East meets West - Constatinopolie/ Istanbul

As you all know that from my previous blog

Came bak from S America thinking when my next holiday would be .Turns out that i had to take 5 days off by the end of may .And guess what my Turkish friend mailed me , yeh my international connection never sucks!!! 0

HI


How are u mate long time no see.U should come down here our french friends are coming here as well Join us it will be nice




D

Nevertheless i went to a website with all the answers "google" and a simple search and i got what i believe is the cheapest ticket in the planet .£150 return in Turkish airlines beat that !!!!!!!!

Came to Istanbul knowing absolutely nothing about this city . OK apart from Blue mask sorry Mosque and Hya Sofia.Flight fairly uneventful my friend picked me up and we went to his place .I had no idea that Istanbul was so big we literally travelled in a bus non stop with free flowing traffic for about 1.5 hrs to reach the destination with an interchange in Atakoy station.

Came home a quick round of introduction with his flatmates all nice and extremely friendly , went out for dinner, some Kebabs and Ayrans later i was put to sleep.

Initial impressions - Very lively city can compare it very much with my city back home - Bangalore but a bit more bigger and lesser traffic jam and better public transportation.My friend taught that i would have a culture shock coming from Europe, but he failed to realise I was from a nation of over a billion people.

Early start the next day had to figure out how to get the heater working.Got ready to go but couldn't find my wallet . Turns out that D's friend took my wallet by mistake i was looking around everywhere and asking D's friend in English if he had seen them, but he couldn't speak English .Being very helpful brought me an English dictionary and asked me wht i was looking and then we both started searching and he called D after all the frantic search D's friend called him up apologised that he had taken my wallet.

With some spare change and a fob to use the tram and metro .I headed to see Sultanahmed(blue mosque) and Hya Sofia.Let me tell you this no matter how many times you see it on TV it looks doubly impressive when u see it for real . The tall straight minarets and the pointy towers reminded me of Taj Mahal well i must say Taj is more impressive .

Blue Mask

Topkapi Palace- Impressive palace on the Bosphorous from which u could get views of the city takes about half a day at least to just to have look around.

It was MAY Day so i was told not to go to Taksim square since riots and demos by students turn too ugly . I could only see one side of Bosphrous so went to Grand bazaar and Spice market The Interesting thing here is when u go there u are free to try some samples .Once u decide u can either buy them or walk out.

Take this they were selling Turkish Viagra and one of the board said Turkish 5 times a night. !!!!

From here i went to Spice market where i brought some spices to cook for D's flatmates .Was hungry so was looking for a some place .In the tiny alley way was a dingy looking place full of locals there u go .I ordered an Adana and Ayran let me tell u this its the most tasty dish i have had in ages .The doners we get in UK or else cant ever compare to this cheap meal , Yet they cost only about £1.5 .

Next day went to the most happening Hip place in Istanbul Galalta tower and then onwards to Taksim square . This area is filled with huge shopping malls All the way i encountered people thinking that i am Arabic and try to start some small chat with me .

This is how it went

Marhabba ( hi in Turkish) i say the same followed by Salaam Malekum To which i say Malekum salaam. Then they pop the Question Arabic?

NO Hindistan (India in arabic) Then

Musalman (Muslim)!!! - No

Budda- No Hindu (puzzled they walk on )

It was not the first time , its happened to me in Egypt as well so i was ok with it . Came bak from here and had a look at sultan ahmed again took the tram and then train to the airport

Mes amis est arrivee.

Well a quick round of introdction

B- Asian /Arabic looking backpacker

M - My french friend who worked on the same floor and studied in the same uni and an avid chic watcher like myself

J- Madamoselle tres Jolie from now on an avid Fotographer and close friend of Mr M

D - My turkish friend and free couch provider

We met at the airport and went straight to Blue mask :) some Rendevous photos later .We then went in search of a hostel for these 2, turns out lot of hostel were all full so had a hunt around a bit. But after this our stomach was making strange noises so headed out to find a non tourisitic restaurant . It was a long walk when we found one and then had a glorious meal so much so that we couldnt finish it .It was basically a huge plate filled with a lot of meet salad and what not .And we started of with soup.