The flights were all good although Cathay Pacific had a very poor selection of movies which was a shame as, given it was a daytime flight, I had planned to watch movies on that leg and then sleep from Hong Kong to Istanbul. I did find enough movies to keep me awake but all of them were pretty average except for Argo which I thought was a a great movie.
Turkish Airlines were great and I slept for five hours on that flight so it went really fast. Immigration in Turkey for NZers is a breeze – no visa required, no paperwork on the plane (very strange) – just front up with your passport, they stamp it and you are in – only took 15 minutes from getting off the plane to getting through immigration and that included a bus trip as we did not get an air-bridge when we landed. I could not believe it – my bag was first on to the carousel and I am 100% positive it wold have traveled a longer distance than most bags – afterall you can’t get much further away than NZ.
I had booked a car as I was supposed to get in at 5.45 a.m. in the morning. We actually got in near one hour early – so I had to await for the driver but we found each other and it was only a 20 minute drive at that time of the morning to the hotel.
I am staying at the Armada Hotel in the old city which is where by Turkey CSC Colleagues stayed last year when they got back from Izmir. I had heard it was a lovely hotel so decided t book there – and they were right. I have a great room – bedroom, little sitting area, view over the Marmara Sea, nice bathroom, comfy bed! Shame it is only for two days – although I am also staying here on the way back
Once I had unpacked what I needed for my two days in Turkey I had a shower and headed to bed for a few hours. I got about around midday and headed out to do some exploring round the old city. I decided I was just going to walk, people watch and take photos today and I really enjoyed just ambling down back streets looking at the Architecture. There are some amazing buildings in this part of Istanbul
Along the way I stopped for lunch – a Chicken Kebab (what else when you are in Turkey) and an EFIS beer. I had forgotten about the cute cats that hang out around Istanbul. This one obviously liked the look of the food these people were having!!
I then wandered round the grounds of the Blue Mosque and sat in the sun and enjoyed the view and people watching. The weather is lovely – about 25 degrees so not too hot
About 5.00 p.m. I started to get really tired so I stopped and had some Turkish Tea (cay) and I could not resist a piece of baklava – so a real taste of Turkey today! After that I headed back to the hotel and will have an early night so I am ready to see more of Istanbul tomorrow.
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