share my experience as it happens. Usually, I would write a review after I get home; some details might be missed or forgotten. My husband and I are here a few days before our cruise on 23rd, Monday.

First of all, just want to mention about Turkey visa. It is easy to obtain, and they accept US or EURO. We Canadians pay the most $60 US. Americans I believe was only $15US. Once we paid, getting our luggage and getting out of the airport was a breeze.

We booked Maywood Hotel in Sirkeci for 3 days. They offer free pick up shuttle. The hotel or the driver ( not sure which) hired or got some young kids to stand by the airport exit with our names on it. We were happy at least we found our name. The driver came, and the kids just wanted tips for dragging our luggage out for us. The drive was about 20 min from the airport to the hotel.

We Were pleasantly surprised with our hotel and room. I have read the rooms are super tiny because of the hotel location being in the old part of town. We thought it was plenty sufficient for us and our luggage. The room is clean, and the staff are friendly and helpful.

 

US visa is $20. What are your plans the next 2 days?

 

I wrote a post earlier and lost it need to try again.

[explore4ever]

This is our first day in Istanbul.

Maywood hotel is around 10 minutes walking distance from Ayasofya.

We went to Ayasofya first thing in the morning. No line up. Entrance fee is 25TL per person. No discount for seniors. I asked, they laughed :p. The place is phenomenal. I don't believe words can provide it justice. I believe the sight, the feel, the sound, the smell, the touch of Ayasofya has to be experienced in person. Both my husband and I were in awe.

We agreed Sultanahmet Camii Blue Mosque was a bit anti-climatic after Ayasofya. We also had an unsolicited "guide" who insisted on guiding us into the mosque and out, all within half an hour, because the mosque was closing for prayer. Every Friday is prayer day; The mosque closes for 2 hours--11am to 1pm. After the mosque, the guide led us to his carpet store. Just watch for those creative carpet solicitors. They can spin a good story. However, to us, he remain friendly till the end, even after we said NO and walked out empty-handed.

We went to Yerebatan Cistern for 10TL per person. Again, no discount for seniors. :rolleyes: It is worth seeing. Watch out for steps, slippery walkway. Wear comfortable shoes with good grip.

Grand Bazaar is a cacophony explosion. The glittering gold and silver, bold colors of fabric, and the haggling of merchants. It provided us some good entertainment! It was overwhelming today. We will go back again.

We were a bit late for Topkapi Palace. Too long a line up. We decide to go back there first thing tomorrow morning. Egyptian Bazaar, Bosphorus ferry ride are on our list tomorrow too.

Our impression of Istanbul after first day? Very easy to get around and tour on our own. My husband and I like to walk. And I must point out, some roads are hilly, some side walks are narrow to non existent, many road ways are cobble-stoned. We have walked every where today. We did not use a tram, although they seem the next best thing for getting around. Around the major sights in the afternoon, the traffic was jammed with big tour buses trying to get around tight corners. No use taking taxis.

People for the most part are friendly and polite. It seemed to us everyone here is trained to be selling something! ;) Humor is always a good defense. IMHO.

[nyyhoneybee]

This is my fourth time trying to post this. I hate the internet here! I am writing this in Word so I have this saved if it doesn’t go through.

 

 

 

Day Five in Istanbul was boring. It started off with the end of the conference followed by a visit to TIU. We got back to the Taskim Square area around 4:30 and I guess jet lag caught up with me, because I crashed and I didn’t wake up till midnight. Stayed up till about 2am or so talking with DH and then I crashed again.

 

 

Day Six started off with some school related things and then it was time for the fun to really start, free time. From the time we were done (for those of us that chose to go, it was optional yet it was one of the few school related things I was looking forward to) until some point on Tuesday we have nothing planned besides sightseeing. Because of the way I prefer to sightsee, I chose not to go with the group and do my own things. I don’t like big groups and I don’t feel like being rushed when I want to take more time…or feeling like people are going to slow.

 

 

 

So yesterday afternoon I decided to stick to something low key and I headed out to Galata Tower. It was close enough to my hotel that it was a quick and inexpensive taxi ride. I probably could have walked it, but I was afraid of getting lost and after seeing where it was, I am glad that I decided to take a taxi.

 

 

Remember how earlier I said how Turkish cabbies look NYC cabbies look sane? After riding in one, my opinion still stands. Glad I did it but not sure if I would again. I was almost shocked when I made it in one piece, lol!

Galata Tower is listed in the Rick Steven’s guidebook as two diamonds (meaning not a must see, but still pretty high up there). I’m not sure if I understand why to be honest, I probably would have it as a one diamond. You get there and wait in line to buy your ticket, and then there are two elevators that go up that hold six people each. You go up to the 7th floor and walk up a narrow, spiral staircase to the 9th floor which is a café/restaurant and also has the ledge to see the city. You can walk around the ledge 360 degrees. There are some great views but the ledge is about two people deep and it makes it hard when people stop for an extended period of time to take pictures. I spent some time inside just sitting before I left.The pictures were worth it but still not sure if I would rate it that high, esp after what I did today (coming in the next post).

[nyyhoneybee]

I booked a tour for the morning, figuring it will let me see at least some of what I want to see and it would make it easy to get around. The only thing not counted on: rain. It started to rain when we were picking up the people after me and it didn’t seem like it was going to stop. When I booked the tour I asked the company how many people usually were on each tour. He said usually it’s about 15-20 but it varies. I was hoping it would be closer to 15, because I prefer a smaller group. I had nothing to worry about, there were 8 of us and our guide.

It started off with a short boat ride in the Golden Horn area. Once we got off the boat, we headed to Pierre Loti. Pierre Loti is basically an overlook of the Golden Horn with a small café and many great picture taking opportunities. This alone was worth the price of the tour (which wasn’t that high) in my opinion. I don’t understand why nothing I’ve read mentions this as a place to go see.

On the way to the Chora Church we saw some of the Old City Walls. The Chora Church was pretty amazing. I didn’t realize how small it was compared to some of the other places, but I was glad to have done it.

We were supposed to go to some other museum (it’s pretty new just opened a few years ago) but got told by the security guard that a lot of school groups were there today (it’s common here it seems for them to do field trips on Sat??) and it was an hour wait once we got in to first get tickets. All 8 of us declined. Our tour price didn’t include a transfer to the hotel so they said they would give us a transfer to the hotel or anywhere else we wanted to go (within reason of course).

Now, my plan was to go see Topkapi Palace, Underground Cisterns and the Spice Bazaar, with lunch in between somewhere or at the Spice Bazaar. It was still raining at this point, so I decided to nix all of that in favor of just the Spice Bazaar.

I love the Spice Bazaar. You can pick up some of the same stuff that you can at the Grand Bazaar as well as spices, it’s a lot smaller so it’s not as overwhelming, and the merchants are nicer and not as pushy. In addition to tons of spices and some tea, I picked up almost everything I have left to get, including a nice backgammon set and nice evil eye bracelets (I needed twelve of them!) with a pretty decent discount. I picked up a bunch of spices and am seriously thinking about going back and getting more of one of the chili spices that I got and some dried fruits. If I have the time, I will probably be back there. I still need to get Turkish Delight before I go home also so maybe.

Of course, the sun was out and bright when I left! I was glad that I took a backpack with me, as it quickly freed up my hands. I checked the guidebook and decided to just walk over the Galata Bridge (no major ships in port today, boo!). I walked downstairs first and then I walked some of the upstairs. The guys downstairs tried to get me into every single restaurant no matter how nicely and often I said no. I was expecting it but still it was a bit much. I do plan on going back there to eat, as things looked really good. I got some great pictures on the top level of the bridge which made me happy.

I was hot and ready for a bit of downtime so I headed to the hotel to shower (I was hot), drop off my stuff and do some reading of Rick Steven’s for tonight and tomorrow. I ran into a classmate who has his wife and daughter with them on the trip. They have a Bosphorus & Black Sea cruise booked tomorrow; I emailed the travel agency because I want to do it with them. A bit more then I was planning on spending but it’s the only one I have seen that lets you stop at Rumeli Fortress and Poyrazkoy. That will leave me with the above mentioned two sites that I didn’t get to today and the Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent as the three things that I still really want to do on Monday.

Some thoughts:

- Bargain, Bargain, Bargain! Almost every single place here you can, not only at the Bazaar’s. It’s almost crazy how much you can save just by asking. If you’re a woman (sorry, I hate admitting this but it’s true!) a smile or a sad face can go a long way to getting a better deal also I’ve realized.

- Carry toilet paper with you at all times. Some of the bathrooms are just holes in the floor and don’t have any…and when you need to go…you need to go.

-

[cruise_alot123]

any 1 know how? Thanks!

[nyyhoneybee]

any 1 know how? Thanks!

 

Ferry

[nyyhoneybee]

I forgot to mention in the post about day six (although, I did have it every other time I typed it up!) that if you keep walking straight when you leave the Galata Tower, after about 4 or 5 blocks on the other side of the street you will pass the Neve Shalom Synagogue. I wish I thought it out ahead of time to see about visiting the Jewish stuff that is still left, to see most of the Synagoges you need to send a copy of your passport a week or more in advance. So that's something to think about if anyone is interested in that. ~~~~~ Day Seven - Night We went to a belly dancing show tonight. I've seen much better. So disappointed. At least I had a good time with the people I was with! I need to be up in about 5 hours so I'm going to log off for now, I will updated more tomorrow. I hope someone is reading this review and taking some useful things from it.