Took quite a few pictures - I'll walk you through some selected ones here:
1. The Hotel
Well, after being being in a taxi for about an hour because of the crazy traffic and suicidal driving style of our driver we reached the hotel. Very nicely located in a central area of Istanbul with plenty of small shops, restaurants and bars. However, the "star" system in Turkey is quite different in Turkey than let's say "any where else in the world". How else can you explain that our first room in this 5* hotel was located side-by-side with the hotel club and facing the busy street. Needless to say that it was impossible to sleep the first night with hoking cars and booming bass as background noise....2nd day we changed the room and at least got rid of the club music.
The bridge on the second picture is the humongous bridge connecting Europe and Asia. Better picture later...
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| Main Entrance |
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| Hotel pool with bridge view |
2. Taksim Square
Like every big city a shopping street cannot be missed. This one was crazy: Istiklal Street.
Before I seeing this I assumed Mall of Emirates on a Friday evening is busy but it is nothing compared to this. People everywhere. No wonder: Istanbul has an estimated 19 mio inhabitants.
3. Sightseeing
Even tough the city is huge and extremely busy there are some very beautiful and peaceful spots. Not far from Takism we found a nice park on a hill overlooking the Bosporus. Amazing view....
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| Bridge connection Europe and Asia |
4. Culture
Yes, we did some but not too much :). We went to see the apparently very famous Blue Mosque and an underground Basilic.
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| Blue Mosque |
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| Some stone ;) |
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| another mosque |
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| Basilic I |
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| Basilic II |
And for sure some local markets....
5. Relax & Eat
Most important part of a vacation :)
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| The infamous DOENER KEBAB |
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| One is not enough ;) |
And we got thirsty after all the local specialties...
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| Beer from Turkey... |
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| ...wine from France :) |
And some local fish served in a sandwich sold straight from the boat (reminds me of the Doener-Boat in Frankfurt - Dary & Peter know what I'm talking about ^^)
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| tasty but bony :( |
Another local specialty is a baked potato with a million topping on it, very very tasty
PS: No, this was not all on one day :)
6. Trip to "Paradise Island"
Paradise Island - or Buyukada in Turkish - is an 1.5hrs boat trip off Istanbul. Not much to see there and packed with tourists. However, we enjoyed the boat ride and the scenery.
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| The usual "Ameisenhaufen" |
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| Inhabitants of Butukada :) |
Hope you liked our quick summary - many more stories to tell and pictures to show.....
Nice pics!
ReplyDeleteLet's see if the Döner Kebab on the Döner Boat in Frankfurt is equal or even better than the Döner you have eaten in Istanbul.
Cya soon,
Dary
P.S: Ameisenhaufen = ant hill ^^