Istanbul-Saturday, April 4

Brian arrived in Istanbul about 2 PM after an Ulusoy bus trip from Ankara. Bus riders both on and off the bus:




And the first view of the Bosphorus Straight, looking northward (Europe on the left of the photo, and Anatolia/Asia on the right):



First impressions of the "Swissotel: The Bosphorus" hotel (which turned out to be the wrong hotel to meet Rob) included that the doorman was dressed like a Swiss guard. The front desk insisted he didn't have a reservation and told him they were "all full" but would figure something out if need be. They were very accomodating and polite in finding ways to not flat out tell Brian he was at the wrong hotel and to get lost.

He left his luggage at the luggage check and went for a walk in a nearby park (Macka Parki)--it was a nice spring day and couples were out walking and enjoying the sunshine. There were old, unused amusement park rides in one area of the park, and what appeared to be "tailgaters" for an upcoming football (soccer) match in the stadium nearby (BJK Inonu Stadium). There were also men selling shots with an air rifle, 1 lira per shot at a balloon, if you pop it you get another shot. Odd photos for a city park.



After buying a simit to munch on, he meandered his way to the campus of Istanbul Technical University, which was housed in old buildings which ironically were in surprisingly bad repair. Then he wandered through a cemetery and happened upon a group of people living there with their dogs...and they didn't seem too happy to see him.










Then it was time to check back at the hotel for Rob and a call to Cortney. Oh, new hotel, not this one at all! Rob's stuck in Paris! Hmm. Short cab ride to the Ceylan Intercontinental (the taxi driver unappreciative of the short ride and small fare), and finally a room to relax in.

There was very pretty light blue pottery with very detailed white designs all over it in the gift shop. Brian hadn't seen the design anywhere else in Turkey and took quite a liking to it, "if I had a few hundred extra hundred lira I'd bring some of that home."

Room service pizza for dinner (30 minutes late and none too warm), and an internet connection to pass the time while Rob finished his travels to Turkey. Rob arrived pretty late, and it was off to sleep for the both of them before their big day of touring tomorrow.

More pictures from today:

2009-04-04Istanbul