Trip Report...Fun in Istanbul

[Globetrotter]

I met my girl in Istanbul in July.  The way I had originally scheduled our flights, she would arrive late at night, and me many hours later.  I changed this so would leave a day earlier to arrive before she did, check out the hotel and part of the city, get some sleep, and meet her back at the airport.  She arrived on time and looked great.  The taxi driver decided to give us an unwanted tour of the city, which I complained about, shouting, "Are you lost?"  I told the security guard at the hotel of our tour, and he said don't pay the meter, pay him $10 in local lira.  

I looked up Istanbul on the Internet, but did no planning whatsoever.
We would see anything we wanted to, when we wanted to, and plan each day on the fly.  We were staying at a 5 star hotel a little out of the city, but next to the tram...bus on rails.  The first day we took a private tour organized by the hotel concierge to get a lay of the land.  It lasted several hours, museums, a boat ride, local restaurant
and was nice to have things explained to us.  I asked the hotel people where the local beaches were, and he said there weren't any.  For the beach, you took a boat to the Princes Islands, which cost about a buck and took an hour to get there.  A nice fellow in line told me about the islands (the boat made 3 stops) and that the last stop was where the best beaches and restaurants were.  Then he said, stop at my restaurant for lunch...and I said "I thought you worked for the boat company," and we laughed.  Nice clean warm water in the Bosphorus, but no sandy beach, only rocks to swim from.  From where the boat landed, I bought grass mats to lie on, suntan lotion, and a few beers.  After a nice swim, we found this guy's restaurant, outdoor
of course, right on the sea.  My girl had never had a lobster before, so I ordered one for her.  I had fish.  We split a shrimp appitizer and a bottle of wine.  She was in heaven.  I laughed with the restaurant owner...$1 for the boat ride, $100 for lunch.  This island has no cars, except for a few delivery vehicles, fire and police vehicles.  Everyone owned horse drawn vehicles.  A "Victoria" similar to what you ride in in Central Park, and flat bed delivery vehicles.
Locals waited in the town square to take tourists for a ride through the island, which took about an hour, and cost about $10.  A British lady we met who had lived there for years said we paid twice the rate,
and gouging tourists was frowned upon.  Still, the day had been a blast.  We took the same boat back to Istanbul...a lesson I should have remembered.  More later.

[Watcher]

... in response to Trip Report...Fun in Istanbul, posted by Globetrotter on Dec 19, 2002

Great report. Do you have name of the small Hotel and any contact information?

Thanks

Watcher

[Globetrotter]

... in response to Trip Report...Fun in Istanbul, posted by Globetrotter on Dec 19, 2002

Istanbul is a nice place, nice, non-agressive people, and not an expensive place to visit.  No visa necessary...but, first stop off the plane, people were queueing up at a window that said "Visas" so I got in line.  To get the entry stamp in my passport I needed to pay $60 in cash.  (My Russian girl paid $10....so I guess it has something to do with the ability to pay.)

Before her trip, I sent her $200 so she had traveling money, and am glad I did.

We went to the Grand Bazzar as she needed a leather coat for winter, and I needed a sheet of mother-of-pearl to restore an Afghan antique I had bought 25 years earlier.  After visiting 10-15 shops (2 hours mind you...patience, patience) she found her coat, which I bought for her...a birthday present.  We went to several jewelry stores and I finally found a 4x6 inch sheet of mother-of-pearl (impossible to find here.)  The shop keeper wanted to give it to me, but I insisted I pay him $10.  We were both very happy.  The Bazzar is a myriad of narrow streets that zig-zag for miles, and it's easy to get lost.  Also, as it's a strange place, we never let go of each others hands.  Walking along the street that the tram follows we came across a small, but beautiful hotel and decided to stop in for a beer.  Only 50 rooms, but new and nice with very nice people.  We talked to the owner, had a beer with him and asked how was business.  Bad, he said.  I asked that he show us a room, which was very nice...and only $50 (as opposed to the $150 I was paying.)  I told him we'd move there the next day, which we did.  We were within 5 minutes walk from the Bosphrous, and directly across the street from the old Royal Palace, now a museun.  Must be close to a mile uphill walk to get into the main grounds of the palace, but well worth a half-day visit.  Plus, Russians love to walk.  We asked our new hotel people where to go for dinner, and he said a van would pick us up and take us to a part of the city that had nothing but outdoor restaurants, then bring us back to the hotel, which we did.  It was like an outdoor restaurant bazzar, streets teaming with people.  We had a great meal, serenaded by 5 local musicians, and it was great fun.  

We walked into town the next day and were approached by a small man who said he was a boat captain and would take us for a ride for 2 hours for $60 in his trawler, and I said maybe.  He hailed a cab, said get in, see his boat, and we could decide then.  3 minute ride and we were next to the boat which looked like a scruffy work boat, but had a lower deck with a surrey for a sun shade, and upper deck, both with padded seats.  It looked seaworthy, and I said what the hell, and we boarded.  I also negotiated 4 beers from him.  He opened a cooler and gave us one to share and we were off...after he blew a whistle, and another deck hand appeared...his dad.  The day was a blast, and we had a private tour of the European as well as Asian side of Istanbul on our own private 50 foot yacht.

[Globetrotter]

... in response to Re: Trip Report...Fun in Istanbul 2, posted by Globetrotter on Dec 20, 2002

Istanbul is a split city, split by the Bosphorus...one side being the eastern most part of Europe, the western side is the beginning of the Asian continent.  I reminded our boat captain that he owed me a few more beers.  He nosed the boat into a tire hanging from a seawall on the Asian side, his dad jumped out and returned in a minute with more cold beer.  The ride had been great fun...lots of photos.  We would walk back to our hotel and look for interesting restaurants...one day a local Turkish spot, Chinese the next.  (Our little hotel was called The Amisos and located in the Topkapi District.)

My girl enjoyed everything we saw and did, and was a pleasure to be around, and showed her pleasure.  Since this was another honeymoon trip, morning, noon and night was the order of the day.  Sometimes she would initiate the moment, sometimes me.  

Turkey is 98% Muslim, but Islamic dress is forbidden in government buildings and schools.  The religion is fine, fanaticism is forbidden.  Too bad they can't all be that way.

I knew that my clothes needed to be perfect all the time.  My girl would dress flawlessly at all times.  One night we decided to explore, and search for a new restaurant.  She wore a tight tube top and short skirt with a sheer coat from shoulders down to her knees.  I told her I liked it very much, but this was still a Muslim country.  A little provocative, plus she looked like the belly dancer entertainment after dinner.  She understood, and dressed down.  We rode the tram to another district, and just got off when we came to a group of restaurants that looked interesting, and chose one.  

We decided to go to the beach on another island (second stop) the next day.  A quick walk to the port, boarded this massive ship, and we were off.  At least this island had a gravel beach, but the restaurants were not as nice.  We had gyros for lunch, and a nice swim.  She was a great swimmer and would actually swim out an 8th mile or so.  I thought hell, she's in the shipping lanes.  I liked staying closer to shore.  We walked around the business district in town and she would purchase trinkets for her kids and friends.  We had spent a nice day at the beach and it was time to return to Istanbul.  Instead of boarding the same ship that took us in the morning, I took the first one that came along thinking they all go back to the same place...wrong!
Back in Istanbul, we got off and looked around for the tram, and Mosque, to get our bearings and walk back to our hotel.  They were nowhere to be found.  I asked some people where we were but nobody spoke English.  It was getting dark so we got into a cab and gave the driver the name of our hotel, and he shrugged and shook his head.  I said Royal Palace, he didn't know.  I looked in my pocket and found a match book with our hotel name on it, and said Topkapi District.  He nodded and understood and we were off.  Onto strange streets, then a motorway we had not seen.  The taxi driver kept looking in the mirror at my girl and this bothered her.  She is tall, blond and pretty, unlike Turks.  Everyone looked at her as they had in other places.  We had gotten off the boat on the Asian side of Istanbul, and instead of being a 5 minute walk from our hotel, were an hours drive away.  Traffic was bad and I was looking at our map, then road signs to try to determine exactly where we were.  I asked the driver exactly where we were and he dialed his phone and a woman on the other end tried to answer my questions, but her English was bad.  My girl was very nervous, and complained this driver kept looking at her.  She said she thought this driver might kill me and rape her.  I rolled my eyes and said nothing would happen to us.  I was studying the map.  She said it again.  I told her...then she would have the better deal!
Finally, there was a sign to the airport, and the driver was following these signs, and I knew we were on the right road, and showed her.  She was still pissed.  A $1 boat ride, and a $40 taxi ride, but we were back at our hotel.
I told the hotel people what I had done and they laughed.

We did more sight seeing the next days, and different restaurants everyday for lunch and dinner.  One night a street vendor tried to sell us a $10 book about Istanbul and I shook him off.  He persisted and said my girl was Russian, and started speaking Russian to her.  I bought a book for her, in Russian.  He had made a sale, and she had a book in Russian to show her friends where we had been.

We had had a wonderful time, and she had seen another country...her third.  She is a very, very loving, caring person.  She would call her children every other day, and had given them our new phone # when we changed hotels.  It was time to go home for her, and I had a weeks work in Somerset in the UK.  My flight left mid morning, hers was in mid afternoon.  I arranged for her to stay in the hotel instead of waiting at the airport for 6 hours.  I told the hotel people that my Russian girl didn't travel much, her English wasn't the best, and I wanted him to arrange her taxi by someone known very well to them, a friend or relative.  He said he would accompany her to the airport and make sure she got checked in allright.  I was amazed at the service offered, agreed, and gave him $20 for his trouble.  (As it turns out, he stayed with her in the airport until she had her boarding pass, and knew which gate to go to for her flight to Moscow.)  I gave her a goodbye kiss in the room, and I was off to London, and work.  

I have known her now for 2 years, met her 3 times, now have 5 inches of emails, and her English has improved greatly.  I gave her $100 to learn how to drive her car, which she is learning how to do.  I gave her the website of Russian Woman Abroad, and she reads about FSU girls married to Americans in this country...and of course she can read this in Russian.  We discuss problems girls have, and this is very interesting, similar to what topics are discussed on this forum.  I have no doubts about her, and think she could be a great wife.  She has no doubts about me, and says she would adapt quite nicely.  She has told me that most FSU girls complain about the men they marry, not our country.  She knows most can't work for at least a year, and knows I would need to be "everything" for her and her daughter for a long time.  I've no doubts about her.  The question for me is if I can do the work necessary, and I can't pull the trigger just yet.  As finding the right partner is, I believe, the most difficult thing anyone of us will ever do in our lifetime...more so than job, money, etc., for me the decision requires more time (and a prenup.)  So, the jury is still out on me.  If this doesn't work out with her, I'm not sure I could do it again with another, as the time and commitment is incredible.  We are within 5 years of each other agewise, and seem a great match.  Maybe another year, but as I said, the jury is still out.  Will answer any questions you have regarding this trip or anything else.  Thanks for reading!  

[thesearch]

... in response to Re: Trip Report...Fun in Istanbul 2, posted by Globetrotter on Dec 20, 2002

I met my gal in Turkey -went to  a resort 50 miles west of Antalia. Had a blast. All kinds of ruins to see.

So, what about the lady?

[Jack]

... in response to Trip Report...Fun in Istanbul, posted by Globetrotter on Dec 19, 2002

Interesting, entertaining, educational story.

[Albert]

... in response to Trip Report...Fun in Istanbul, posted by Globetrotter on Dec 19, 2002

This sounds like something I might want to do.  Keep the information coming.

Al