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    • Zazou et TenQueen à bicyclette
      Day 123–124

      Luleburgaz / Istanbul - 🚂🛤️🤫

      November 7 in Turkey ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

      İnanç a fini de nous persuader de ne pas aller à Istanbul en vélo en les mettant en sécurité et en prenant des billets de train avec nous. Ça sera un voyage tout confort ! 💺💺
      Après un super p’tit dej (dois je encore le rappeler), et un changement de sac, nous voilà parti en direction de la gare. 4h plus tard, nous serons à Istanbul. Mais il faut encore 40 minutes de RER et 20 minutes de métro pour arriver chez Sergen, mon ami Turc rencontré 6 ans auparavant en Estonie. 🇪🇪
      On pose les bagages, et on se repose ! Enfin ! :D      Read more

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    • Projet SAYE
      1111
      Day 137

      J140-143-Istanbul - partie 1

      July 7 in Turkey ⋅ 🌬 30 °C

      [Eliott]

      Hello les amis, on vous a pas trop manqué ? 😁

      Petit récapitulatif de la première partie des 7 jours passés à Istanbul. Comme vous pouvez vous en douter, les bicyclettes et les jambes sont restées au repos 😴

      Après s’être installés à notre premier hostel, le Bahaus, situé en plein cœur de Sultanamet (centre ville historique), on se balade dans les rues du quartier bordées de restaurants et d’alpagueurs.

      Durant les 4 premiers jours, on fait plusieurs rencontres à l’auberge, dont celles de Francesco, Josh et Fleur, deux anglais et une néerlandaise avec qui on regardera les demies-finales de l’Euro, en passant ensemble du rire aux larmes 🥲
      Quel que soit le résultat, on a su faire la fête pour se consoler 😌

      Le matin c’était petit-déjeuner gratuit jusqu’à 10h. Avec Jambe le réveil sonnait pour des petits tête à tête avant d’aller se recoucher 😏

      La journée, on visite ensuite les quartiers de Sultanamet, de Galata, mais aussi le grand bazar (vraiment très grand), le bazar aux épices et de multiples mosquées.

      Suivant les conseils de deux italiens, on s’est retrouvé embarqués dans les bains turcs typiques. On a profité du sauna, du bassin froid authentique et des masseurs. Ceux-ci étaient des vieux turcs bedonnants, qui nous ont épluché la peau et ont passé Rémi et Dimitri au rouleau compresseur 🏥

      Ces journées ont été riches en rencontres et en découvertes 🙃

      On a aussi passé toute la troupe à la tonte d’été, pour avoir des belles coupes quand on reverra les copains et les copines 🐑      Read more

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    • TravelerTürkiye
      2
      Day 2

      Getting there

      July 9 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

      After Shutterfly shut down their web hosting service that served as our platform for travels, I was planning to lay low this trip. Well, that doesn’t seem to be happening. So, hold on, we have some catchin’ up to do!

      Leaving at the reasonable hour of 11:30am suited us well after many a trip that saw us arriving at the airport before most people were still in heavenly slumber.

      Leaving our trusty Subaru in the Economy lot (21 days is a lot of parking!) we grabbed the shuttle to the terminal. Through security in a flash, gotta love Spokane, and on to our gate to begin our 3-plane, 23+ hour travel day.

      I only found about an hour of sleep on the trip across the pond and an additional 30 minutes from Amsterdam to Istanbul. Kim and Myah found better success in grabbing some Zzzs while Brendan fared about the same as me.

      The only things of note during our air travel was Myah's seeking of a commitment that we visit the Netherlands in the future for more than a view of the inside of their international airport and the shudder that went through the plane when a flight attendant announced that due to a luggage handling breakdown, none of the checked luggage had made it aboard the plane! Now we know why we were late taking offs this is exactly why we always travel carry-on only!      Read more

    • TravelerTürkiye
      11
      Day 3

      Istanbul Day 1

      July 10 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

      We arrived a couple days ahead of our tour so that we could explore one of the most iconic cities in the world.

      We arranged a walking tour with a local guide on day 1 who started things off at the UNESCO World Heritage Site the Blue Mosque. This house of worship was constructed in the early 17th century as a power play to rival the nearby Hagia Sophia mosque. The sultan wanted “his” mosque to be the tallest around but his architects could not figure out how to make it happen. So instead, they decided to add additional minarets so that the Blue Mosque would have a total of 6 while the Hagia Sophia would be stuck with the paltry sum of 4.

      We then moved on to learn about the Hippodrome where citizens would watch chariot races and cheer wildly for their favorite team.

      My favorite morsel of history here was about the huge decorative pillars that lined the interior of the track. I couldn’t imagine placing something in the middle of a track which would block the view of the fans. But, according to our guide, it was done purposely to increase excitement as the racers would come in and out of view.

      Next, we visited
      The Basilica Cistern which is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city. These water filtration and storage facilities are something to behold. Storing the water underground not only helped with evaporation, but also helped prevent invading armies from poisoning the water supply so easily as they fight to overthrow a city.

      We finished the day at the

      Grand Bazaar, the largest one of its kind in the world. With 22 gates and over 3,600 shops, you can find just about anything you desire!      Read more

    • D&G's 2023 Adventure
      1
      Day 160

      Belgrade —> Istanbul, Turkey

      August 24, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

      We started the day with an early bus to then catch our flight to Istanbul, Turkey.

      We met our English friend from our South American tour, Tommy, at the airport and then all made our way to our hotel in Istanbul. The airport is around 50km from the centre and the traffic was bad so it took about 2 hours to get to the hotel in our transfer.

      We checked in and then went for a walk around the historical part of town for a few hours with Tommy. Istanbul is so busy and bustling and it's amazing seeing the diverse architecture and amazing smells from markets and stores.

      We went inside both the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia and admired the amazing domes and structures. Some people were praying in a certain closed off area (though the mosques close to tourists for the 5 prayer times during each day). Truly incredible and special places!

      We then took a stroll through the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar is enormous - with around 4000 stores and different streets and sections for different products (for example, there is a leather clothing section, carpet section, gold jewellery section etc). So amazing to walk around and see it all (and get lost!)

      We then made our way to the Galata Bridge over the Golden Horn area which separates Europe and Asia, crossing momentarily over into Asia before heading back to our hotel. We saw a lot of people fishing here from the bridge and also saw a lot of boat tours down in the harbour. You have a great view over part of the city and can see many of the mosques and minarets.

      We returned to the hotel, freshened up and had our G Adventures welcome meeting at 6pm and were introduced to our tour guide, Hazal, and our travel companions for the next couple of weeks. There are 15 people on our tour which starts and ends in Istanbul and there a mix of ages and nationalities (some Canadian, one other Aussie, one American, one British and a few Kiwis). We met on the rooftop of the hotel which has a very nice view (which also attracts a very large and loud seagull) and we all introduced ourselves. We then went to a restaurant near our hotel and we had Turkish kebabs.

      A few of the group (the younger 6 of us in the group in 20s/early 30s) decided to go for a walk down to the water to see Istanbul at night which was truly beautiful with all the lights. We had a wonderful view from the Galata Bridge and the restaurants, bars and shops were so busy even at 10pm on a Thursday night.

      We then came back to the hotel for a much needed sleep after a busy day! It is amazing being in a hotel again but unfortunately our electricity in our room kept going off (including the AC) so we spent some time going back and forth to reception and finally moved rooms at 1am when they couldn't fix it and went to sleep straight away!      Read more

    • TravelerA&K Adventure 2019
      Day 46

      D46 - Greece to Turkey

      August 19, 2019 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

      We had a few hours tucked up our sleeves this morning, so after a decent sleep-in we slowly wandered around the local area (which seems a bit rough but I’m sure is absolutely safe) for coffee/pastries/pharmaceutical items. It seems very few businesses that we go to are open, so we’re trying the “wing it” approach.
      All was well soon enough - coffee and pastries were devoured and we’ve stocked up on our anti-travel sickness medication for the impending amount of Turkish buses we’ll be riding!

      We packed up and locked the apartment, and headed back towards Athens airport. The line in security took so long that we lost any spare time we had given ourselves to eat lunch, so fast and friendly takeaway was the go. As it happens we sat on the tarmac for almost an hour! We’re not Algean Airlines biggest fans at this point...

      Once we touched down at Istanbul’s recently opened airport, which is pretty swanky pants, we managed to trade our residual francs and euros for lira. We then had the pleasure of finding a taxi - we got lucky with our incredibly grumpy old Turkish taxi driver who had initially agreed on 140 lira, tried to up the price to 160 lira once we pulled away and pulled the “I don’t speak English” stint. Tired and not wanting to cause an argument, we would only settle for 150 lira. It was a great drive, but by the time we got into the Golden Horn District our driver was fed up and didn’t even drive us to the hotel. As it turns out we only had to walk 5 minutes, and very little local traffic was present so we can forgive him this time.

      We arrived at the hotel and rushed to unpack in our tiny abode which looks way more glamorous on its website, of course! We went downstairs to the lobby and met the rest of our tour group, plus our guide Mete. There is 11 of us in total, which makes a nice change from the 16 he had last week, however one person hasn’t arrived yet.
      Over the next hour or so Mete went through the itinerary with us, which included some exciting changes and optional activities.
      We all went out for dinner together to a local restaurant, and it was great to relax and get to know people. There’s 3 married couples, 2 single blokes and 2 girls who have been travel buddies for 18 years! The food was pretty good and there was lots of fanfare by the waiters with one balancing wine several glasses on his head while dancing down the cobbled street!

      Tomorrow we do a walking tour, so sleep can’t come quick enough.      Read more

    • TravelerA&K Adventure 2019
      1
      Day 47

      D47 Turkey - Istanbul

      August 20, 2019 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

      Today is officially day 2 of our Turkish tour, and for the remainder of our time here we’re going to approach the blog with a more visual perspective. Each of our days is pretty jam packed with activities so there will be plenty of photos (and commentary) to keep you entertained!

      After breakfast we left the hotel and started the walking tour which, of the next 5 hours, led us to:
      -Gulhane Park, one of the biggest parks in Istanbul.
      -The plaza of the Blue Mosque, which is unfortunately going under significant renovations, which means minimal viewing of its famous blue tiled dome. This plaza also houses the Hagia Sophia Museum, a huge Turkish hammam (public baths) and most important, snack carts. Shortly after we’d digested our breakfast we were introduced to the Turkish ice cream called Dondurma, which has a “gummy” consistency and is made of goats milk, sugar, salep flour and mastic gum. The ice cream vendors put on an theatrical act by stretching and pounding the icy block with a long metal stick to make it palatable, and then they tease and taunt you by pretending to drop it, steal the cone etc. I would’ve loved to have had this as a kid growing up!
      -The Grand Bazaar, a HUGE labyrinth of stores selling everything from shoes to jewellery to fake Gucci tops. I believe Mete said it’s currently the world 3rd largest market, and its hard not to get completely lost!
      -The Suleymaniye Mosque, an ornate 16th century mosque which has recently been renovated and is absolutely inside.
      -The Spice Market for tea and Turkish delight!

      Enjoy!      Read more

    • TravelerA&K Adventure 2019
      Day 62

      D62 Turkey - Adiyaman to Istanbul

      September 4, 2019 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      A Snapshot of Our Day

      Photo 1 - We took the tram and the funicular to Taxim Square for dinner, we were in the mood for some street food that wasn’t a kebab or lentil soup!

      Photo 2 - Mete said to brace ourselves as this strip was busier than Times Square! Not sure about that but it sure was bloody busy - we even said if people got lost we should just make a bee line for the hotel at 9.30pm for rooftop drinks.

      Photo 3 - Mete had prepped us for the Istanbul-style “wet burger”, which was essentially a beef patty inside a soft burger bun and steamed, so when served it’s still really juicy inside. I wasn’t entirely convinced.

      Photo 4 - But I saw the queue and got sucked in by FOMO! It was pretty delicious , a bit weird, but I figured we wouldn’t get it at home. Washed down with a limonata it was a great start to the night! The vegetarians didn’t agree.

      Photo 5 - 10 steps away from the burger stall and we’re already drawn towards more food. There are so many pick and choose joints around, you’d never get tired of food in Istanbul!

      Photo 6 - Baklava. Dessert is not dessert if it isn’t wrapped in pastry, doused in sugar and sprinkled with nuts.

      Photo 7 - Doner kebabs have been a staple right throughout our trip. It’s a mix of beef and lamb, and makes a relatively “light lunch”.

      Photo 8 - That is 100% butter and my arteries hurt just looking at it.

      Photo 9 - Galata Tower, which we will hopefully try to climb tomorrow.

      Photo 10 - The Golden Horn at night is pretty spectacular, especially with all the huge mosques lit up so beautifully.      Read more

    • TravelerA&K Adventure 2019
      Day 63

      D63 Turkey - Istanbul

      September 5, 2019 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

      A Snapshot of Our Day

      Photo 1 - One of the wonders of Hagia Sophia, a mosque turned museum. It has an amazing fusion of religious displays, including Christianity and Islam. This mosaic wall design is 13th century AD, with Christ in the middle, John the Baptist on the right and Virgin Mary on the left.

      Photo 2 - Story of our lives, another beautiful building we can’t fully appreciate due to maintenance works! Being one the major attractions of the Golden Horn we had to go, but there was only about 50m square of tiling that we could admire!

      Photo 3 - The Basilica Cistern is the largest of the underground cistern network in Istanbul. It was built in 6th century AD and is now kept open purely for public access and for the occasional movie.

      Photo 4 - In the north west corner of the space we were able to see the two columns that had Medusa’s head as the foundation stones.

      Photo 5 - A brilliant way to see both sides of Istanbul in 2 hours is a public boat ride along the mighty Bosphorus River! It was great being able to see many of the different districts from the boat as we wouldn’t have time otherwise!

      Photo 6 - It’s becoming harder and harder to not buy these beautiful hand painted (and for the most part, authentic) tiles. We would both love to have these tiles make a appearance in our future non-existing kitchen!

      Photo 7 - The main bridge near the Golden Horn is lined with stalls and restaurants specialising in fresh fish dishes. This gentleman was smashing out delicious looking fish sandwiches at an amazing rate.

      Photo 8 - Anthony is Andy while we are here. Either that or we stole some other guys coffee...

      Photo 9 - We went to the top of the Galata Tower for sunset, and although the glow across the Horn wasn’t particularly intense, we had a great time seeing the light bounce off the city.

      Photo 10 - Ant and his new found friend, Brent. We all had fun roaming the streets together today and are sorry to say goodbye to another new friend.      Read more

    • TravelerIstanbul 2020
      Day 1

      Aankomst

      January 17, 2020 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

      Ik had wat mijn twijfels over de app van turkisch airlines gezien die wat vreemd deed, maar alles verliep vlot en de passport controle in Istanbul is zeer vlot. Wel had ik in mijn voorbereiding gemist van luchthaven. Ik kwam aan in de gloednieuwe luchthaven die momenteel de grootste ter wereld is maar verder ligt en geen metro of treinverbinding heeft. Geld afhalen is geen probleem ondanks dat ik weer vergeten was om de bank te bellen om mijn kaart open te zetten, blijkbaar is Turkije nog Europa. Ik had echt geen zin om een taxi te nemen en besloot om eens uit te pluizen hoe de bussen werken. De juiste bus kon ik rap vinden, die naar sultanahmet, en ik kocht een istanbulcard, wat een herlaadbare kaart is voor alle openbaar vervoer.

      Na inchecken in het hotel ging ik direct op wandel op zoek naar eten. Ik vond een straat vol restaurants, maar er was geen kat, de hele stad was zeer rustig. Ik besloot toch een gokje te wagen door een van die lege restaurants binnen te gaan en het was vrij lekker en zeer veel. Ik had een half uurtje wandelen nodig om het te verteren en tijdens dat doelloos rondwandelen vond ik nog verkeersvrije straten vol restaurants. Er was al iets meer volk, ik denk dat ze hier niet eten voor 9u, maar toch zeer rustig. Na nog een pint gedronken te hebben in een café hield ik het voor bekeken vandaag, ondanks dat het nog maar 22u was en vele winkels nog open waren. Mijn eerste indruk van de mensen hier is dat ze zeer vriendelijk zijn.      Read more

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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Messe Istanbul, fair Istanbul

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