Weekend in Istanbul
This morning me and my girlfriend fly from Prague via Milan (with Alitalia company) to Istanbul, city on the border of Europe and Asia. The transfer was necessary because CSA fly to Istanbul in late evening and we would either loose a whole day for cite seeing or have to pay for one more time in the hotel. We sit in Alitalia’s airplane MD 82 (the airplane of this type is older though reliable. Only prepare to more rocking flight and more ear-buzzes, etc. I recommend sweets or chewing gums for those who are more sensitive to flight level changes during departure and landing.) departing from Prague at 7:15, however, due to bad weather and then runway cleaning and airplane de-iceing, we depart from Prague at 8:05. Fortunately, the flight is more comfortable than expected and at 9:05 we land on the Malpensa Airport in Milan. We had to flew around the whole city and land from the southern side. Although 90% of airplanes at the airport belong to Alitalia, we can see some belonging to Delta, ANA Cargo, Qatar airways, etc. Unfortunately, we stop off the tube and have to use a bus. Normally, we do not mind, however, at this time we have only 55 minutes for transit. Moreover, yesterday started Olympic Games in Turin so that there are exceptional precautions and we have to pass extremely strict transit controls including taking off our shoes, which takes us 25 minutes. We manage to catch the flight and go again by bus to the airplane. This time we fly Airbus 321 which is full from about 60%. We take off 30 minutes later, however, we are assured by the captain that we will be in Istanbul in 2 hours and 10 minutes (the flight should take 2 hours and 40 minutes according to the common flight schedule). We fly over Venezia and Trieste. After next 15 minutes we cross Lufthansa flight at very close distance (nice view, unfortunately I have no idea what flight it is). Precisely after 2 hours and 10 minutes we land at the Atatürk airport in Istanbul. We pass the passport control and the baggage claim. Fortunately, our luggage have arrived (which is not typical – especially for Alitalia and Air France) and we start looking for a taxi.
We catch 20 years old Fiat Regata and drive to Taksim quarter where our hotel is. In Istanbul pay special attention to the taxi price category – it should be 1 (prices are in Turkish liras, the exchange rate being 1USD=1.31 Turkish liras). The price for the ride from the airport to the Sultanahmet quarter (old town, covered bazaar, most famous mosques) is about 15 Turkish liras. In case of journey of our kind (to the Taksim square which is the main square for fun and shopping), one pays around 20 Turkish liras. The taxi driver is fair and the price corresponds to our expectation (which is not very typical as we will see later). The accommodation in a hotel with town view is perfect.
We go from Taksim to Sultanahmet to covered bazaar. From Taksim square one can take bus T4 and for less than 1 Turkish lira (bus stop at Sultanahmet is precisely between Hagia Sofia and Blue mosques, then you have to follow the Divanyolu Cad street by foot for 5–10 minutes uphill) or take a taxi for 7 to 8 liras. The covered bazaar is a splendid mixture of shops with everything possible, starting from traditional Turkish carpets, mugs, and water pipes to “original-guaranteed” hand bags and cloths from all world brands. The bazaar closes at 7pm and on Sunday it is usually closed the whole day (nevertheless, shops with the same wares are everywhere). After becoming tired, we leave for a meal.
Meal prices in restaurants in mosque areas or close to bazaar are typically between 11 and 20 liras, in typical Turkish fast food restaurants between 3 to 6 liras. We go back by taxi to the hotel – unfortunately, we use one with bad habits similar to some Prague taxi drivers. For the journey which should be normally for 8 liras, the driver wants 24 liras, moreover, he does not stop right in front of the hotel reception with the “traffic jam” excuse. We refuse to pay the price and insist on transport right to the hotel, not only to its corner. He keeps reasoning that he cannot do it due to a traffic jam and surrenders, changing the price to 15 liras. Threating him with the police, he changes the price to 12 liras and then 10, which we accept. In case something similar happens to you, the best practice is to threat the driver with the police. If you stay in a 4 or 5 star hotel, it is enough to explain the problem to the doorman and he convinces the taxi driver about the correct price.
After we took some rest, we go for a walk to the Taksim Square. It is Saturday evening and there are more people on the square than during the demonstrations in November 1989… it can be the whole Istanbul… The Taksim area has the most of restaurants, bars and nightclubs. The prices here are about 20% higher than in Sultanahmet.
Next day we go to Galat Tower with the most beautiful view of Istambul from its top (Galata Kulesi in Turkish). The Tower was built in 1348 and is 60 meters high. The entrance fee is 8 liras per person and one can use an elevator to get to the top. We have bad luck, as there is a snowstorm over Istanbul, so we cannot enjoy the view much. We take the lift back down and buy a few postcards (their prices in Istanbul are from 0.15 to 0.25 liras for one). After that we take a few pictures of the Tower from below and we go down the hill by foot over the Galata Köprüsü Bridge and than up the hill with Blue Mosque.
We are amazed by the first sight of the Mosque and go inside. We have to take off our shoes and put them in a plastic bag, which we lent at the entrance. Women should use some hair cover, however, we can see some women without any cover inside, it is not controlled but wearing it is considered as decorum. The mosque is called Blue because blue tiles cover most of the interior. The mosque has a unique feature: 6 minarets, which caused some displeasure because they disparaged Mecca with the same amount of 6 minarets. After the visit we go to see Basilica water tank (Yerabatan Sarayi), which is one of the biggest touristic attractions in the city. It is a wide underground water reservoir with beautiful 8 meters high pillars (336 in total), which we truly recommend. It is nicely illuminated and you will enjoy water drops falling on you. It is worth seeing even for 10 liras per person. After the fascinating visit we continue 100 meters to Hagia Sofia Temple, which does not serve as a mosque any more as it became a museum. There is an entrance fee of 10 liras (in contrast to the Blue Mosque) and before you enter you have to pass a control similar to the one at airports. Luggage is subjected to x-ray and everybody has to go through a metal detector. There is always some reconstruction inside these days so scaffolding will spoil your pictures. Except for the ground floor you will find beautiful mosaics on the first floor. We continue to the Topkaki Palace. It is a very wide complex with lots of courtyards, buildings with museums of weaponry, clothing, archeology, etc. It is getting dark and we are looking forward to beautiful views of illuminated mosques during the night. We definitely recommend staying till dark; you will be rewarded by views of the most beautiful mosques in the city accompanied by singing sea gulls.
So this is almost all from Istanbul.
Only some particular issues: if you are a student, do not expect any discounts on the entrance fees, unfortunately it’s always for the full price. It is also forbidden to have a tripod in the monuments; however, it is the same almost everywhere in the world (nevertheless, we were sometimes lucky and we smuggled it in). It is also common that a Turkish guy will start talking to you, ask you “how are you”, then he will say that he is your friend, usually only to offer you a leather jacket or leather product or to inform you that he knows someone in a leather product company. And sometimes when you tell him you are from the Czech Republic, he replies “Ahoja” or “levná koža”.
Tomorrow we leave to Prague (with Alitalia with one change) but we definitely plan to return to this city, which fascinated us by its mysterious atmosphere and beauty.
