The-Noodle
07-17-2004, 11:47 PM
As some of you may know, I went to Turkey for 2 weeks and have just arrived. I have kept my promise to tell all of you about what I did and saw in Istanbul, Turkey. Whether you like it or not ... j/k ...
TAKE-OFF
I left on July 2 and did a hell of a lot of flying. I firstly flew 8 hours from Sydney, Australia to Singapore in the afternoon and stayed a few nights in Singapore as we love Singapore and often go back as I had lived their for 4 months once before. After that, early in the morning, we jumped on a plane and flew for a whopping 13 hours from Singapore to London, England. We stayed there for 5 hours or so and then caught another flight for 4 hours to Istanbul, Turkey. We had arrived!
TURKEY
5TH JULY - Arrived at midnight and went straight to sleep.
6TH JULY - I had visited many things today. I went to the Underground Basilica Cistern built in the 5th or 6th century by Justianius when Turkey was under the Romans. This was a water storage supply. After this I then visited the Blue Mosque built in the 15th or 16th century by an Ottoman Sultan. After this we went to the Hagia Sophia which is opposite the Blue Mosque which was originally built in 6th century by the Greeks and it was an Orthodox Church but then many centuries later, the Ottomans turned it into a Mosque and the Greeks were angry so Ataturk turned it into a museum. This was great with a lot of mosaics inside. Then at night we went to the Light and Sound Show about the Blue Mosque. My sister had also arrived today because the past year she has been living in London.
7TH JULY - We started the day off by going to the Grand Bazaar, which are the Grand Markets and looked around and we got hastled a lot, part of the culture and experience i guess. After this we actually went inside the Blue Mosque and looked around. After this we went on a ferry to the other side of Istanbul and then came back. At night we went to the Music Concert which we were lucky to see. It had the Turkish lady who won the Eurovision in 2003 and had the Greek guy who was in Eurovision 2004.
8TH JULY - Today we went to the Top Kapi Palace which was the palace that the Ottoman Sultans lived in up until the 18th century, when a new palace was built. Unlike the other palace this one was very Eastern and not like other Western Palaces. There were 4 courtyards, all surrounded by buildings unlike Western style where the Palace is in the centre and surrounded by courtyards. After this we went to the Egyptian Bazaar which is known as the Spice Markets and here we saw many different kinds of spices as well as a lot of Turkish Delight. :dribble
9TH JULY - Today we went on a cruise through the strip of water which seperates Europe from Asia and we had lunch here and saw many stray cats, more than dogs. Lots of cats in Istanbul. After the hour cruise there and back, we went to see the Whirling Dervishes that night, where it is a Muslim sect that twirl around for ages to get closer to the heavens, don't even get dizzy or faint or anything.
10TH JULY - We visited the Chora Church today which is a Greek Orthodox Church. After this we went to the Sulimaniye Mosque which is the largest Mosque in Istanbul. After lokking in the Mosque we went at night to the Turkish Baths, which was great. They scrub all the dead skin off of you while you lie on hot marble and they cleanse your skin. Very different to Roman Baths.
11TH JULY - Today we went to the Dolmahbace Palace which was the more Western style palace which was built in 18th century and the remaining Sultans lived ther as well as the first President, Ataturk, who got rid of the Royal family and made it a Republic. After this we walked down the long strip of shops at Taksim and looked around.
12TH JULY - Today we moved hotels to the Nippon Hotel because of my father's conference was held on this side of Istanbul. Then we went to the Galata Tower which was built in the 16th century by the Genoese, who came to Turkey. It was used as all different things, tower look-out, hospital, fire look-out and more but it was a fire look-out yet it got burnt down and had some parts rebuilt. lol a fire look-out that is burnt down. Basically you go up to the top and just take pictures of the panoramic view. Also today a family friend had arrived.
13TH JULY - Nothing special, I had just shown the guests places that we had already been to.
14TH JULY - Same thing we had shown them the Baaars, etc. Sister had left and gone back to London.
15TH JULY - Departed in the afternoon.
LANDING
We had left Istanbul and took a plain back to London on a 4 hour trip again. We then stayed the night in London and in the afternoon we went to the airport and went on an 11 hour flight to Tokyo, Japan. We then stayed for a whopping 10 hours or so at the airport and got a night-time flight to Sydney and arrived 7:15 am the next day, and that was all.
In all Turkey was great. You can do Istanbul in 10 days which was how long I was there for. But other cities would be fun as well. Also the people are great, funny, nice, etc. The food was superb with Doner Kebabs, Borek, etc. But they are very unorganised and their road rules were crazy! Also 90% of Turks I would have to say are smokers which at times can be annoying. There currency is also very confusing. It is 1 000 000 Turkish Lirasi to 1 Aussie dollar and about 1.6 million Lira to the US dollar and about 2.2 million Lira to the British pound. On all of there notes and coins they have a picture of Ataturk. The main religion is Muslim of course.
In all I would give the WHOLE trip 7/10 just coz of the amount of travelling. But Turkey itself gets a 9/10. Anyway it is great to be back and feel free to ask me any questions.
That is all, I hope you enjoy .. and feel free to leave comments and questions. cya around ... :)
TAKE-OFF
I left on July 2 and did a hell of a lot of flying. I firstly flew 8 hours from Sydney, Australia to Singapore in the afternoon and stayed a few nights in Singapore as we love Singapore and often go back as I had lived their for 4 months once before. After that, early in the morning, we jumped on a plane and flew for a whopping 13 hours from Singapore to London, England. We stayed there for 5 hours or so and then caught another flight for 4 hours to Istanbul, Turkey. We had arrived!
TURKEY
5TH JULY - Arrived at midnight and went straight to sleep.
6TH JULY - I had visited many things today. I went to the Underground Basilica Cistern built in the 5th or 6th century by Justianius when Turkey was under the Romans. This was a water storage supply. After this I then visited the Blue Mosque built in the 15th or 16th century by an Ottoman Sultan. After this we went to the Hagia Sophia which is opposite the Blue Mosque which was originally built in 6th century by the Greeks and it was an Orthodox Church but then many centuries later, the Ottomans turned it into a Mosque and the Greeks were angry so Ataturk turned it into a museum. This was great with a lot of mosaics inside. Then at night we went to the Light and Sound Show about the Blue Mosque. My sister had also arrived today because the past year she has been living in London.
7TH JULY - We started the day off by going to the Grand Bazaar, which are the Grand Markets and looked around and we got hastled a lot, part of the culture and experience i guess. After this we actually went inside the Blue Mosque and looked around. After this we went on a ferry to the other side of Istanbul and then came back. At night we went to the Music Concert which we were lucky to see. It had the Turkish lady who won the Eurovision in 2003 and had the Greek guy who was in Eurovision 2004.
8TH JULY - Today we went to the Top Kapi Palace which was the palace that the Ottoman Sultans lived in up until the 18th century, when a new palace was built. Unlike the other palace this one was very Eastern and not like other Western Palaces. There were 4 courtyards, all surrounded by buildings unlike Western style where the Palace is in the centre and surrounded by courtyards. After this we went to the Egyptian Bazaar which is known as the Spice Markets and here we saw many different kinds of spices as well as a lot of Turkish Delight. :dribble
9TH JULY - Today we went on a cruise through the strip of water which seperates Europe from Asia and we had lunch here and saw many stray cats, more than dogs. Lots of cats in Istanbul. After the hour cruise there and back, we went to see the Whirling Dervishes that night, where it is a Muslim sect that twirl around for ages to get closer to the heavens, don't even get dizzy or faint or anything.
10TH JULY - We visited the Chora Church today which is a Greek Orthodox Church. After this we went to the Sulimaniye Mosque which is the largest Mosque in Istanbul. After lokking in the Mosque we went at night to the Turkish Baths, which was great. They scrub all the dead skin off of you while you lie on hot marble and they cleanse your skin. Very different to Roman Baths.
11TH JULY - Today we went to the Dolmahbace Palace which was the more Western style palace which was built in 18th century and the remaining Sultans lived ther as well as the first President, Ataturk, who got rid of the Royal family and made it a Republic. After this we walked down the long strip of shops at Taksim and looked around.
12TH JULY - Today we moved hotels to the Nippon Hotel because of my father's conference was held on this side of Istanbul. Then we went to the Galata Tower which was built in the 16th century by the Genoese, who came to Turkey. It was used as all different things, tower look-out, hospital, fire look-out and more but it was a fire look-out yet it got burnt down and had some parts rebuilt. lol a fire look-out that is burnt down. Basically you go up to the top and just take pictures of the panoramic view. Also today a family friend had arrived.
13TH JULY - Nothing special, I had just shown the guests places that we had already been to.
14TH JULY - Same thing we had shown them the Baaars, etc. Sister had left and gone back to London.
15TH JULY - Departed in the afternoon.
LANDING
We had left Istanbul and took a plain back to London on a 4 hour trip again. We then stayed the night in London and in the afternoon we went to the airport and went on an 11 hour flight to Tokyo, Japan. We then stayed for a whopping 10 hours or so at the airport and got a night-time flight to Sydney and arrived 7:15 am the next day, and that was all.
In all Turkey was great. You can do Istanbul in 10 days which was how long I was there for. But other cities would be fun as well. Also the people are great, funny, nice, etc. The food was superb with Doner Kebabs, Borek, etc. But they are very unorganised and their road rules were crazy! Also 90% of Turks I would have to say are smokers which at times can be annoying. There currency is also very confusing. It is 1 000 000 Turkish Lirasi to 1 Aussie dollar and about 1.6 million Lira to the US dollar and about 2.2 million Lira to the British pound. On all of there notes and coins they have a picture of Ataturk. The main religion is Muslim of course.
In all I would give the WHOLE trip 7/10 just coz of the amount of travelling. But Turkey itself gets a 9/10. Anyway it is great to be back and feel free to ask me any questions.
That is all, I hope you enjoy .. and feel free to leave comments and questions. cya around ... :)