To Istanbul with love
I landed at Istanbul just after midnight and Jana was already waiting for me. We decided to hang around inside the airport and leave when the bus service starts in the morning. Vitek, the Polish guy, who had flown in on the same flight from Sharjah also joined us and we had dinner together. A police officer saw us eating chocolates, and came over to ask if he could have some. We were happy to share and soon there was a small army of cops around us.
At about 4 am, we said goodbye to Vitek and went off to search for Taskin and Sabriye’s place in Istanbul. I had contacted them via couchsurfing and they had agreed to host us for the next 2 days.
In the 10 days or so that I was in Turkey, I did not blog at all. We were in Istanbul for the first three days, then went to Sile (pronounced “sheelay”) and Agva (pronounced “awa”) by the Black Sea and then came back to Istanbul. We had a wonderful time in Turkey. It is such a beautiful country, with such amazing people. I guess it’s going to be very hard for another place to better this experience.
For now, I leave you with the pictures.
The Bosphorus bridge that connects Europe & Asia
At the Sultanahmet (Blue Mosque)
The majestic Sultanahmet (Blue Mosque)
At the Hagia Sophia
Random village street in Sile
Turkish chai
Backpacking along the Black Sea
The Black Sea at Sile
Sile harbour
The Black Sea at Agva
At Agva
What better place to write a few postcards?
The beautiful waters of the Black Sea at Agva
Back to Sile
The 150 year old Sile Feneri (lighthouse)
View from the 21st floor of the Marriott
Delicious fish sandwiches at Eminonu, Istanbul
The Galata Tower from up-close
View from atop the Galata Tower
Random street in Istanbul
The Grand Bazaar, Istanbul
Sariyer, Istanbul
Public gym
Ceni Yami (new mosque), Eminonu, Istanbul
Dinner with Burcu and her flatmates
Just one of the many wonderfully nice Turks we met