Sailing Turkey

Days 19 & 20 Going home through London

Day 19

Today we mostly shopped for souvenirs, we bought a rug for our in-laws, gifts for friends celebrating milestones, and picked up a few things for people who needed thanking, we had lunch and headed to the airport, sad to be leaving Turkey.

Rather than fly directly home, we decided to extend our layover in London, though, so after a quick 4 hour flight, we were in an Uber from Heathrow to our hotel in Hyde Park.  We strolled the city and hit a few pubs, then crashed in our very comfy London bed.

Day 20

Today, we really just walked the city before flying home.  I've always wanted to see the Globe Theater, so we started there, then really just strolled on this beautiful day.

Sailing Turkey

Days 16 – 18 Marmaris to Istanbul

Day 16

For our final day, we decidedly took our time.  We woke up, read, swam, paddled, ran along the coast (Leah and Ian did) and then sailed off in the direction of Marmaris.  Along the way we made our plans for our next sailing adventure (Seychelles maybe?). 

Once we got to Marmaris, we checked in, and Jason and I went into town for dinner while Leah and Ian stayed back to eat at the marina.  We had such a great time in Marmaris, not because we loved the town (it reminded us a bit too much of Bodrum), but because the restaurant was delicious, with a great view and a delightful waiter who made the experience even better.  Jason had the best lamb he’d ever had. 

We all spent our last night on the boat, ready to fly first thing in the morning.

Day 17

We woke up in Marmaris, took our car service to the airport (though he actually dropped us off at the wrong terminal, so we had to walk quite a ways to the right one), flew to Istanbul, and took another cab to our hotel.  After that exhausting day of travel, we headed right to the hotel roof for a drink.  What a view!

After some walking around to hit the Spice Market and Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, we decided to have dinner at a restaurant close to our hotel.  I know you’re tired of hearing this, but it was our best meal yet!  Jason got Testi Kebab, which he had been pining for, and Leah, the lamb aficionado, got to eat the best lamb she’s had on the trip… all of us were thrilled with our dinner, which was the last one for our friends in Turkey (we’re here another day and half).

Day 18

The next day was spent mostly shopping and walking neighborhoods we hadn’t been to yet since we’d been to all the touristy spots already.  We took the ferry to the Asian side of the city to Kadikoy, where we walked around the market and into the neighborhood of Moda.  I loved it there, I think if we decided to move to Istanbul, it might be where I would want to live.  It was full of adorable apartment buildings, the best little ice cream shop in Istanbul, little cafes, a pretty little park where people we picnicking, unusual art galleries, even a Christian high school! 

We still hadn’t been to Dolmabace Palace, and had planned to go tomorrow morning, but found out it was closed tomorrow, so we thought we should head over and see it while we can.  We took the ferry back over to Europe and stood in an hour-long line waiting to buy tickets…  while waiting, we really noticed that there was a strange group of people waiting in line, something just odd.  I can’t lie, it wasn’t great…  We were on the English tour, but our guide didn’t tell us anything at all!  We just walked quickly through the building, unable to actually see anything.  All of the tourists were banging into us and cutting in front of each other, and the building was in pretty bad disrepair.  Such a waste of time, we didn’t even take pictures.

Next we took the funicular up to Taksim to grab a snack and drink, and then headed slowly back to the hotel, stopping to look at paintings to bring home for our walls.

Our hotel’s concierge suggested a restaurant for us to try on our last night in Turkey and even arranged for transportation for us.  We asked for someplace romantic with a view and great food.  One out of three aint bad, right?  It was lovely, actually, just not exactly romantic… and the view wasn’t really of the city, but of party-goers in the streets below and the across the way at a restaurant.  But the food…  so good!  We loved every morsel.  And were entertained by the fun and dancing across the way.

Sailing Turkey

Days 1-3 - Istanbul and Marmaris

Day 1: Our flight over wasn't too bad. We had a layover in Madrid on our way and really spent quite a lot of our time sleeping so when we got to Istanbul, we were pretty well rested. Getting through Turkish customs and getting our bags were a breeze and we got to our hotel rooftop bar in no time. View from up there was so great! 

Ian and Leah were just two hours behind us, so once they arrived, we all showered and headed out to Istiklal Street to walk around and hit some bars and dinner. 

Do you see us in the window?

Then hit the sack for a morning of exploring the city tomorrow. 

Day 2: We woke up so late! Like 10:30am late! Leah and Ian woke up at a normal hour, went for a run, and even ate breakfast. Jason and I slept quite late and got a much later start than expected. This turned out to be just fine because it was a holiday in Turkey and everything was closed on the morning. We decided to head to Jason's favorite kofte restaurant for lunch, then take in the sights when they opened. 

We saw the Basilica Cistern. 

Blue Mosque. 

And Ayasofya (known to Leah as Eye of Sofia). 

After exploring we headed home to change and get ready for a Turkish wine tasting where we fell in love with a number of really GREAT Turkish wines. Seriously, they were so good we bought cases for our boat. 

Then we met up with Berna and Ersel for dinner and drinks. 

It was another late night for us, so we finally went to sleep. Tomorrow we leave for sailing! 

Day 3: today was spent traveling mostly. We had a hearty breakfast, packed, and headed to the airport. Saying goodbye to Istanbul wasn't easy, but we need to sail! After a short flight, and another long car ride, we arrived to our boat, the Xenia. Isn't she beautiful? 

We were able to board, get ourselves through the check-in process, put away the groceries, and get out to a first little stop before dark. We even got our paddleboards out for a little bit of fun! 

We ended the night with some amazing fish at a port side restaurant and got right to sleep. 

Tour of Turkey

Day 16:  Istanbul

So, we visited my mother's half-sister and all of her family came out to meet us.  They were all lovely and it's so nice to have found more family, even later in life.  We spent the day and night in Manisa with them, then turned our car in, took a quick flight back to Istanbul, and decided to leave our large suitcase in the left baggage center at the airport.  This way we wouldn't have to lug it around all over Istanbul for just one night.  We packed our little suitcase and headed off.

Our last day in Istanbul (yesterday) was really spent shopping, I bought the lamps I wanted for my kitchen, Jason bought the spices he wanted, Jade bought herself a scarf, and we picked up a few souvenirs.  We also hit the Suleyman Mosque, which we missed our first time here in Istanbul.  It was so beautiful, we thought it was better than the Blue Mosque.

We spent our last night back in Taksim on Istiklal Street and had a light dinner and hit a few bars.  It was fun, but Jason was tired, so hit the sack.  Today we will be checking out and may take a tour of the Bosporus or try one last time to get into Dolmabahce Palace before we fly home.  This was our longest vacation and we have both been thinking about work for the last few days, even Jade has been making plans with friends and talking about going to the pool, so it's definitely time to come home.  See you State-side.

Tour of Turkey

Day 4:  Istanbul and Traveling

I don’t know where to start today’s post.  Let’s start with we are all okay, but have been in three taxis, two different airports in Istanbul, one bus station, one shuttle bus station, and were on the phone for a total of over 40 minutes internationally with a Turkish Airlines office that was likely within 10 miles of us the entire time.  Now, we are sitting in the airport at 2:45 am, writing while waiting for our 70-minute flight at 7:20 am.  Here’s the story….

It all started innocently enough.  First thing in the morning, we asked our hotel manager what time we should leave for our 7:45 pm flight, and he said 5:20, so we set off for a day of exploring.  We walked and walked the neighborhood of Ortakoy, which was beautiful, but exhausting because it was very hilly.  We also came across the Spice Market, which was lovely but we were tired and ready to leave, so we got back to our hotel early, at 4:30.

Since we were early we sat and talked to the same manager for a while.  We re-confirmed the time we needed to leave, Jason and I had a beer, Jade had a cup of tea.  We all toasted to our last day in Istanbul and started getting so excited for our first night in a cave hotel in Cappadocia.  Or so we thought.  The manager called our taxi and we got in and told the driver where to go and the time of our flight.  When we said 7:45 he immediately panicked and said he didn’t think we would make it.  He said that at this time of night on a Friday, it would take us 2 hours just to get there!  Jason started to worry, I was trying to remain positive, but it was quickly becoming apparent that we weren’t going to make it.  The traffic was UNREAL.  When we finally got to the airport, we ran in but had just missed it.  They wouldn’t let us on at all, so we went to the ticket window where they informed us that this was the last flight out to the town we were headed to, and any surrounding cities.   And because we booked at a promotional rate, our tickets were not transferable OR REFUNDABLE, so to get on the next flight (the next morning) was going to cost us $800!

We thought about our options and asked about an overnight bus, so she said we would need to hurry and catch the shuttle to the bus station leaving in 7 minutes, so we booked it out of there and just made the shuttle bus.  There were two overnight buses to get us to our destination – while on the shuttle we called the hotel to tell them to expect us in the morning.  About 45 minutes later, we de-bussed, but, wait for it….. we weren’t at the bus station.  We were at the harbor where apparently all of the buses wind up. OY!  Jump into taxi #2 to take us to the (disgusting) bus depot.  Okay, now we had two options to get us where we needed to go, but alas, both buses were full.  Our only option was if three people didn’t make the bus, then we could get on.  So we sat and waited while Jason called the airline to find out why they weren’t just putting us on the next flight but charging us.

Needless to say, the buses couldn’t take us, so we hopped into yet ANOTHER taxi to get to a hotel near the other airport (which is where the next morning’s flight would leave from), thinking we could at least be close to the airport and get a few hours rest.  Jason remained on the phone for most of the taxi ride while I talked up the driver, a very nice man that invited us to stay with him and his family for the night (so sweet).  His theory was that it wasn’t our kismet to leave yet because we needed to meet him.  The airline compromised only enough to sell us tickets for $750 lira.  Thanks!  Whatever, we needed to get into a hotel.  But just go ahead and guess what happened……

All of the hotel rooms around the airport were full.  Of course they were.  We finally just asked our driver to leave us at the airport (at 11:45pm - a full 7 hours after our first cab ride to the airport).  We figured we could at least sit in the lounge and get some rest and wash up, BUT…  the lounge doesn’t open until 5am.  Okay, so we thought we could at least check in and get our luggage off our hands, but the woman at the counter, who felt so sorry for us, very apologetically told us we needed to go to the ticket counter because something was wrong with our reservation.  Seriously?  Okay, so I went to the ticket counter and finally, we caught a break.  The woman worked it out so that we could just get on the next flight without charging us.  We found free wifi (and some sweet house music on it’s second loop).  Jade fell asleep to it while sitting at the table.  I’m delirious, Jason is a fighter.  It’s now 3:28 and we can check in at 4, and get to the lounge at 5, then make our flight at 7:20.  Yippee.

This officially is our worst vacation day ever.

Tour of Turkey

Day 3:  Istanbul

Taking the Ferry

So today was our final full day in Istanbul.  We had a plan, but it got a little derailed by our inability to read ferry maps.  We wanted to take a ferry across the Bosporus to visit the Dolmabahce Palace, but instead wound up on the Asian side of Istanbul, from which we had to take another ferry to get where we wanted.

Help reading the ferry map

Dolmabahce Palace

When we finally got there, the palace was closed!  We decided to walk around a bit, it was quite an adventure,

Figuring out what to do now!

but eventually we got to Taksim Square and Istiklal Street.  It was bustling.  Jade enjoyed the shopping and Jason loved the people watching, I just loved watching them have so much fun.  Once again, we couldn't capture it with pictures.  That's been our theme this trip. 

After some walking around, we met up with the Kasapoglu Family.  Berna, her husband Ersel, and their two beautiful children.

Berna's mother and mine were school friends, now she and her family live in Istanbul and they met us for dinner, then we walked around Istiklal Street some more until we reached the Galata Tower.  It was so pretty all lit up.

I still haven't had a full night of straight sleep, so it was no surprise that I started getting very tired.  We had to say our goodbyes and take a taxi back for an early night's sleep.  Tomorrow we need to pack up and get ready for Cappadocia!

Tour of Turkey

Day 2:  Istanbul


I had a very difficult time sleeping last night, so Jason let me sleep in a bit and we wound up getting a a later start than I would have liked.  That's okay, though we still got a lot done!  Ready?  Here we go....

It all started with the Topkapi Palace, The palace grounds for the all of the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire.  The harem area was amazing and the rest of the palace was just beautiful.  The treasure room was spectacular, too, with the 86 carat Spoonmaker's Diamond and the Topkapi dagger as highlights. None of our pictures did it justice, so we won't upload them, but look online, I'm sure you'll see some cool ones.

Next we moved onto the Aya Sofia, very pretty.

We were quite hungry after all of that.  Our room includes breakfast, but it was nearly 2 by now, so we decided to walk around and find some lunch.  It wasn't as inexpensive as we thought it would be, looking at the menus.  Then some man started talking to us...  I tried to get away, but Jason obliged him and they had a nice long conversation and this guy took us to his favorite place for lunch and asked us to visit his store after.  We tried to decide if we were going to visit the store, but he saw us leave and brought us to his store.  30 minutes later, he was still trying to sell us rugs!  Rug after rug after rug!

Finally we got into the Basilica Cistern, featured in The International and From Russia with Love.  It was Jason’s favorite so far.  Very cool and eerie.

Our next stop was the Blue Mosque.  It was built by the Ottoman Sultan to outdo the Byzantine Aya Sofia.  I think they did it.  Jason walked in and was amazed!  Last time I was here, they required women to cover their hair, so we brought scarves and covered up.  It is an operating mosque, after all.  But when we got in, women weren’t covered.  We kept ours on, though, to be respectful.  These pictures don't show the blueness of the tiles, but at least you can get an idea of how intricate it all was.  Every inch covered in tile.  It was really stunning.

After all of that excitement, we finally came to the part Jade was most looking forward to, the Grand Bazaar.  We looked around for lights to put into my kitchen, but after the umpteenth store, I was shopped out and Jason was definitely shopped out, so we skipped out.  It was very cool but overwhelming.

When we were done with our day, we went to the top of the Ambassador Hotel, which I read had a great view, to have a beer and put our feet up.  What do you think?   The first thing you will see is the Aya Sofia, then the Blue Mosque in the distance.  There was also a show going on featuring dancers and music from the different regions of Turkey.  This one is from the Black Sea region, my favorite!

Finally, we went back to the hotel, changed, and had some dinner.  Tomorrow should be a little less exhausting and I hope to get a better night's sleep.

Tour of Turkey

Day 1:  Landed in Istanbul

We landed safely in Turkey, got through security and checked into our hotel.  The flight was long, but the 11PM takeoff was perfect.  We fell asleep almost as soon as we got on the plane, then woke up, had breakfast, played a few games together and it was time to land.  Even the security and customs lines weren't bad at all - a perfect way to start.

After a quick taxi ride, we were at our hotel.  Honestly, it looked like it was all fake!  Cobble stoned, windy roads with flowers and colorful buildings and the man checking us into the Seraglio Hotel, Kenan, couldn't have been nicer.  He gave us a quick review of the hotel and a map and sent us off to his favorite kofte place.  Jason found his soulmate, a meat lover.


We dropped our bags and headed out for some walking around and exploring Jason style.  He likes to just wander, get lost and happen upon things, I however, am a planner.  So, we started with the kofte place. 

Sultanahmet Kofteci has Jason's favorite Kofte.

Jason said it was the  best he's ever had and can't wait to tell Kenan and get his next recommendation.  He also needed to text my brother-in-law about it.  The food porn between the two of them is hysterical.  Next we walked around and I thought for sure we were lost, walking down some oddly empty roads, but we turned a corner to a street market like I've never seen.

We walked through these crazy bustling streets to the Galata Bridge, to watch the sunset.

Jade was exhausted by now, so we sat down at a restaurant right on the bridge and watched the sunset further over a Turkish beer (Efes Dark is pretty good).  It was so amazing and romantic and beautiful.  We heard ezan(sp?) for the first time (the call to prayer) while sitting there, it was all so surreal. 

We walked back to our hotel, dropped Jade off to sleep, then Jason and I went out for one last nightcap.  What an amazing first day!  We will be at this hotel for the next three nights, the longest stay at any hotel for this entire trip, but the rest will be explored Sue style, with a plan and an itinerary.  Jason kept asking me questions about the mosques we saw and the Sultans, but answer to it all was just, "We'll find out tomorrow when we go visit them!"


Meanwhile, I've got to get myself to sleep.  Jason and Jade had no problem, but I'm having some trouble with the time change.  Goodnight from Istanbul!