After an amazing farewell Turkish dinner with Elia, this morning we got up, packed our luggage, cleaned our apartment and took a cab to the huge Ankara train station. After going through security, we had a nice cup of coffee and a muffin, and made our way to the express train to Istanbul (which I still want to call Constantinople). We have pre-assigned seats with a table and electricity and that little bit of knowledge has really lowered the stress of the trip. Not knowing where and if we can sit together always makes me nervous.
The trip across Turkey takes around 4 ½ hours and goes through arid, hilly, terrain that looks just like you think Turkey would look like, and then in the distance you see snow-covered mountains. It is beautiful. At one point we went through an area that was totally snow-covered. It was so cool to see the snow. I had hoped for snow on this trip in some parts of Europe, but so far it was only the German Alps, until now. In general, the train travel has been some of my favorite parts and it has been great for keeping up with blog entries, UMass work, and Tommy has been very good about doing his schoolwork. I have also come to the point that I can ride forward or backward facing!
Once in Istanbul we left the train and grabbed a taxi to head for our hotel. We are staying at the Hotel Sultanhan. It is supposed to be an amazing hotel. However, I am not sure we are going to live to see it! The taxi ride was like something out of a Mario Kart! The streets are as narrow as rural Ireland, go straight up, and folks are double parked. And yet we are doing 45 miles an hour and people are going both directions and creating third lanes! A James Bond car chase is less exciting.
But we made it! The place is amazing and it has an Ancient Middle East feel far more than we experienced in Ankara. We are in the heart of the old part of the city within site of the Grand Bazaar, The Blue Mosque, and Hagia Sophia. And we can see the water from our balcony (Sea of Marmara). Istanbul is located on the Bosporus Straights and is essentially the shipping connection between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, which then connects to the rest of the world through the Dardanelles (which as a Churchill history buff I have read a lot about).
Now, for those of you who were fans of Tommy’s Is Turkey Europe or Asia video, I can tell you that we are in the Europe part of Turkey. Our train from Ankara ended at the Istanbul Station that is located in Asia, but we then took a taxi through the tunnel under the Bosporus Straight and exited on the continent of Europe!
After getting settled in we went for a walk and found the Grand Bazaar. We wandered overwhelmed for a while before walking toward home and stopping for an amazing meal of seafood and chicken. Then a good nights sleep. For the next few days we will hit the sights we have always dreamed of visiting!
Turkey: Is it Europe or Asia?
Unexpected snow while on the train to Istanbul!
