Trip Report: Modern Cities, Seaside Resorts, Ancient Ruins, TURKEY Tantalizes Our Taste buds and Transcends All Expectations
 

Before I begin sharing my experience traveling in Turkey I must take this opportunity to thank all the generous and helpful Fodorites here for replying to all the questions I had prior to my trip. Without your input my trip would not have been the wonderful adventure it was! THANK YOU EVERYONE! And as a side note, I may not be the best trip report writer here at Fodors and I can tend to get a bit long winded (you�ve been warned!) but I do hope that some of my information will be helpful to someone.

Here is a little background information�

Having been on these message boards for a few years I know many people here prefer independent travel and I enjoy traveling that way as well. However for this trip I used a combination of a group tour and independent travel. I also know that many posters here have a less than favorable opinion of Rick Steves, but I happen to like his style. I have used his guidebooks and have taken his group tours before and I thoroughly enjoyed them. So, when it came to planning this trip I decided to do the Rick Steves� Europe Through the Back Door Tour of Turkey.

This tour started in Istanbul and ended in Kusadasi and we traveled for 19 days, 13 days on the tour and 6 days on our own. In between we visited Ankara, Cappadocia, Konya, Antalya, Pamukkale, Aphrodisias, and Ephesus. After ending in Kusadasi we flew back to Istanbul for 4 more days on our own in this vast city.

Turkey was a destination I had my eye on for a while, but didn�t necessarily want to do it on my own. Solo travel doesn�t bother me, I�ve done it quite often, but when my friend (CL) said she too would like to see Turkey I jumped at the opportunity. And we had traveled together last year for a month in Central Europe, so we were comfortable with each others travel style.

And now for the trip report!

Day 1, September 21, 2007 � Savannah, Georgia

We were scheduled to fly out of Savannah at 7am (ish) on September 22nd. Instead of getting up at �0 dark 30� and driving to the airport we used CL�s employee discount (she works for a hotel chain) and stayed at the Four Points hotel at the Savannah airport the night before the flight. It worked out really well. Since we stayed the night I was able to keep my car at the hotel for the whole time we were gone and didn�t have to pay any parking fee! We checked in, and went for dinner at a (non-descript) place across the street and then called it an early night. Even though we were minutes from the airport we still needed to be at the airport between 5:30 and 6am.


Day 2, September 22, 2007 � Departure from Savannah, Georgia

We were on the hotel shuttle van by 5:30am and we got to the airport within 5 minutes. We decided to do the outbound legs of the trip with only carry-on luggage and miraculously were able to fit everything we needed into one roll-board carry-on bag and one back-pack style bag each. We used the check-in kiosk and were at the security check point within 5 minutes of checking in.

Even though we had all our liquids in quart sized zip-lock bags we had our roll-aboard bags opened and checked but that time of the morning there wasn�t much of a line at the Savannah airport security, so we were through in a few minutes.

We were at the gate with our coffee in our hands about an hour before the flight. I know�I tend to like being at the airport early�I can�t stand feeling panicky about being late for a flight!

The flight to Atlanta (we flew Delta) was brief and uneventful and we made our connection to JFK with no trouble at all. Now I know we left very early in the morning out of Savannah, but because of the connection times in Atlanta and JFK I planned the trip this way. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time for the connection at JFK and all our flights were on time so we did have about 4 hours to wait at JFK but I would rather be there and waiting for our flight to Istanbul then going into panic mode if there was a delay in Atlanta�I know, I�m a �little anal� about that kind of thing!

We boarded our flight at JFK to Istanbul and we took off on time. This was approximately an 11 hour flight. Usually I don�t sleep much on these long flights and maybe it was because we had been up early in the morning but after taking off and being served dinner I managed to fall asleep and according to CL (and my watch) I slept soundly for 5 hours! This truly amazed me because it does not generally happen that way.

The flight to Istanbul was fairly comfortable, well as comfortable as you can get in coach�and uneventful. After 11 hours in �the friendly skies� we were ready to land and get our first glimpse of Istanbul!

Day 3, September 23, 2007 � Arrival in Istanbul

We arrived right on time and had no trouble finding the desk to buy our Turkish visas and then it was just a short wait in line to get our passports stamped. I stepped up to the official and quietly murmured �Merhaba�, he looked up at me and then down at my passport looked up again and said, �You smile a lot��well of course I said, �I�m on vacation�!

Since we didn�t check any luggage we glided past the baggage claim area and walked out through the doors into the arrivals hall. There standing before us was a gentleman with a sign with my name on it�.ahhh�our shuttle van to the hotel. We had a short wait for another passenger who turned out was on our flight and would also be on our tour. She was a great gal and we ended up spending time with her over the next day before the tour started.

We stayed at the Obelisk Hotel in Sultanahmet. This is part of the Best Western Chain, it did have some character. The website is www.obeliskhotel.com. I had booked this hotel months in advance and was fortunate to get a rate of 68 Euro, which included the shuttle van to the hotel and breakfast.

It was close to 11am when we arrived at the hotel. We sat in the lobby and had some tea and were going to leave our luggage there while we went out to explore, but as luck would have it, we were able to check into our room right way. The room was small, but it was clean and comfortable.

After unloading the bags and freshening up a bit we met our new friend in the lobby and went to walk around the Ararat Bazaar, which is just up the street from the Obelisk Hotel. While walking through the market we had our first experience with carpet salesmen and managed to fend them off without making any purchases!

The weather wasn�t the best (cloudy and grey but not raining) and by 2pm we started to get hungry and after walking around for a bit we decided to just try one of the restaurants in the area. Honestly, we were so tired by this point I think we would have eaten anything and the huge pita breads placed on the tables of the restaurant looked pretty enticing. We sat down at Malkoc Restaurant and Café at Akbiyik Caddessi Adliye Sokak No. 11. We ordered a mixed grill plate which included chicken, lamb, rice, carrots, yogurt and Turkish pizza slices. It was filling and for the 3 of us the bill was 63 Lire, this included 2 beers and one water.

By 4pm I was feeling �loopy� even with 5 hours of sleep on the flight! I don�t usually like to sleep that early for fear of not being able to sleep through the first night, but I decided to take a nap that ended up lasting until 8pm. When I woke to the call to prayer I thought I was a goner and would be up all night. That didn�t happen I was sleeping again at 9pm and slept until the next morning!

Day 4, September 24, 2007 � Time to Explore Istanbul!

We started the day with a leisurely breakfast in the rooftop restaurant. There was an assortment of cereals, breads, meats, and cheeses. We planned to go to the Grand Bazaar and check things out.

We were excited to spend some time in the Grand Bazaar. CL has a Turkish friend here at home who has family in Istanbul and they own a carpet store at the Grand Bazaar, so armed with their phone number we called in the morning and made sure Murat would be at the shop.

By some great stroke of luck we found Murat�s shop and had a great visit with him and got a lesson in carpets and an invitation to come back in 2 weeks when we would be back in Istanbul and looking to make some purchases. We purposely didn�t want to buy anything during our first few days in Istanbul because we didn�t want to drag it around with us for all that time and we knew we would be back in Istanbul for 4 days before we left to go home.

The weather wasn�t really cooperating with us, but after leaving the Grand Bazaar we made our way over to the Galata Tower. We took the tram over the Galata Bridge (1.30 lire) and then planned to take the Tunel up to the tower, but the Tunel was closed and we took a bus instead. However, not being sure of which stop to get off at we got off the bus a bit early, but found our way to the tower. Since it was so overcast we decided to not go to the top and wait to do that when we would be back in Istanbul in a few weeks.

By now it was getting to be late afternoon and decided to walk back to the hotel. Of course we did manage to find a bakery and bought some cookies to snack on�yup, when it comes to sweets, I have little self control!

Once back at the hotel we prepared to meet the rest of our tour group and then headed to the Blue Mosque. We arrived at the Blue Mosque and entered through the back door entrance�no line at all to get in. We had a bit of a history lesson and then were able to walk around the mosque and goggle at the grandeur.

As a group we had dinner at the Green House Restaurant (didn�t get address) and the meal was delicious. We started with spinach and cheese borek, followed by stuffed grape leaves and for dessert we had baklava, figs, and apricots. We called it an early night.

Day 5, September 25, 2007 � Istanbul Sunshine!

We woke to beautiful blue sunny sky today! And it stayed that way all day, which was terrific since it was a chock-full day of site seeing.

The first place on the agenda today was the underground cistern. We were there as soon as they opened the door and there was hardly anyone there while we were there. Then we were off across the street to Hagia Sophia. This massive museum began as a church then became a mosque and is now a museum. We filed into Hagia Sophia with all the other tourists and it was interesting to see the enormity of the place. We also spent time this morning at the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum. The exhibits here were very good and even though I�m not a big museum person I enjoy our time there.

We then had some time on our own to have lunch and CL and I headed over to Sultanahmet Koftecisi. We loved this place! We had the bean salad and the meatballs and didn�t go wrong with these.

We spent the afternoon at the Chora Church and what an amazing place. The mosaics were lovely and many were in very good condition. The rest of the day was spent soaking up more of Istanbul by walking in the Sultanahmet area.

Day 6, September 26, 2007 – Istanbul Another Day of Sunshine!

It was another day of clear blue sky and we spent the morning exploring Topkapi Palace. We toured the grounds buy starting with the Harem and saw some wonderful tile work. By the 4th courtyard we were treated to breath-taking views of the Bosphorous. One tip, if planning to go in the morning, instead of getting there right at 9am with the hordes of all the other tour groups, if you get there just 15 minutes later, you can get through the entrance much faster. Yes, you still have to contend with the masses once inside, but at least you don’t have to wait in an immense line. And be prepared to put your bags and cameras through an x-ray machine…this happened at almost all state run tourist sites.

When we were sufficiently awed by Topkapi Palace we headed over to Istiklal Street in the New District. We decided to have a walk around and have some lunch. At the recommendation of our guide we chose to try a local place for lunch that served sheep intestine sandwiches. I can honestly say it wasn’t bad. It was a fried mass on a huge roll and as Anthony Bourdain says…”If it’s fried Americans will eat it”! I can say that although it didn’t taste bad, I probably won’t be making sheep intestine sandwiches for myself here at home! :) The name of the restaurant is Sampiyon Kokorec and it is located on a side street just off Istiklal Street. What I really loved about this place was that we were the only non-locals in the joint. It was quite fun ordering, it was mostly pointing to things behind the counter and nodding our heads yes or no. After our sandwich adventure we found ourselves near an ice cream place, so we went in and tasted a sample or 2 and liked what we had, so had a bowl of ice cream. We got 4 scoops of various flavors and it tasted good, but seemed to have an almost gummy consistency, turns out it was goats milk ice cream…it was good, but have to say it doesn’t come close to Italian gelato!

After lunch we were off to explore the Spice Market where we spent some time roaming around the stalls and checking things out. We decided to venture out of the covered area and really got to see much more of the locals once we were on the streets that sold everything from wash buckets and cleaning products to grills and cooking utensils. It was lots of fun.

As the afternoon went on we made our way to the boat that would take us on a cruise around the Bosphorous. One benefit to the group tour was that we got the whole boat to ourselves. It was the perfect way to see the city and watch the sunset over the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.

We disembarked the boat in the Kadikoy area and found a great place for dinner. The restaurant waas Ciya Middle Kebap Restaurant located at Guneslibahce Sokak No. 43 (www.ciya.com.tr). They only speak Turkish but using our highly polished “point and nod” method of ordering we had a wonderful meal. We had a yogurt soup and a kebap plate. For 2 of us the meal cost about 35 Lire.

At 9pm we headed for the train station to board our night train to Ankara. We boarded the train and found our 2 berth compartment. The compartment was very clean and comfortable and included a small sink. Toilets were located at either end of the train car…note of warning, one toilet was a Turkish toilet and the other was a “Western” toilet.

We were told that sometimes the air-conditioning doesn’t work well in the compartments, but when we boarded the compartment was comfortable, well, that didn’t last more then 5 minutes when the heat started blasting into the compartment. Fortunately within 10 minutes it was fixed, but we decided we wanted the window open for to get fresh air once we started moving.

I decided to take the top berth and shortly after getting underway (around 10:30pm) we jumped into our beds and tried to go to sleep…”tried” being the operative word here. With the window open, yes it cooled off quickly…to almost freezing and it was noisy, but I eventually fell asleep and at 6am woke up to have breakfast in the dinning car. And before we knew it, it was 8am and we were pulling into the Ankara train station.

This is a very helpful report. I wondered about taking the train to Ankara and now know I won't do that. Eager to read more.

Day 7, September 27, 2007 – Hello and Goodbye to Ankara

We left the train station and went directly to the Anatolian Civilizations Museum. I’m not a huge museum fan, but this one was pretty good and not so big that it was overwhelming. After about 2 hours at the museum we then made our way to Ataturk’s Mausoleum. Wow! What a place, it’s gigantic we were there just before noon and it was not very crowded. We did get to see a changing of the guard.

After the mausoleum we headed to the business district in Ankara for lunch. We decided to try a local “fast food” type of place where the specialty was baked potatoes. The name of the restaurant was Otantik Kumpir. There was a variety of potatoes to choose from and they scoop out the inside mix it with cheese, put it back in the potato and then top it with a variety of things, mine had fried chicken, corn, green olives, pickles and they put mayonnaise and ketchup on the table to put on top of the potato. It was a rather interesting meal, and filling, but not the most memorable meal I’ve had.

Once we were sufficiently full from out potatoes we headed to Cappadocia. It was about a 5 hour drive and our destination for the night was Mustafpasa and the Old Greek House (www.oldgreekhouse.com). We had a terrific meal at the Old Greek House of a rice and lamb stew.

Day 8, September 28, 2007 - Welcome to Cappadocia

We started the day with a guided walk of Mustafpasa lead by the owner of the Greek House, Suleyman. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect with clear blue sky and lots of sunshine.

After our walk we went to the Goreme Open Air Museum to see the fairy Chimneys and cave homes and churches…I thought it was very worth the visit. We had our lunch today arranged by our guide and it was in the home of a local woman. She prepared a delicious lunch of tomato & cucumber salad, white beans and bulgur wheat. But the best part of lunch was spending 2 hours with a local woman talking about what life is like for her.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at a carpet demonstration and ended the day with another meal at the Greek House, also very good…a variety of mezes and then some local musicians to entertain us.

We called it an early night because the next day was our hot air balloon ride!

Day 9, September 29, 2007 - Hot Air Balloon Ride over Cappadocia

All I can say is “Wow”! We had the most perfect day for hot air ballooning. But getting up at 4:30am was rough! I had a tough time falling asleep, probably because I was afraid I would over-sleep and when I finally did get to sleep I only slept off and on. Then of course the Ramadan drum at what I thought was 3am didn’t help, followed by every dog in the village barking made for a sleep deprived night.

We did manage to get up and be out in front of the pensione at 5am. We were whisked to the balloon company’s office with a throng of other balloon participants and once we ante upped our money we were directed to a van that would take us to the launching area. We watched as the balloons were prepared and then as “nimbly” as possible catapulted ourselves over the edge of the basket and into the balloon.

Take off was remarkably smooth, I hardly felt being lifted off the ground and before I knew it we were in the air. To see sunrise over the fairy chimneys was quite spectular. There was not a cloud in the sky and it was another clear blue day. We could see for miles and were about 1,000 feet above the ground at our highest point.

Our balloon pilot was Mike and he was from the UK and had been piloting for 17 years. He was terrific and even before lift-off gave instructions in the event of an emergency landing which he said is hardly ever needed. Good thing he gave us those instructions…we ultimately did have to use them!

After about an hour floating through the air we began to descend and instead of just “kissing the ground” we bounced along the grass for a bit but were in our emergency stance so all was good. Once the ground crew had control of the balloon we all climbed back out of the basket and had our champagne and cherry juice toast.

For me, this was the best part of the trip, just floating over the other-worldly Cappadocia landscape was a once in a lifetime experience and I am thrilled to been able to do it.

Coming down from the hot air balloon “high” we headed into Urgup to the local farmer’s maret…another great experience. Then it was onto the town of Guzelyurt where we spent the night at a converted monastery.

Hey there LCI - I am enjoying the report! We are going to Turkey and Greece next spring. One thing I absolutely NEED to know is what a sheep's intestine sandwich is called. I will need to avoid that sandwich at all costs. :)

Hi Happy Cheesehead,

I don't recalled the name used for the sheep intestine sandwich. I will try to find out for you. Maybe one of our Turkey experts here on Fodors can chime in.

I'll continue more with the trip report this evening and will also try and post a link to my trip photos, which include a picture of the above mentioned sandwich! :)

Enjoying your trip report! Thanks for taking the time to post it.

We're *hoping* to visit Turkey next fall, but if we don't get to go, it's Reports like this that are giving us a real taste of Turkey!

Below is a link to the photos from my trip. I hope it works, sometimes I am not the best when it comes to posting the tiny url links. If it doesn't work I will figure out a way to re-post a link to the photos.

Be fore-warned...if the link works, there 871 pictures! Enjoy! :)


http://www.tiny.cc/pp46d

LCI, I've been waiting for your trip report. What took so long? :)

Cheese, take good notes, will ya? :)

The link works, I love the pictures from the hot air balloon.
How did you like a RS tour? I looks like you saw a ton and were having a great time.

Hi Susanna...

Thanks for the compliment on my pictures. :)

Yes, I did like the RS tour. We covered a lot of ground (something like 2500 miles). And I liked the balance of free time with planned activities. This was the 3rd RS tour I've done and I have to say that RS tours seem to attract travelers who are more interested in the educational aspects of travel rather then being on a huge shopping spree! ;)

Hi Mike...

I've been back 3 weeks and getting back into "reality" is always tough, but now that I have my act together I can dash off the trip report. Not my finest writing, but I'm giving it a shot! :)

Day 10, September 30, 2007 - Hello Konya

We spent the morning in Guzelyurt soaking up the local culture by spending time at a local mosque speaking with an Imam. The rest of the day was a spent making our way to Konya.

We arrived in the city around 4pm and went directly to the Mevlana Museum. This museum is dedicated to Rumi the founding father of the Whirling Dervishes. It was an interesting place. Besides being a mosque and the final resting place of Rumi there were many Korans on display and to see the detail in these books were amazing.

We stayed in a rather “generic” business type hotel in the down town Konya area. The name of the hotel is Selcuk Hotel (www.otelselcuk.com.tr). It was a clean basic room and there was free internet in the lobby.

One interesting thing about this night Konya. There was a big event at the local stadium. There was something like 200+ dervishes that were set to whirl in honor of Rumi’s 800 year birthday (or anniversary, I wasn’t sure which). The stadium was so crowded they had to close the doors and stop letting people in. It was a rather intense event.

Day 11, October 1, 2007 – Cross the Tauras Mountains and Hello to the Mediterranean

Today was another long day on the road. We left Konya at 9am and drove for a few hours until we stopped at a rest area that had an interesting cave and restaurant (how convenient!). We decided to go into the cave and for 5 lire a guide will take you through; the walk lasts about an hour. It was pretty enjoyable. Water flows in the cave and formed limestone formations.

After walking through the cave it was time for lunch and we had a great lamb shish and some terrific Turkish yogurt and honey. Once we were full from lunch we hit the road again and headed over the Tauras Mountains towards the Mediterranean.

Our destination was the city of Antalya. We stayed in a small pension called Ninova Pension (www.ninova-pension.com) and it is located in the old town area not far from Hadrian’s Gate. It was a very convenient location and has a beautiful garden in the rear where breakfast is served.

Once we were settled in we decided to walk down to the harbor area and find a seafood restaurant. We had dinner at Ekici Restaurant which is directly on the harbor. We picked out our own fish right from the counter and had it prepared perfectly. It was served simply with a potato and some greens. It was a great meal and the harbor atmosphere certainly added to the feeling of “ahhh…vacation”. The meal with water and beer was 60 Lire.

Day 12, October 2, 2007 – A day on the Mediterranean

Today was such a great day. We left Antalya in the morning and went to a marina in Kemer, about an hour away from Antalya, and boarded our private gullet cruise. We could not have asked for a better day, the sun was shining and there was a slight breeze.

Once we boarded the boat and left the harbor we cruised along the coast for about half an hour we dropped anchor in a small cove and jumped in for a swim. The water was absolutely perfect! Clear and warm…what a great way to spend the day! After our dip in the Med we climbed back onboard and went a little further to find another cove to stop for another swim and lunch.

For lunch we had great fish, a variety of salads, bread and drinks…it couldn’t have been better! We cruised back to the marina and headed back to Antalya with just enough time to go to the Turkish Bath. What a fun experience. The name of the bath was Tarihi Balik Pazari Hamami. We had such a good time, there were about 10 women (all Americans) and we went for the “whole she-bang” (rubbed and scrubbed as we like to call it)…bath, wash, shampoo, and massage. For all services the cost was 35 Lire. If you decide to do this I highly recommend purchasing your own bath mit for 3 Lire. When it’s your turn to be rubbed, give the attendant your mit, otherwise she will use the mit she has and that one has been used on all the “others” who didn’t buy their own mit. I have to say that I would go to a Turkish bath again with pleasure!

After the bath we glided back to the pension and had dinner in the garden. This dinner had to be pre-arranged in the morning so the owner knew how many people to cook for and it was excellent.

Day 13, October 3, 2007 – A Local Market Adventure and Pammukale

Today was another long driving day however we stop at a local market (I can’t remember the name of the town!) to stock up on supplies for a picnic lunch. We had so much fun at the market trying to communicate what we wanted from the vendors, but eventually we got what we wanted. We had lots of food…bread, goat cheese, tomatoes, olives, peaches, bananas, tahini bread, cherry and peach juice and roasted chicken.

We stopped at a very picturesque crater lake. The water was a beautiful color blue and the beach was white. We spent an relaxing lunch here and then it was back on the road to Pamukkale.

We spent several hours exploring the ruins at Pamukkale. The Heirapolis there is in wonderful condition. And the water from the springs runs down the mountain forming pale blue pools of water flowing down travertine terraces. It was really quite a site.

Day 14, October 4, 2007 – Amazing Aphrodisias

We got an early start this morning and at Aphrodisisas by 9am. This was my favorite archeological site on this trip. Much less crowded then the other site and it felt much more intimate. This ancient city once had a population of 80,000. The ruins are very well preserved and still lots of excavations going on.

The weather really cooperated with us this day and it was not too hot, which made it great for walking around the site. After spending a few hours here we were back on the road and this time it was towards Kusadasi. In Kusadasi we stayed at Grand Onder Otel (www.onderotel.com)

We arrived in Kusadasi at about 4pm and had a short look around. It is definitely a cruise ship town. When we rode into town there was a huge and I mean huge ship in port. I have been on cruises before, but never in my life have I seen a ship that big before!

Day 15, October 5, 2007 – Kusadasi and Ephesus

Today was another early start and we arrived at Ephesus just after 8am. There were still a lot of people, but not the hordes that I was told are normally there. I thought the most interesting parts of the site were the terrace houses and the library. The mosaics in the terrace houses are worth dealing with the crowds!

Be warned at the exit from Ephesus there is a big “gauntlet” of shops with salesmen trying to sell you just about anything.

Once back in Kusadasi we did a little window shopping and had lunch and then headed back to the hotel for a nap before our final dinner with our group.

Stay tuned for the return to Istanbul...

Nice trip report, enjoyed reading it.....

Happy; the sandwitch you are trying to avoid are called "Kokorec"...
I wish there were some in Cappadocia.
The best place to eat is Sampiyon in fishmarket istanbul, worth trying it :-))

Happy travelling,
Murat

Thanks for the information on the sandwich Murat! :)


I thought I had posted the next section of this trip report last night but for some reason it is not showing up on the thread, but it is showing up when I hit the post reply button. I am trying to re-post but if there is a double post for Day 16 I apologize!

And now back to Istanbul...

Day 16, October 6, 2007 – Back to Istanbul

We left Kusadasi and went to the airport in Izmir for our flight back to Istanbul. I used Atlas Jet and had made online booking months in advance. All went smoothly from checking in to boarding the flight. The flight was not full and it was a quick 40 minute flight back to Istanbul. Unlike US flights of that length we were given sandwiches and drinks. The sandwich wasn’t the best I ever had, but it wasn’t the worst either.

We arrived back in Istanbul at about 4:30pm and our shuttle bus driver was waiting for us after baggage claim.

During this stay in Istanbul I took the advice of Fodorite fishee and booked 4 nights at the Hotel Uyan (www.uyanhotel.com) in Sultanahmet. Because I had booked the room back in January 2007 I got a rate of 90 Euro per night since then the price has increased to 99 Euro per night. This price included the pick up from the airport and daily breakfast at the rooftop dining room.

Because we had a late afternoon flight and a Saturday during Ramadan, the traffic into the city was terrible and it took about an hour to get to the hotel. But all went smoothly with the ride the driver spoke near perfect English; he had gone to school in England. And check-in at the hotel was a breeze. We had a twin room that was very comfortable and clean. Our room faced the back of the hotel which worked out well since we didn’t hear any street noise which we thought would have been an issue with the rooms facing the street. Although I have to say the street was fairly quiet for being in Sultanahmet.

During check-in we asked the girl at the front desk to make a reservation for us at a restaurant down the street called Rami. This was in my opinion the BEST meal of the entire trip. The address for Rami is Utangac Sokak No. 6 Sultanahmet.

Our reservation was for 7:30pm and when we arrived the restaurant was not very crowded, however the place filled up while we were there. We had a small bottle of white wine, a grilled eggplant, tomato, & yogurt starter which was completely out of this world delicious. CL had the house special of eggplant, meat, potato, peas, mushrooms, and olive oil baked in paper, it was a stew-like dish and she loved it. I had a shrimp, eggplant, tomato, and cheese dish baked in a terracotta bowl and it was absolutely decadent. It was rich, but I savored every forkful. We passed on dessert and the bill came to 110 Lire. We chatted with the couple at the table next to us for a while and then called it a night. With our bellies full we waddled up the street back to our hotel and fell into a peaceful slumber.

Day 17, October 7, 2007 – Istanbul

We started the day with breakfast at the rooftop dinning room (the Hotel Uyan does not have a full roof top restaurant, just a breakfast area). The food offered at breakfast was similar to what we’ve had elsewhere. There was a variety of breads, cheeses, yogurt and coffee.

Shortly after 9am we started out for the Dolmabahce Palace. We took the tram from Sultanahmet to the Kabatas stop (the last stop on the line) and had a short walk to the palace. The ticket line was not long and it cost 15 Lire per person for a 1 hour guided tour of the administrative wing. We did not take the tour of the Harem at Dolmabahce. There was an additional fee of 10 Lire if you wanted to take pictures inside the palace.

This palace is a huge ornate place and in one room there is a 4.5 ton Baccarat crystal chandelier. It was interesting and the tour was in English. After the tour we walked around the grounds for a bit and took some more pictures.

After see all the opulence we decided to walk to the Oratoy neighborhood. It took us about an hour to walk. We were told by our taxi driver the day before there would be a local market and the vendors would not “hassle” us there. He was right; it was nowhere near the experience at the Grand Bazaar. There were vendors there with lots of different crafts and we both bought interesting bead necklaces for 10 Lire each. We walked around the area and then hopped on a bus heading back to the Kabatas tram stop. The bus fare was 1.25 Lire each.

When we got off the bus we got on the funicular which took us to the Taksim Square area. The fare for the funicular was 1.30 Lire each.

We walked down Istiklal Street, which is a modern shopping pedestrian street. It was packed with people. We stopped to have lunch at a cafeteria type place. CL ordered a doner sandwich which is shaved meat with tomato, peppers and French fries on bread. I had stuffed eggplant and a pudding for dessert. We shared everything and it was all very good (I can’t remember the name of the restaurant!), but it was way too much food and we could only finish about half. The pudding was the best we had tasted during the trip.

We meandered along the street and ultimately made our way to the Galata Tower. Today was a much better “tower day” then the day we were in the area 2 weeks before, so we went up to the top of the tower (10 Lire each). The views of the city were spectacular. We then made our way back to the hotel for some relaxation time.

We were really hungry but we wanted to try the outdoor restaurant just down the street from the hotel since we were told they had good mezes there. So we set out at about 6:30pm. When we arrived it was hardly crowded and we ordered hummus, eggplant & sauce and a spinach pancake. All the food was good and as the sun began to set the restaurant started to get busy. Since sunset was fast approaching it was almost time to break the fast so more and more people kept streaming into the restaurant. CL and I just sat back and did some people watching and it was one of the most fun evenings we had. After a couple hours we called it a night and went back to the hotel to get a good night’s sleep for our “designated” shopping day tomorrow!

Day 18, October 8, 2007 – Istanbul

We spent time today shopping. CL wanted to go to a leather store Murat had recommended which meant we had to take a taxi there since it was in an area between Sultanahmet and the airport.

We had the girl at the front desk call a taxi to take us there and it cost 13 Lire. CL did find a leather coat but alterations had to be done to the sleeves so we had to come back the next day.

When we finished with the purchase the shop wouldn’t call a taxi for us but said we could get one on the main street (Kennedy Caddessi), so we left the shop and started to walk along the street towards a bus stop. But there was no schedule posted at the same time a taxi had stopped and we jumped in.

Now, I have to digress here…I had read about how taxi drivers will scam you in Istanbul if not called by a hotel or restaurant but at this point we where far from where we wanted to be and there was not route map or schedule at the bus stop. So against that little voice inside me, we took the taxi.

We told the driver to take us to the Grand Bazaar. We were nearing the Spice Market, not our original destination, but when the meter started to roll past 20 Lire we changed our mind and wanted to get out at the Spice Market. There was some communication difficulty, but we managed to make are point, paid the driver and we got out at the Spice Market.

We walked around the Spice Market but did not purchase anything. I think the difficulty for me was that there were so many choices, I just couldn’t decide on anything I wanted! We did go back over to the Grand Bazaar and stopped to see Murat again. He was kind enough to take us to the jewelry wholesaler where his son-in-law works and I did find a really interesting 14K gold ring there that I did purchase.

After shopping we decided to have a late lunch/early dinner at Hamdi (www.hamdirestorant.com.tr). This restaurant, near the Spice Market is on the upper level of a building. They have a small outside terrace overlooking the water and we sat there enjoying the view.

We ordered the eggplant kepab, which wasn’t the best we had but we also ordered the beyit which isa meat wrapped in phyllo dough kepab and that was delicious.

Day 19, October 9, 2007 – Istanbul

Today we decided to venture on the tram and try to find our way back to the leather shop to pick up CL’s coat. We had a map, but in retrospect it wasn’t the greatest map we ever used. We got on the tram just after 10:30am and went several stops (not quite to the end of the line). We got off the tram at about 11am and started walking in the general direction we thought the shop was in. We knew we would have a “good” walk because even on the map we had, it seemed a pretty far distance. One hour and 20 minutes later we found the shop and got the coat. Now to find the tram again!

We figured out that we had gotten off a stop or 2 too early! Our map showed a shopping mall not too far (or it looked not far) from a tram stop. So we managed to find the mall while walking through what clearly appeared to be the leather and fur district. If I am ever back in Istanbul I now know where to go to order a custom leather or fur coat!

We stopped at the mall for a bit to eat and a little rest for our weary feet and then we set out to find our way to the tram. We were doing good for a while but then started to wonder where the tram stop was. We pulled out our map again and there were 2 young girls who were about high school age who helped us. They walked us all the way to the tram stop and believe me if it weren’t for their help we would probably still be wandering around looking for the tram! They were so nice, they didn’t know much English but they showed us their school notebook with their English lessons. We thanked them profusely and got on the tram.

Once we got back to the hotel we started to re-pack our bags for our return trip home the next day. After packing most of our belongings we decided to have dinner at Balicki Sabahatin (address: Seyit Hasan Kuyu Sokak 1).

We sat outside on the covered dinning area and had 3 mezes, seabass, grilled squid and a house special that was rice with carrots, onions, and mussels, it was all delicious. We also ordered a bluefish entre which was very tasty. This was a great place for our last meal in Istanbul.

Day 20, October 10, 2007 – Leaving Istanbul

I can’t even really count today because we left the hotel at 9:30am for our flight home. The flight left Istanbul about a half hour late, but we landed at JFK on time. Instead of connecting to a flight home to Savannah immediately we decided to spend the evening in NYC and I was able to book a reasonably price room at the Washington Square Hotel on Waverly Place in Greenwich Village. Once we were through customs and immigration and got our bags from the baggage claim we took the Air Train from JFK to the subway and was in the city within an hour.

The next day we didn’t have much time to spend in the “Big Apple” but we walked around a bit and then hopped back on the subway and went back to JFK for our uneventful flight home to Savannah.

It was a great trip and I brought home lots of wonderful memories!

Great report, thanks so much!