Istanbul From East to West

Istanbul September 11-18, 2012

The Blue Mosque

Alison and I arrive in Istanbul on the 11th September. We take a metered taxi to the W hotel which is located in beyoglu, across the way from the Domabache palace. This is on the newer side of European side of Istanbul. The flight is long but well run - Turkish Airlines definitely deserves a gold star for the quality of service, and I can see why they are winning awards for best airline in Europe.

We move to a smaller B&B the day after in a small road behind the blue mosque in the old town section. We are here for 5 nights.

Activities we did... details to be updated soon, so this is a draft preview

• Taksim Sq/Beyoglu Day 1 sept 12

• Galata Tower, walked all the way back to the hotel

• Food Tour Istanbul Eats Day 2, sept 13 passed by ErBoy hotel

• Hagia Sophia Day 3  sept 14

• Sultanahmet Blue Mosque Day 3 sept 14, Post Office Book a hostel 3

• Alison went to Topkapi Palace, I Spent time with cercer Saturday sept 15 - we went to asian side, then bebek, ortakoy, maiden tower, her university, back to taksim sq

Eminou

• Sept 16 Kadikoy - for lunch - asian side to the classical turkish restaurant, then spice market to buy spices and other items from the market

• Sept 17 - moved to hostel, then to a cafe, sent a bunch of packages home via post office whirling dervishes

• Sept 18 Grand Bazaar, bought paintings , Cisterns , hammam next door. packed and went to beirut on the 19th

In Istanbul, you will find lots of Turkish Kitties wandering around the streets!

Turkish kitties!