Istanbul - sights, planning and lots of moustaches

Trip Start Jun 13, 2008
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Trip End Aug 20, 2008


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Flag of Turkey  ,
Tuesday, July 1, 2008

We used our first day of 2 weeks in Turkey to sleep in, get parts of our lives and trip organized and try to make some plans for the next 2 weeks...we literally have nothing except one more night at the hotel we where are staying, the Niles Hotel in Istanbul.  The place has a sick breakfast on the roof, with internet access, so we spent a couple hours up there trying to get caught up on things.
 
After feeling satisfied that we got some logistical items done, we headed out late to walk around Sultanahmet, which is where we are staying and the old city of Istanbul.  We did some typical sightseeing, and while the sights in Turkey are really cool and basically pre-date most other historical areas, we know not everyone is as intrigued, so will put that type of info in a separate blog entry.
 
Since we have tried different avenues to clip coupons, we were constantly on the hunt for larger English speaking tour groups, and then would casually tag along, while pretending to read our guide books...it worked pretty well actually "Just Bar"...except if you need food
"Just Bar"...except if you need food
 . 
 
After reaching some sightseeing fatigue, we found the backpacking area of Istanbul lined with cheap outdoor bars with tables full of Hookas and backgammon (which is basically Lauren's ideal scenario, so we spent most of the night hanging out playing backgammon and chatting with random other travelers, including Ivor, a "co-owner", who we are convinced was only a doorman/greeter/bartender.  Ivor was from Bosnia, loves the US and basically rattled off US trivia all night.
 
It was a bit interesting when we went to one bar/restaurant called "Just Bar" and told them we wanted to order food...the guy looked at me like I was being a wiseass and pointed to the "Just Bar" sign above him about 2 seconds before we figured out it was just a bar and no food.  Although everyone is so laid in this area, he got menus from across the street at his brother's place and we ordered from there, while still getting to stay at Just Bar.
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