Holiday Inn City Istanbul

... the name of Tripod of Plataea, the monument celebrates the glorious win of the Greek emperors over the Persians in the 5th century BC in the Plain of Platea. The partially surviving monument is displayed at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum and also in the British Museum.<br><br><br>Braided Column<br><br><br>Braided Column is the third monument in Sultanahmet that stands tall at 21 meter height. However, the statue with four bronze horses named the quadriga ...

... first night, both our stomachs were upset. We think it was from completely gorging our faces at the hotel with free breakfast. We would have breakfast and sit in the restaurant for an hour or so then eat a complete meal again, stuffing ourselves. The best were chocolate pastries with Nutella on top - yum! They probably have limits on how many you get now. So, its no wonder our stomachs hurt. One thing to know: don't come to Turkey if you have stomach problems. The ...

... put french fries in it. After lunch we took a cruise on the Bosphorus. Istanbul is truly a city where East meets West. Part of it is in Europe and part in Asia. The Bosphorus is a strait that separates Istanbul into the two sides.<br><br>We went back to the hotel and took a short nap before being picked up for yet another cruise on the Bosphorus. This one was a dinner cruise. The dinner started with a huge platter of appetizers. There was some grape leaves, grilled ...

... no cows to eat them)-there are sidewalks with people strolling. The contrast with India is overwhelming and we both comment on the differences as we ride to the hotel. Leaving the main highway we climb thru narrow streets to reach the Sultanahmet district where our hotel is located. Before we reach the hotel we are greeted with the inspiring view of the Blue Mosque which looms over the old city from its perch high ...

... for breakfast-something I don't do at home, ever.  All of us got our gear and headed first to the Blue Mosque with a side trip to the Cappedocia shopping area by the Blue Mosque.  Here I was looking for a few smaller pieces of pottery and an pottery painted egg.  Here I also found 2 fan pulls for my house when I get back to MN. Back to getting to the Mosque.  It was a short walk and luckily we were between prayer times so we could get in. There were ...

We arrived in Istanbul on an overnight flight from Joburg via Athens. Ray prefers to nap after an all nighter while Candy likes to plan our time right away. This seems like a win-win situation for Ray. Candy's quick research was particularly helpful this time because we found out that we needed to leave Istanbul earlier than we would have planned due to the holidays following the end of Ramadan. Apparantly, lots of people leave ...

... In the evening a group of us went to the park where we indulged in some baklava and tea and had a laugh as one Turkish man got caught by his girlfriend for looking at me and unfortunately for him he received the biggest smack....oopsie be a little more discreet next time mate! Off to bed early as since arriving in Turkey it is not the dogs or alarm clock that wake you bu the "call to pray" at around 5.00am. DAY 49 "BUSHCAMP" - Saray to Tayakadin (3637km to ...

... been so many of us we weren't particularly worried, but would definitely had been more of a worry if we'd been the only ones. Our guide and driver (Jim and Dan) tell us they have been doing the South American route for Dragoman, and they haven't been to Asia before. Also tell us that the truck is 25 years old and has been in West Africa for a while, and has just gone back to London and had lots of work done on it ...

After a long, but fairly easy trip, we finally arrived in Istanbul this afternoon at about 2:30pm. The entry visa was no problem, took about 2 minutes, and cost $20 US a piece. Our hotel transfer fellow was waiting for us, and actually proved to be a fairly good tour guide for the drive in from the airport. The hotel is actually quite lovely, clean, friendly, and seems to be very well located. After unpacking, we set off for our traditional first day walk ...

... festivities and parties in anticipation. On Thursday morning the first early breakfasts took place before 7am when the sun is rising. I went to work armed with a selection of fruit for lunch so that I could sneak off into a private place to eat it in secret. I returned to the office to find some of the Turkish occupants munching their way through toasted sandwiches. Not everyone is fasting. Nevertheless a lot of people are fasting and every evening at restaurants and hotels ...