Turkey Trip - Day 2: Arriving in Istanbul

So sweet to have Elaine's host father, mother, and sister drive us to the airport at 6:30am for our 8:30 flight to Istanbul via Onur airlines. We arrived at 10:30 at Ataturk airport Istanbul, fumbled around for visa entry money in Turkish lira, then took a taxi to the Sarnic Hotel in the oldest part of Istanbul. Our room wasn't ready, so we left our bags and walked to an area along the Bosphorus for calamari lunch. When we returned to the hotel, we got a quick tour of the building from young hotel employee, Nadira. She was excited to tell us that she began learning English from PCV Ralph Murray/Murphy in her native country of Kazakhstan. She still remembers his name and admitted to having a crush on him.

I used the computer at the front desk to got an internet connection to the Vayama website. That's the site for arranging personal tours, so we agreed to meet up at 4pm with Carl McMahon, native of Boston and history tour guide in Istanbul. We started with a train ride to the Topkapi stop, saw part of the old wall, toured Kariye Museum - formerly a Christian church - then shared a taxi to get to a ferry boat heading north on the Bosphorus.

Ferries are a traditional and much used way for Istanbul residents to cross from the European side to the Asian side. One of the 2 suspension bridges crossing the Bosphorus was only finished in 1988.

We 3 disembarked for real yogurt, then took a “dolmas” yellow taxi to Kadikoy. Nothing like a fried cheese salad and Efes beer at a restaurant in an old ferry building. Elaine and I were on our own taking a ferry back, then the train, and finally the hidden walk to our hotel. The tour provided a good overview of places we'd like to see again, plus how to manage the ferries and train to get around to more of Istanbul.