Return of the Loud Mouthed American - Part 1= Trip Details in Excrutiating Detail
Oct 18th, 2005, 12:08 PM
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Return of the Loud Mouthed American - Part 1= Trip Details in Excrutiating Detail
Rambling, long winded trip report from 2 1/2 week road trip through Turkey. Part 1!
Living in South Florida, there has been a noticeable decline in the foreign destinations which may be accessed non-stop from Miami. With that in mind and Delta Airlines frequent flyer miles accounts to be credited, we decided to fly Delta from New York to Istanbul. To get to New York we utilized Delta's version of Jet Blue, known as Song Airlines. Replete in a nauseating shade of green, this was truly a no frills airline with pay-per-view movies and snacks for sale! Oh well, it was just 2½ hours and New York awaited. Well so did a five hour layover, but this was much preferable to a one hour layover with the hope that our luggage would actually arrive in Istanbul. Past experience said go for the long layover and increase the odds of the luggage being there upon arrival.
A non-eventful flight from New York to Istanbul actually got us in ahead of the scheduled time of arrival. Reading that there could be a potential long line at the visa counter upon arrival, we had already sent our passports to the Turkish authorities in Washington, D.C. and had visa in hand. Passing through passport control was extremely quick, although the passport control agents in Turkey uniformly looked like they could not be older than 20 years old. Age of course was inconsequential as long as the proper stamp was placed in passport and we were given the green light to enter. Ataturk Airport was clean and efficient as we were able to claim our bags within five minutes of arriving at the baggage claim carousel..... wish the same could be said in the ol' USA! We had ordered Turkish lira from our bank in the USA in advance, so armed with our bags, cash, a map and the Lonely Planet Istanbul book, we left the terminal and looked for a taxi. Within one minute we were on our way. "Merhaba, Four Seasons Sultanhamet, lutfen" I muttered, sneaking a peak to see the gunduz/gece indicator on the meter. No problem... the day rate was in effect so off we went.
My first impressions on the road to Istanbul was how much cleaner the roads were and how nicely landscaped the dividers were. I have a dim recollection from our last trip to Istanbul that there were not even any lane markers on the road from the airport back in 1982.
Anyway, here in my first bit of Fodor's apostasy ......... I prefer the Sultanhamet area to Beyoglu or any other area of Istanbul to stay. Yes the area is extremely touristy and yes most of the people in the area are tourists, but it has atmosphere. If you want the great restaurants, you can take a cab there. But frankly if you want to walk around at night and see the Blue Mosque lit up while hearing the late call to prayer or seeing Haghia Sophia by moonlight or just walking through the park between the two, this is the place for you. You stroll past the outdoor cafes (yes they are for the tourists) with live music and there is an atmosphere which you do not get staying at the Hilton, Ritz Carlton or even the Cirigan Palace. At those hotels you really have nowhere to stroll around the hotels or no real neighborhood of which to speak. I know the guys dressed up as whirling dervishes are there for the package tour set, but there is a little bit of the tourist in every traveler. Trust me, we never donned Ottoman attire to sip tea in the "special" room of a restaurant or café anywhere.
Now as to the hotel. We stayed at the Four Seasons, the refurbished prison of Midnight Express fame. We have seen many posts in the forums inquiring as to which high end hotel to choose, the Four Seasons or the Cirigan Palace. Having stayed at the Four Seasons and eaten at and visited the Cirigan Palace this is a no brainer - The Four Seasons wins hands down. First and foremost must be the size factor. The Four Seasons has only 65 rooms. This means that you will not find a tour group or any other teeming hordes of tourist humanity at the hotel. The staff outnumbers the guests. The quality and level of service is unparalleled. When the doorman says "welcome home" they act it. Granted the hotel is high priced, but they earn their rates: the concierges could not possibly have been more helpful to getting ferry tickets, the delivery of our rental car or tickets to the Dervish Monastery sema. You walk out your door and within 2 minutes you are standing smack between Haghia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. There is an actual neighborhood to stroll through. At night the touts go home. At the Cirigan Palace (and some other hotels in this part of town) you do get the benefit of a Bosphorus view, but otherwise you are located on a heavily trafficked road with only the Ortakoy neighborhood within walking distance. The Cirigan Palace by its very size supports tour groups and conventions. On our last night at the end of our trip we had made reservations for an outdoor table at the Cirigan's Tugra restaurant. The "romantic" meal basically consisted of overlooking one convention group after another giving out awards with microphones blaring and spotlights in our eyes on the terrace by the Bosphorus. All this for a fairly standard meal grossly overpriced at around $225.00 for two. The rooms at the Four Seasons were spacious and comfortable.
Anyway, the taxi ride to the hotel was fairly uneventful until a half block from the hotel, the cab driver has a sudden bout of forgetfulness, as in I don't know where your hotel is. Fortunately it was right up the street..... a simple point to the distinctive yellow building and we were there. It was not the last time a taxi driver in Istanbul did not know where they were going! Of course as these things always work out on a trip to Europe, one's room is never ready upon arrival unless your flight is really late. However, for our inconvenience, they were going to upgrade our room at no additional cost. Worked for us.
We actually were pretty well rested after our flight, so we decided it was time to jump right in and commence with the sightseeing. Luggage left behind we wandered a mere three minutes arriving at Haghia Sophia. The crowds weren't too bad and there were not too many tour groups to dodge. Now this is as good a time as any to express my extreme distaste for tour groups and the concept of tours in general. To me as a "snooty" traveler as opposed to the "lowly" tourist there seems little point rushing from touristic point to point, jumping on and off the tour bus following the waving umbrella. However this seems to be the preferred route for the typical foreigner visiting Turkey. In addition to the above, nothing ruins the atmosphere of visiting a site than having to fight your way past a loud-mouthed tour guide surrounding by his private horde, who think nothing of surrounding a key visiting point staking out their position and territory like the Wehrmacht invading France. Haghia Sophia was certainly big enough to accommodate all. Of course what would a trip to Europe be without some scaffolding? The interior of Haghia Sophia was being restored, but only the central portion. Ever scaffolding gets swallowed up in the enormity of the building.
Exiting Haghia Sophia, we were of course accosted by the numerous carpet touts that seemingly live under rocks in this area. They always started the pitch the same way: "Hello, where are you from?" Now being your typical friendly American, I am reluctant to pretend that I did not hear someone, so in the interest of good manners and international relationships, I always responded. My responses were also affected by my previous trip to Turkey where people would walk up to you and start a conversation with a legitimate interest in the answers to the questions. I was sincerely disappointed that this was not the case anywhere in my travels in Turkey. As I said in my previous post, the touts had two things: a cousin in America and a carpet shop. I even had one tout (who was accompanied by a scraggly looking American accomplice) try this novel approach on the Hippodrome: Him: "Hello, what are you looking for?" Me: "The Museum of Islamic and Turkish Arts, I know it's right across the street" Him: "Sorry, no such place exists." Me: "Yes it does (pointing), it's right there." Him: "Oh, yeah (chuckle), I bet you get hassled a lot from the carpet touts." Me: "That's for sure." Him: "Where are you from, I'm from Florida. I'm here with my client's son here to buy carpets to redecorate his home." Me: "I'm from Florida too." Him: "You know, carpets really are a great investment." Me: "No, real estate is a great investment. Prices have gone up 34% in one year." Him: "You know, you should really think of carpets. As a buyer I could recommend several shops here in Istanbul." Me: "Have a great trip... bye!"
Usually the exchanges are a little more brief, basically from the "Where are you from?", "Can I take you to my shop?", "Just for looking", "Sit and have some tea", "It's part of our culture to be annoying and aggressive (well, I made up that one). My favorite was the "heart-broken" tout who was so hurt that I would not see his shop instead of the Blue Mosque, that he told me that I could not buy a carpet from him even if I wanted to and that if I wanted to I could not afford one anyway." Apparently it did not occur to this vendor that perhaps I did have some financial means as I, an American, was in Turkey!
But I digress. Leaving Haghia Sophia we visited the Basilica Cistern. A short stop only is required here, but it was a relief from the heat and is an interesting historical site. As it was now time for lunch, we walked down the cobblestone streets towards to Bosphorus. This area, just a short distance past the big three sites, has a certain charm all its own. It is a residential area full of old Ottoman style houses where there are very few tourists. For lunch we ate at the Yeni Yildiz, a small outdoor place frequented by locals.
For restaurants on this trip, we opted to go with Lonely Planet for recommendations. We have used all of the name guidebooks (and some non-name as well) but have decided that Lonely Planet really gets it right. Local-frequented eateries are the usual in Lonely Planet, with a snarky almost elitist disdain for all that is tourist. I am not in Turkey to dress up in an alleged Ottoman outfit and sit in a "special room" as this is something I am sure a Turk would not be caught dead doing. This was the first of many great meals in Turkey. For some reason the vegetables and fruits are more flavorful and fresher than those in the USA. Of course the ubiquitous grilled meats are the norm, served in many kebab varieties.
After lunch we returned to the Four Seasons where our room was finally ready. The staff were most apologetic for the delay and ushered us to our room. The rooms were well appointed and well maintained. You do get what you pay for here. When the doorman says "welcome home" when you walk in, they mean it. If you leave a shirt bunched up on a chair, when you return to your room that shirt will be neatly folded. Housekeeping was most disturbed one evening when I did not want turn down or any other "night" service. Finally I told the gentleman that we were going out for a late dinner, and he could come back in one half hour. Sure enough later that evening the bed was turned down, the clothes were folded and a new fruit plate was present.
Acclimating to the local time zone, we opted against a nap and hit the pavement for further sight seeing. Looking to tick off another one of the big three sites, we walked through Sultanhamet Park (could not do that enough times!), past the congregations of families bringing their sons to a circumcision, and ended up at the Blue Mosque. Absolutely breathtaking and gorgeous! Of course teeming with crowds of tourists (many demonstrating their disrespect with shorts or no head covering), but large enough to accommodate the annoyance of others. Filing past the Japanese tour groups on the Hippodrome, we headed west and left the tourists behind.
It seems that everywhere one travels there are a couple of main sites that draw all of the tourists and numerous secondary sites which are rarely visited. Istanbul is a vibrant city full of life, yet I feel that the typical tourist feels that he has seen the city by making a quick visit to Topkapi, Haghia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and then making a quick shopping excursion to the Grand Bazaar. It seems that no one wants to wander the back streets, stopping in the local mosque or bakery and just take the pulse of a city. Fine with me. A great example of this is the National Park system of America. You can drive through a National Park in bumper to bumper traffic, stopping to take a picture of a site that is off the main park road. But get out and hike for five minutes and it seems that the park is deserted. The teeming masses crowd around Old Faithful, watch the "eruption" and then retreat back into their cars leaving the sites off the beaten path to others. Istanbul (and frankly everywhere else in Turkey) reveals its true flavor to only those willing to wander and discover it. The big three sites are wonderful but do not encapsulate what makes Istanbul so interesting.
Just a short walk from the Hippodrome you will come to one of the nicest mosques you will ver see, with wonderful Iznik tile work named the Mehmet Pasa Mosque. And you will have it all to yourself. Be bold and not shy.... you can enter any mosque in the entire country in any city or town, big or small. Just show the proper respect and avoid prayer time. You will always be made to feel welcome. Walking around this area you will see some small churches and mosques. Walk past the city walls and down by the water. Here you will see strolling Turkish couples and the always present Turkish picnickers. Turks must love picnics as you will see Turks having one just about any place that has some open area everywhere in the country. We even saw in certain places "No Picnics" signs (bi-lingual of course).
Walking past the ruined walls we eventually made our way back to the city where we returned to the hotel. That night for dinner we went to Rami, a restaurant with a great view of the Blue Mosque, in an old house with the mandatory outdoor terrace dining facility. The food is termed Ottoman style and was quite good. The wait staff seemed quite confused at times and really did not have a good handle on reservations. Personal tip: do not make reservations on your own. I did here and had a lot of difficulty. I would always be asked "What hotel made your reservation?" The answer that I made it myself seemed quite confusing (here and others). In this restaurant we were in the heart of the tourist district. Many cafes with music and "whirling dervishes". Great area to wander around in at night with the mystical atmosphere of the large mosques and monuments lit up. The Blue Mosque has a sound and light show as well. Now I have been seeing sound and light shows all over the world and have frankly never seen one worth viewing. This one was no exception..... but I'm a sucker..... I keep hoping that the next one would be worth the visit. At least the one here is free of charge and presents the interesting spectacle of the international viewing crowd and th many vendors hustling to sell tea or a show shine. Again, my apologies to the shoe shiners "just trying to make a living"....... black shoe polish just doesn't cut it on my brown suede walking shoes!
Living in South Florida, there has been a noticeable decline in the foreign destinations which may be accessed non-stop from Miami. With that in mind and Delta Airlines frequent flyer miles accounts to be credited, we decided to fly Delta from New York to Istanbul. To get to New York we utilized Delta's version of Jet Blue, known as Song Airlines. Replete in a nauseating shade of green, this was truly a no frills airline with pay-per-view movies and snacks for sale! Oh well, it was just 2½ hours and New York awaited. Well so did a five hour layover, but this was much preferable to a one hour layover with the hope that our luggage would actually arrive in Istanbul. Past experience said go for the long layover and increase the odds of the luggage being there upon arrival.
A non-eventful flight from New York to Istanbul actually got us in ahead of the scheduled time of arrival. Reading that there could be a potential long line at the visa counter upon arrival, we had already sent our passports to the Turkish authorities in Washington, D.C. and had visa in hand. Passing through passport control was extremely quick, although the passport control agents in Turkey uniformly looked like they could not be older than 20 years old. Age of course was inconsequential as long as the proper stamp was placed in passport and we were given the green light to enter. Ataturk Airport was clean and efficient as we were able to claim our bags within five minutes of arriving at the baggage claim carousel..... wish the same could be said in the ol' USA! We had ordered Turkish lira from our bank in the USA in advance, so armed with our bags, cash, a map and the Lonely Planet Istanbul book, we left the terminal and looked for a taxi. Within one minute we were on our way. "Merhaba, Four Seasons Sultanhamet, lutfen" I muttered, sneaking a peak to see the gunduz/gece indicator on the meter. No problem... the day rate was in effect so off we went.
My first impressions on the road to Istanbul was how much cleaner the roads were and how nicely landscaped the dividers were. I have a dim recollection from our last trip to Istanbul that there were not even any lane markers on the road from the airport back in 1982.
Anyway, here in my first bit of Fodor's apostasy ......... I prefer the Sultanhamet area to Beyoglu or any other area of Istanbul to stay. Yes the area is extremely touristy and yes most of the people in the area are tourists, but it has atmosphere. If you want the great restaurants, you can take a cab there. But frankly if you want to walk around at night and see the Blue Mosque lit up while hearing the late call to prayer or seeing Haghia Sophia by moonlight or just walking through the park between the two, this is the place for you. You stroll past the outdoor cafes (yes they are for the tourists) with live music and there is an atmosphere which you do not get staying at the Hilton, Ritz Carlton or even the Cirigan Palace. At those hotels you really have nowhere to stroll around the hotels or no real neighborhood of which to speak. I know the guys dressed up as whirling dervishes are there for the package tour set, but there is a little bit of the tourist in every traveler. Trust me, we never donned Ottoman attire to sip tea in the "special" room of a restaurant or café anywhere.
Now as to the hotel. We stayed at the Four Seasons, the refurbished prison of Midnight Express fame. We have seen many posts in the forums inquiring as to which high end hotel to choose, the Four Seasons or the Cirigan Palace. Having stayed at the Four Seasons and eaten at and visited the Cirigan Palace this is a no brainer - The Four Seasons wins hands down. First and foremost must be the size factor. The Four Seasons has only 65 rooms. This means that you will not find a tour group or any other teeming hordes of tourist humanity at the hotel. The staff outnumbers the guests. The quality and level of service is unparalleled. When the doorman says "welcome home" they act it. Granted the hotel is high priced, but they earn their rates: the concierges could not possibly have been more helpful to getting ferry tickets, the delivery of our rental car or tickets to the Dervish Monastery sema. You walk out your door and within 2 minutes you are standing smack between Haghia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. There is an actual neighborhood to stroll through. At night the touts go home. At the Cirigan Palace (and some other hotels in this part of town) you do get the benefit of a Bosphorus view, but otherwise you are located on a heavily trafficked road with only the Ortakoy neighborhood within walking distance. The Cirigan Palace by its very size supports tour groups and conventions. On our last night at the end of our trip we had made reservations for an outdoor table at the Cirigan's Tugra restaurant. The "romantic" meal basically consisted of overlooking one convention group after another giving out awards with microphones blaring and spotlights in our eyes on the terrace by the Bosphorus. All this for a fairly standard meal grossly overpriced at around $225.00 for two. The rooms at the Four Seasons were spacious and comfortable.
Anyway, the taxi ride to the hotel was fairly uneventful until a half block from the hotel, the cab driver has a sudden bout of forgetfulness, as in I don't know where your hotel is. Fortunately it was right up the street..... a simple point to the distinctive yellow building and we were there. It was not the last time a taxi driver in Istanbul did not know where they were going! Of course as these things always work out on a trip to Europe, one's room is never ready upon arrival unless your flight is really late. However, for our inconvenience, they were going to upgrade our room at no additional cost. Worked for us.
We actually were pretty well rested after our flight, so we decided it was time to jump right in and commence with the sightseeing. Luggage left behind we wandered a mere three minutes arriving at Haghia Sophia. The crowds weren't too bad and there were not too many tour groups to dodge. Now this is as good a time as any to express my extreme distaste for tour groups and the concept of tours in general. To me as a "snooty" traveler as opposed to the "lowly" tourist there seems little point rushing from touristic point to point, jumping on and off the tour bus following the waving umbrella. However this seems to be the preferred route for the typical foreigner visiting Turkey. In addition to the above, nothing ruins the atmosphere of visiting a site than having to fight your way past a loud-mouthed tour guide surrounding by his private horde, who think nothing of surrounding a key visiting point staking out their position and territory like the Wehrmacht invading France. Haghia Sophia was certainly big enough to accommodate all. Of course what would a trip to Europe be without some scaffolding? The interior of Haghia Sophia was being restored, but only the central portion. Ever scaffolding gets swallowed up in the enormity of the building.
Exiting Haghia Sophia, we were of course accosted by the numerous carpet touts that seemingly live under rocks in this area. They always started the pitch the same way: "Hello, where are you from?" Now being your typical friendly American, I am reluctant to pretend that I did not hear someone, so in the interest of good manners and international relationships, I always responded. My responses were also affected by my previous trip to Turkey where people would walk up to you and start a conversation with a legitimate interest in the answers to the questions. I was sincerely disappointed that this was not the case anywhere in my travels in Turkey. As I said in my previous post, the touts had two things: a cousin in America and a carpet shop. I even had one tout (who was accompanied by a scraggly looking American accomplice) try this novel approach on the Hippodrome: Him: "Hello, what are you looking for?" Me: "The Museum of Islamic and Turkish Arts, I know it's right across the street" Him: "Sorry, no such place exists." Me: "Yes it does (pointing), it's right there." Him: "Oh, yeah (chuckle), I bet you get hassled a lot from the carpet touts." Me: "That's for sure." Him: "Where are you from, I'm from Florida. I'm here with my client's son here to buy carpets to redecorate his home." Me: "I'm from Florida too." Him: "You know, carpets really are a great investment." Me: "No, real estate is a great investment. Prices have gone up 34% in one year." Him: "You know, you should really think of carpets. As a buyer I could recommend several shops here in Istanbul." Me: "Have a great trip... bye!"
Usually the exchanges are a little more brief, basically from the "Where are you from?", "Can I take you to my shop?", "Just for looking", "Sit and have some tea", "It's part of our culture to be annoying and aggressive (well, I made up that one). My favorite was the "heart-broken" tout who was so hurt that I would not see his shop instead of the Blue Mosque, that he told me that I could not buy a carpet from him even if I wanted to and that if I wanted to I could not afford one anyway." Apparently it did not occur to this vendor that perhaps I did have some financial means as I, an American, was in Turkey!
But I digress. Leaving Haghia Sophia we visited the Basilica Cistern. A short stop only is required here, but it was a relief from the heat and is an interesting historical site. As it was now time for lunch, we walked down the cobblestone streets towards to Bosphorus. This area, just a short distance past the big three sites, has a certain charm all its own. It is a residential area full of old Ottoman style houses where there are very few tourists. For lunch we ate at the Yeni Yildiz, a small outdoor place frequented by locals.
For restaurants on this trip, we opted to go with Lonely Planet for recommendations. We have used all of the name guidebooks (and some non-name as well) but have decided that Lonely Planet really gets it right. Local-frequented eateries are the usual in Lonely Planet, with a snarky almost elitist disdain for all that is tourist. I am not in Turkey to dress up in an alleged Ottoman outfit and sit in a "special room" as this is something I am sure a Turk would not be caught dead doing. This was the first of many great meals in Turkey. For some reason the vegetables and fruits are more flavorful and fresher than those in the USA. Of course the ubiquitous grilled meats are the norm, served in many kebab varieties.
After lunch we returned to the Four Seasons where our room was finally ready. The staff were most apologetic for the delay and ushered us to our room. The rooms were well appointed and well maintained. You do get what you pay for here. When the doorman says "welcome home" when you walk in, they mean it. If you leave a shirt bunched up on a chair, when you return to your room that shirt will be neatly folded. Housekeeping was most disturbed one evening when I did not want turn down or any other "night" service. Finally I told the gentleman that we were going out for a late dinner, and he could come back in one half hour. Sure enough later that evening the bed was turned down, the clothes were folded and a new fruit plate was present.
Acclimating to the local time zone, we opted against a nap and hit the pavement for further sight seeing. Looking to tick off another one of the big three sites, we walked through Sultanhamet Park (could not do that enough times!), past the congregations of families bringing their sons to a circumcision, and ended up at the Blue Mosque. Absolutely breathtaking and gorgeous! Of course teeming with crowds of tourists (many demonstrating their disrespect with shorts or no head covering), but large enough to accommodate the annoyance of others. Filing past the Japanese tour groups on the Hippodrome, we headed west and left the tourists behind.
It seems that everywhere one travels there are a couple of main sites that draw all of the tourists and numerous secondary sites which are rarely visited. Istanbul is a vibrant city full of life, yet I feel that the typical tourist feels that he has seen the city by making a quick visit to Topkapi, Haghia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and then making a quick shopping excursion to the Grand Bazaar. It seems that no one wants to wander the back streets, stopping in the local mosque or bakery and just take the pulse of a city. Fine with me. A great example of this is the National Park system of America. You can drive through a National Park in bumper to bumper traffic, stopping to take a picture of a site that is off the main park road. But get out and hike for five minutes and it seems that the park is deserted. The teeming masses crowd around Old Faithful, watch the "eruption" and then retreat back into their cars leaving the sites off the beaten path to others. Istanbul (and frankly everywhere else in Turkey) reveals its true flavor to only those willing to wander and discover it. The big three sites are wonderful but do not encapsulate what makes Istanbul so interesting.
Just a short walk from the Hippodrome you will come to one of the nicest mosques you will ver see, with wonderful Iznik tile work named the Mehmet Pasa Mosque. And you will have it all to yourself. Be bold and not shy.... you can enter any mosque in the entire country in any city or town, big or small. Just show the proper respect and avoid prayer time. You will always be made to feel welcome. Walking around this area you will see some small churches and mosques. Walk past the city walls and down by the water. Here you will see strolling Turkish couples and the always present Turkish picnickers. Turks must love picnics as you will see Turks having one just about any place that has some open area everywhere in the country. We even saw in certain places "No Picnics" signs (bi-lingual of course).
Walking past the ruined walls we eventually made our way back to the city where we returned to the hotel. That night for dinner we went to Rami, a restaurant with a great view of the Blue Mosque, in an old house with the mandatory outdoor terrace dining facility. The food is termed Ottoman style and was quite good. The wait staff seemed quite confused at times and really did not have a good handle on reservations. Personal tip: do not make reservations on your own. I did here and had a lot of difficulty. I would always be asked "What hotel made your reservation?" The answer that I made it myself seemed quite confusing (here and others). In this restaurant we were in the heart of the tourist district. Many cafes with music and "whirling dervishes". Great area to wander around in at night with the mystical atmosphere of the large mosques and monuments lit up. The Blue Mosque has a sound and light show as well. Now I have been seeing sound and light shows all over the world and have frankly never seen one worth viewing. This one was no exception..... but I'm a sucker..... I keep hoping that the next one would be worth the visit. At least the one here is free of charge and presents the interesting spectacle of the international viewing crowd and th many vendors hustling to sell tea or a show shine. Again, my apologies to the shoe shiners "just trying to make a living"....... black shoe polish just doesn't cut it on my brown suede walking shoes!
Oct 18th, 2005, 12:42 PM
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This was fun to read. We also ate at Yeni Yildiz one evening - as you say, a Lonely Planet recommendation. Food was pretty good and we really enjoyed it. We had a little trouble finding it - it was fairly early in our trip and we were still jet lagged and it was dark, but it was definitely worth it.
Oct 23rd, 2005, 01:29 PM
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