BOSPORUS BOAT TOUR, TURKEY
Trip Start
Oct 01, 2008
1
176
319
Trip End
Sep 02, 2009
Istanbul,
Turkey
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
I spent this morning finding and booking a flight to Kiev, it ended up being $200 cheaper than the ferry. Then looking for accommodations, what a surprise it is very expensive for hotels in the downtown area, if we want anything cheaper we have to go to the burbs and then rely on a taxi to get downtown where most of the sights are.
At lunch we met Danielle, Rachael and Aaron (the US students studying in London) for lunch. We went to our favourite restaurant down by the water. It was a relaxing afternoon and we chatted away about what they have done in Istanbul and our trip. We parted at the restaurant, they going back to the room, and we went along to catch a ferry boat ride down the Bosporus to see all the fancy homes and castles.
We should have walked through town as walking along the sea side was the long way around. I was happy to think we would be sitting for 1 ½ hours on the boat.
We sat upstairs in the open, it was cool out. The homes were very nice in their own way, lots of fancy hotels, one with a huge tent out front with clear walls, I think that must have been where the President stayed and was wined and dined. We saw fortress ruins and newer palaces. I think we went under 3 or 4 bridges, all modern looking. The trip back was very windy and cold so most of us went downstairs inside.
We walked along the sea side looking at all the small boats who offer a ferry service at local docks or landings. Further down we came across fancy decorated boats where they were frying fish and making sandwiches, passing them across to the customers sitting on short little stools at short little tables. (Oh, it reminded me right away of the little red and blue chairs and table restaurants in Vietnam!). The servers were in black pants, vests and hats with gold braid trim. It seemed quite a lively place and it was all locals. Then we passed one of the servers coming with a plastic bag of bread, the bag had broken and he was trying to get all the bread off the walk into the broken bag and on his way, didn't quite work out that way. The bread kept falling out.
We seen a vendor with plastic cups full of pickled dills, onions and peppers. That was a new one. We walked back to the tramway and caught the same one home. We are getting good at this.
