Tracy's Trip Report - 7 days

Hello everyone!

Well, we just got back from Turkey last night, after 26 hours of travel, and I'm still quiet exhausted but I wanted to get started on my trip report since tomorrow its back to work. This report will be shorter and more to-the-point than my usual trip reports, mostly because I will be very busy with work and school and have little faith that I will be able to finish the entire report if I don't keep it short and sweet!

I will start off by saying that we loved Turkey! This was our first trip, and we were more than impressed. We only had a week, which is borderline criminal but apparently the office will fall apart if they are without me for more than a week at a time and so we take what we can get. Our interary was 3 nights Istanbul - 3 nights Selcuk - 1 night Istanbul.

Hotels:
Hotel Ada Istanbul - After weeding through tons of hotels online, we chose the Ada based on the looks, price and tripadvisor ratings and were quite pleased. The hotel was small, with only 3-4 rooms per floor, but it was nice and quiet. We had a large jacuzzi tub in our room, which was a nice added bonus after the really long flights and the chilly and tiring Istanbul sightseeing. The breakfast spread was lovely. Only complaint is that there is a small mosque right outside the hotel and the prayer call at 5:50 am, though lovely, was on the annoying side. http://www.adaistanbul.com/

Hotel Bella Selcuk - This hotel was a little difficult to find (mostly because I failed to ask for specific directions and viamichelin.com couldn't locate the address) but it was a nice hotel. The owners are very friendly. We originally booked a double balcony room, but the hotel is undergoing renovations and they were still waiting for the hand-carved beds to arrive so we were put in a small double. The room was pretty small but very pretty. They had an upstairs terrace that is covered in the winter and has a large fireplace. This is where breakfast was served, which included a made-to-order omelet each morning and free tea and coffee throughout our stay. http://www.hotelbella.com/selcuk_hotels/index.htm.

Zeynep Sultan Hotel Istanbul - We found this through venere and chose it because the price was right. We were only back in Istanbul for about 18 hours before we had to depart, and just wanted a basic room for our last night. And silly as it is, I love cats and chose this budget hotels over others because they have a big fat orange and white hotel cat that sleeps under the chairs in the lobby. Darling!

Here are some highlights:
- Seeing the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque lit up at night after our arrival. Beautiful!
- The beautiful mountains along the coast
- The food
- The people

Some lowlights:
- Not bringing my heavier coat. I decided at the last minute to pack a lighter wool coat that would fit in my suitcase because I didn't want to drag it around multiple airports.
- Stupidly choosing to fly into Sabiha Gokcen airport from Izmir, against the advice from Fodorites recommending otherwise....but more on this later.
- Not eating more rice pudding

I want to take a quick moment to thank tower for his kindness in mailing me maps of the coastal area after responding to a post. He provided tons of great info that was greatly appreciated! And to all other fodorites who were kind enough to answer my many threads of Turkey, and for those of you who posted your own reports or responses. I read hundreds of posts on Turkey and they really helped make our trip the success that it was.

Day 1
After a mostly uneventful flight we finally arrived in Istanbul around 5:00 pm. We arranged for airport pickup from the hotel. I will say that I have seen a lot of crazy driving but Istanbul drivers take the cake. We almost ran over at least three people, bumped into another cab driver, literally, went down a one-way street backwards and almost backed over a couple of cats...but we made it. We quickly checked into our hotel, dropped our bags, freshened up and ran out to get a little sightseeing and some dinner before going to bed. Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best, as it was rainy and chilly. Seeing the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque lit up at night is magical, and when we heard our first call to prayer soon afterwards we were quickly reminded that we were finally in Turkey! The Blue Mosque was still open so we headed inside. Oh my...all of the tiles were gorgeous!

I am terrible about writing down names of restaurants, mostly because we just menu shop before choosing where to eat. Unfortunately I don't have the name of the restaurant we ate at this night for dinner, which is annoying because it was one of the best meals of our trip. It was in the Sultanahmet area, very close to the Bascila Cistern, on a corner. I had the kofti and Matt had a doner kebab. I had kofti (small meatballs) four times on this trip and the kofti at this restaurant were, by far, the best. And the rice pilaf was wonderful; slightly sweet and nutty. All of the food in Turkey was delicious, and the plates are always very pretty, with lots of condiments (tomatoes, parsley, onions, etc) and sides perfectly arranged. And the bread...yum! Most restaurants in Istanbul came with big puffy bread, topped with sesame, that was baked in a brick oven.

Day 2
Since it was Monday, the Hagia Sophia was closed so we decided to visit Topkapi Palace, Bascilica Cistern, the Suleymanyi Mosque and the Grand Bazarre. Yes, we move fast! But it was off-season and we were able to move through sites without dealing with lots of crowds. Since you probably read lots of information about these sites I won't go into too much detail. Topkapi Palace was fascinating, much more than I thought it would be. I definitely recommend paying for the separate entrance fee to see the Harem. The Suleymanyi Mosque was, unfortunately, being renovated so we saw very little inside. Bummer because I was really looking forward to this! It was a little hike to get to it, and we only saw pictures of what it looks like.

The Grand Bazaar was crazy, as I assumed it would be. Salesman are constantly calling out at you to look in their shops. For anyone heading to Turkey for the first time, I highly suggest you try to research some of the prices of the items you would like to purchase before going into the Grand Bazaar because I found out later on that we overpaid, quite a bit, for a few of our items. Not that big of a deal, since most of our purchases weren't that expensive, but kind of annoying. It's difficult to know what is a reasonable amount to pay when you have no knowledge of typical base prices.

Lunch was at the Han Restaurant on Hudavendigar Caddesi and was doner kebabs followed by tea. I love the tea culture in Turkey! All of the tea is really good (my fave was the rosehip), and served in small glasses. Tea is offered everywhere and I'm going through withdrawals. Yesterday I was browsing a gift shop in the Dallas airport (killing time) and I didn't get offered one single glass of tea!

So after the Grand Bazarre we visit the New Mosque, also very nice, before heading back to the hotel for a nap. Anybody that has read my previous trip reports knows that we like to sleep! We tend to get up early and go, and we often return to our hotel around 3-4 pm to take a short nap before getting ready for dinner. This always works well for us and we sort of fell into this habit early on in our travels. It's a nice way to see things and still feel the relaxation of a vacation.

So after our nap we browsed through our guidebooks some and decided to head towards Taksim square to see a little of the New District. I decide at the last minute to leave my umbrella in the hotel, since it cleared up nicely. Our plan was to catch the tram in Sultanahmet and ride to the Kabatas stop and then take the funicular up to Taksim Square. For whatever reason we could not find the tram station near the Blue Mosque. I mean how hard can it be...just follow the tram tracks, right? Well, apparently for these two stupid Americans it was hard because we ended up walking to the next stop, Gulhane, which is near the entrace to Topkapi Palace. Here is a hint: the ticket booth for the tram isn't that noticable, but its the little brown nondescript kiosk across the street from the tram station. We had to ask someone.

So we get to Taksim Square, which is insanely crowded. Sometimes we make the mistake of assuming that we won't see many crowds since we tend to travel during off-season, but Istanbul quickly reminded us that it does happen to be one of the largest cities in the world and the locals do happen to leave their houses on occassion. From here we make our way to Istiklal Street, a pedestrian-only street filled with modern shops, restaurants and cafes. We stopped in Haci Bekir and picked up some hazelnut Turkish Delight. I will make a confession: this stuff is actually really good. I was put off but its look, which is very gummy, but it is suprisingly tasty. They had lots of samples. Definitely give it a try!

Again, I forgot to write down the name of the restaurant but we ate at a lovely place right on Istiklal Street. It was more cafeteria-style on the main floor, but had two other floors above it. We headed to the top floor, which was the non-smoking floor. The prices were very good considering the opulent decor, with pastel painted walls and gold leafing on the cealing. I had an Iskender Kebab, which is a kebob on a piee of bread with tomato sauce and yogurt sauce, covered in a brown butter. It was okay, although the bread made it taste a little soggy. I understand that these can be really good, so I have a feeling that I should have given it a try elsewhere. Hubby had an Adana Kebab which was good and nicely spiced. The best part of the meal here, though, was the flat bread. It came out in a big bowl followed by three smaller bowls filled with various toppings for the bread, one of which was similar to a tapenade. I'm a bread and pastry kind of girl, and this was right up my alley! I seriously could have just skipped the meal and eaten more bread...

And since apparently that wasn't enough food, we decided it was a good time for dessert. We walked around a bit to "work up our appetite" and then went to Mado. There are Mado locations all over town, and they have fabulous desserts. I went in with a plan to order some rice pudding, which I heard was fabulous in Turkey (and found out the next day that the rumors are true) but there was this fudgy nutty cake sitting in the case calling my name and I had to have it. Oh my gosh was this good. Afterwards we have some tea and then gather up our things to leave.

As I head to the door I quickly find out that it is snowing. I'm not talking about little flurries here; the snow flakes are large! And of course where was my umbrella? In the hotel room. Now, this may be a good time to explain my hair situation. I have yucky frizzy curly hair that gets straightened each and every day because its truly scary. I immediately go into panick mode; I don't care if nobody in this city knows me...I can't let them see me like this! So I had to do double duty and cover my head with the hood of the jacket under my coat and my scarf and then made my way out the door. And the snow...it wasn't sticking but it was coming down heavy enough, and blowing right at us. I couldn't even look up without getting snow in my eyes. Hubby had on his trusty STL Cardinals hat, since we like to fit in with the locals and all, so he tipped his hat down and guided the way. I looked up a couple of times though, and I have to say that it was a beautiful site. The snow, together with the pretty lights strung across the street, made for quite a scene. I tried to take a pic but unfortunately it just didn't do the scene justice.

We finally get back to the tram station and for safety reasons I decided to keep my head fully wrapped until we were in the safe confines of our hotel room. The jacuzzi really came in handy that night because by the time we got back to our room we were pretty wet from the snow.

And on to day 3....

Today our plan was to visit the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque again and the Archeological Museum. We get up early, to another dreary day, and make our way upstairs to fill up on breakfast. I know this has been said time and time again, but the Turkish yogurt really is good! I dumped big heaping spoonfulls of some kind of fruit jam (raspberry, maybe?) and honey into mine and after I consumed enough sugar to last me at least the next three days we were on our way.

Again, I won't get into too many details about the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque because if you are headed to Turkey and haven't read about these yet than you really shouldn't be going! The Hagia Sophia is huge. You know how sometimes you visit sites and they are about as big as you pictured them? Well, Hagia Sophia was a lot bigger than I imagined. There is 20 story high scaffolding in there, so you can imagine. The site is a work in progress, even after all of these years, and from what I read I don't think it's expected to be completed for another 10 maybe? But it truly an amazing sight. And, of course, there are a few cats in there that, embarrassing enough, caught my attention before the beautiful frescoes did. And I swear these cats knew how to work their audience because everyone was taking pictures of the cats posing.

The Archeological Museum is a must, in my opinion. Although a lot of Turkey's treasures wound up in other museums (the British Museum, etc) there are some great things in there, including some wonderfully preserved sarcophaguses (is that a word? sarcophagi, maybe?). It gives a deeper appreciation of what we saw in Istanbul and what we would see in Ephasus the next day. However, be prepared because it is quite large. I will confess, though, that I can only handle so much museum at one time before I get bored. Luckily my dad wasn't with us or we would have been there all day...I started getting flashbacks of hours and hours spent at the St. Louis Historical Museum in my younger days while my dad explained each and everything in brutal detail.

We decided that we wanted to try pide, the Turkish version of pizza, for lunch and so we stopped at one of the many pide restaurants somewhere in the Sultanhamet area on our way to the Galata Bridge. The pizza was good. I just got plain cheese and Matt got the minced meat version.

The weather started to clear up nicely and this afternoon ended up being the best of our entire trip. The sun was shining and everyone was out enjoying it. I should have mentioned above that my other great regret was not taking a short Bosporus cruise that afternoon, as we were approached numerous times. We had a plan to see the Spice Market and the New Mosque that afternoon and decided to wait until our last day in Turkey to do this. Big mistake because it ended up raining the entire last day. Oh well...next time.

The spice market was, in my opinion, much better than the Grand Bazarre because it wasn't nearly as crowded and the salesman didn't seem as pushy. And the smells...all of the spices together created a nice aroma in the air. We bought a nice coral bracelet for Matt's grandmother and some embroidered pillow cases for my mother-in-law and then went to the New Mosque, which was lovely of course. Tiles everywhere, and the sun was flooding in through the stained glass windows which gave it a nice glow.

After another nap that afternoon we had dinner this night at a restaurant near Topkapi Palace. There was an Anatolian woman sitting on the floor in the window rolling out flat bread and yet, it was touristy but the food was good and the atmosphere nice with lots of pillows on the benches and heavy woods. My adana kebab was great, but the highlight was the guzleme, a Turkish crepe made with the flat bread. They stuffed it with a white Turkish cheese and we watched it bake on a stone. It was delicious. We drank Efes beers and then polished off our meal with a delicious rice pudding.

Afterwards we strolled around the streets of the Sultanahmet area for awhile before calling it a night. We wanted to get to bed early because we had an earlier morning flight to Izmir in the morning.

Day 4

We booked a flight on Pegasus Airlines from IST to Izmir that left around 8:30 am, so we asked the hotel manager to book our cab. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare so I decide that I need a magazine. I stroll over to the newspaper kiosk, pick up a Marie Clair (one of the few English language mags available) and hand it to the cashier. He tells me the price, I get out my lire, and then all the sudden it hits me...I'm getting charged over $14 USD for a freaking magazine! Uh, no thanks.

Pegasus Airlines, for those that don't know, is a low cost carrier that flies within Turkey. We booked out tickets back in December and our flight to Izmir was about $30 per person with taxes. I wasn't sure how the planes would look, but they were very modern and large and clean. The flight left promptly on time and soon we were flying over Istanbul. DH and I both fell asleep but the flight was very short and before I knew it we were landing. We picked up our bags and proceeded to the National Car Rental counter. I booked with economycarrentals.com. We used them once before, on our trip to Croatia in 06, and were quite pleased. We usually go with AutoEurope, but the rates were significantly lower. My only complaint is that they leave you with very little gas. This wasn't a problem in Izmir, as there is a nice large gas station right outside of the airport, but in Dubrovnik it was downright panicky because it took awhile ot find a gas station.

Anyways, off we are. Our plan is to drive to Selcuk to find our hotel (too early to check in) and then immediately head to Ephasus. The scenery is quite beautiful and much more mountainy than I anticipated. The drive from Izmir to Selcuk was short; maybe 40 minutes or so. We get to Selcuk and have a difficult time finding our hotel at first (as I said in my first post, I failed to get exact directions) but all ended well.

Ephasus is within 10 minutes or so of Selcuk. We park our car and take one of the taxis waiting in the parking lot up to the second entrance, at the top of Ephasus. This was recommended in my Rick Steves guidebook. I'm not sure if it was really necessary, as I didn't find the site to be that steep, but it is a rather large site and it was nice to not have to backrack. We purchased a guidebook that we used along the way and it was very helpful.

With everything else on this post, I won't go into great detail on Ephesus since its been covered in depth on other posts. Let me just say that it is an amazing site. We chose Turkey partly because we wanted to see Ephasus, and we contemplated just spending the week in Istanbul since its such a short amount of time but decided that we really wanted to see Ephasus and that idea got nixed pretty early on. We both love ancient history and ruins and Ephasus doesn't dissapoint. And, of course, there were lots of cats around to keep me busy in between sites. Afterwards we ate at one of the small restaurans just outside of the gate, where we both had mini siskebabs and fries.

We head back to the hotel to check in. As I mentioned above, the hotel is going through some renovations and we were put in a much smaller room. It wasn't that big of a deal though. Anyone who reads my trip reports knows that we aren't really into luxury hotels and tend to book more budget-friendly hotels that have character. This place was pretty nice. The owners were delightful to chat with, and our room, though small, was very cozy and pretty with handknitted detailing around the perimeter of the cealing and a large modern shower. My only complaint is that the room always felt cold to me. It had one of those systems where the electric only came on when the card key for your room was inserted into the slot. Since the heater was electric it didn't run unless we were in the room which meant that we often came back from a day of sightseeing to a very chilly room.

For dinner that night we went to a small place recommended by our hotel owner called Ege Kofti. It's on the main street, on a corner a few blocks away. While it wasn't much too look at, the hotel owner said that the food was good and not catered to tourists. I had the kofti and an appetizer of the lentil soup. The soup was wonderful and hit the spot since it was a chilly evening. Matt had the mixed grill platter and ate everything on his plate so I'm assuming it was tasty.

We decided to explore town a bit afterwards. Selcuk is very nice and a great base. There are several pedestrian-only streets that run through town, and these streets are filled with bars, cafes, restaurants and kebab stands, shops, etc. We found a small baklava shop and purchased a few pieces to take back to the room with us and then headed back. The baklava was just delicious. We then headed up to the rooftop terrace (covered in the winter), which had a nice fireplace, and enjoyed a cup of hot apple tea before heading to bed for the night.

Day 5

This is the day that we made the Priene-Milatus-Didim circut. We woke up to a rainy, dreary day but decided to make the most of it. We had a yummy breakfast at the Hotel Bella that included made-to-order omelets with that yummy white cheese. We sat and chatted with the son of the owners for awhile and learned a great deal about the Turkish culture. I honestly could have sat and chatted with him all day but we had ruins to see and so we said our goodbyes and were on our way.

Our first stop was Priene and was a short hour or so drive from Selcuk. The drive was very easy, on well-kept roads. Signs for historical sights are in brown, and we just followed the brown signs to Priene. Warning: it's quite a hike to the site. I work out several days a week and am in relatively good shape and I was huffing and puffing by the time we got to the top. Obviously, it was worth it though. The site is perched in such a way that lead to very nice views of the plain below. With the exception of one British family we had the place to ourselves to explore.

Stop number 2 was Milatus, about a half hour drive or so from Priene. Again, following the brown signs made it easy to find. Milatus is really cool! From the outside it looks like a large fortress. It's only after you get in that you realize that you were looking at the back of very well-preserved stadium. We had the added bonus of having a "guide" with us in the shape of a darling yellow mutt. He seemed to know his way around the place quite well. We saw the British family again as we were heading out. There were a few souvenir shops near the main gate, and we stopped for some fresh-squeezed pomegranate and orange juice that was delicious and a bargain at 2 lira.

The weather was starting to turn really ugly so we decided to leave. Good thing, too, because we got maybe 3 minutes up the road before all hell broke loose. The rain was absolutely pouring on us, and within minutes it started to hail. We had to pull over because we couldn't see a thing and the road was starting to flood. I was worried about the family at the site, because they had two young children (maybe around 4-5 years old) with them and were still in the middle of the site when we left. Hopefully they found shelter!

After the rain subsided a bit we slowly made our way to Didyma, where Didim is located. We were starting to get hungry for lunch, and luckily Didim is a large enough town that there were plenty of places to eat. We parked along one of the main streets in town and popped into a pide and kebab place to try Lahmacun, the Turkish pizza with minced meat. The pizza was very good and the price was even better at 2 lira apiece. We walked around town a bit because the sun was starting to come out, and then made our way to Didim.

Unlike the other two sites, Didim was right in town. However, the site was pretty amazing. We petted a few of the cats hanging around the place and then wandered the site a bit.

All three sites were very cool and definitely worth a visit. And the added bonus that they are all three pretty close, and close enough to Selcuk, made it a great day trip. We stopped in the touristy town of Kusadasi on our way back to Selcuk. Stu (tower) gave us a nice rec for a place to stop and eat but the weather was turning ugly again and the views wouldn't have been that great so unfortunately we'll have to save that rec for next time. We walked along the waterfront for a few minutes before the chilly weather got the better of us and then headed back to Selcuk.

I was dying to check out Sirince, as we almost stayed there (budget restraints made us choose Selcuk), so we decided to have dinner there. The drive up to Sirince is absolutely gorgeous. There are olive and fruit trees covering the mountain, and everything was so green and lovely. The town itself is small and very nice and quaint. We walked around the little town a bit and stopped to sample some fruit wine and purchased a bottle of quince fruit wine to bring home with us. Dinner that night was at the Han restaurant, I believe, right across the street from the large parking lot. As we were checking out the menu they told us that they only had manti, kind of a Turkish tortellini, on their menu for that evening. It sounded perfectly good though, so we went for it. Yum...good choice! The manti is filled with ground lamb, and it's covered in yogurt sauce and a kind of olive oil and red pepper blend that was really good. We topped it off with some local white wine as we gazed out the windows.

I should have said this above, but I'll say it now. We really enjoyed Istanbul but its the coast and countryside that drew us in. Selcuk and Sirince are just the kinds of small towns we prefer. I'm not much of a city girl (with the exception of Rome, which holds a special place in my heart) and the mountains and orchards and atmosphere of the coast and it's ruins made me fall in love with Turkey.

Day 6

We had originally planned on visiting Pamukkule and Aphrodisias on this day, but when we woke up the weather was just nasty and we decided that it would probably be best to save this for another trip. When chatted with the hotel owners again while we ate the delicious breakfast and then bundled up. Our plan was to visit the Selcuk Museum, the Isabey mosque and the ruins of St. John.

The Selcuk museum was just a few minutes walk from the hotel, which was a good thing because the rain was really coming down. The museum is filled with artifacts and statues from Ephasus. Anyone visiting Ephasus should absolutely visit this museum. It's small but very well done. We met a very pregnant cat that I think lives in the courtyard of the museum. Anyone heading to Selcuk soon should keep their eye out for some new kittens roaming around the musem! We stopped in the little cafe and had a Nescafe and then bundled up again and headed for the ruins of St. John.

St. John's This site is directly below the old fortress and is quite large. One can only imagine what the church must have looked like in its heyday. Many of The columns are still intact. After looking around for a bit we wandered over to the Isabey mosque, one of the oldest Mosque's in Turkey. We were the only ones there and it was quite cold inside so we didn't stay very long but I'll admit that I was kind of underwhelmed. It's hard not to be jaded after seeing some of the huge mosques in Istanbul!

We headed back to the hotel and decided to drive back up to Sirince. I wanted another fruit wine to bring home, and the weather was starting to clear a bit and we wanted pictures of the landscape from the drive up. The town was nice and quiet when we arrived. We stopped in a small winery and sat on colorful pillows near the brick fireplace and sampled a half dozen fruit wines before settling on a mulberry wine to bring home. I hated the leave the warmth of the fireplace!

We strolled around the little town a bit, purchased a few olive oil soaps from an older woman in one of the shops and then stopped at a small shack for some fruit jam. We ended up eating lunch at the restaurant just above the stand, and the waiter kindly pushed our table close to the large fireplace that stood in the middle of the room. We had a lovely lunch of kofti, rice pilaf, country bread and strawberry wine. As we were getting ready to leave we saw a few tour buses pulling in and were glad that we were able to experience the town before the mad rush of tour groups.

We went back to town and took a small nap. We then went to the little souvenir shop in town to purchase a few of those Turkish lamps that seem to be sold everywhere. The owner asked us to sit and have tea with him after we made our puchases, and we sat and talked for probably close to an hour. We found the Turkish people to be very warm and friendly and some of the highlights of our trip include just chatting with people we met along the way.

The store owner told us about a small restaurant just across the street and we decided to have our dinner there. The first floor was mainly takeaway, but the second floor was nice and cozy. We both had an Urfa kebab with rice and bread with Efes beer, followed by rosehip teas. The food was really good.

We strolled the town, saying our goodbyes because we would be leaving the next day. We stopped for some delicious baklava and then headed back to the hotel to pack up and get ready for our early morning flight.

We really enjoyed Selcuk a lot. The town is small but it was filled with locals, not tourists, and felt very authentic, especially compared to Kusadasi. The restaurants were good and it's close to many sights; it made for the perfect base.

Day 7

We wake up early and drive to the airport. Our flight leaves around 8:30 am and we told National Car Rental that we would drop the car off around 7:00. We get to the airport and Matt starts panicking because apparently nobody bothered to show up to accept our car rental and so we just park it in the parking lot and write them a note to stick on the counter with the keys. So far so good because our credit card was charged accurately, but we were very nervous about doing this.

It's finally nice and sunny on the coast so it was highly annoying knowing that we were going back to rain in Istanbul. The flight is uneventful and we arrive at Sabiha Gokcen airport on time. After waiting quite awhile for our luggage we walk outside and it's a mess. There are people everyhwere. We were on a flight that looked to be at least 80% military and there were busses and young guys in military uniforms everywhere. And on top of it all it's absolutely pouring and freezing outside. Oh, and did I mention that I ended up catching a cold a few days earlier? I was in no mood to stand around trying to figure out the public transportation and told Matt that we were getting a cab whether he liked it or not. We found a cabbie and predetermined a rate and were on our way.

Now, before I go any further I want to say what a mistake it was flying into this airport. I posted advice on which airport to fly into and then took it upon myself to ignore all the kind advice and chose SG airport because the times were more convenient. Big mistake. There isn't much public transportation, the busses that we needed don't run as often, and overall it's just not a good choice for a tourist wanting to be in the Sultanahmet area. I think, though, that what I really wish we had done is tried to book our flight out of Izmir so we wouldn't have had to go back into Istanbul for one more partial day. We had to wake up early for flights two days in a row and it just wasn't a good decision on our part. So for anyone wondering which airport to use, please do yourself a favor and choose Ataturk!

It took well over an hour and a half, and when we finally got to the Sultanahmet area he couldn't find our hotel so we drove in circles and he would ask various people. After about 20 minutes of this we finally get to our hotel, only to find out that he wants to charge a much higher rate. We gave him our address before we got into the cab so DH wasn't having it and they end up bicking outside the cab, in the rain, until luckily someone came up and needed to turn down the street the cab was blocking. They agree on a rate, DH is now in a bad mood, and we check into the hotel.

The hotel is nice and basic. We didn't want anything fancy or expensive because it was our last night and we had a shuttle picking us up at 3:30 am so its not like we spent a lot of time there. The Zeynep Sultan Hotel Istanbul is nice enough, and when I walked in to my delight I immediately see the hotel cat sleeping under one of the lobby chairs. I pet the cat while DH checks in and arranges for the shuttle and then we head to our room. Small but nice, and the heater was much better than the one at the Hotel Bella in Selcuk which was a good thing because it was pretty cold and rainy day.

This was, by far, the worst day we had. It was just plain cold and it rained almost non-stop the entire day. And because we were tired from the early flight we were just not in great moods. We did all of the major indoor sights at the beginning of our trip, and we considered the palace but after the long drive in we just wanted to stay closer to the Sultanahmet area. In retrospect I wish we would have taken a Bosphorous cruise at the beginning of our trip and saved the Bazaars for our final day. We ended up going back to the Bazaars just for lack of indoor things to do. They weren't too crowded, but we had already purchased everything that we wanted to purchase and we were in no mood to haggle with the salesman so after about half an hour we had enough and went back to our hotel for a much-needed nap.

We woke up and it was still steadily raining outside. In better moods, we decide to suck it up and head back out. I bundle up and out we go. We head towards a cafe for some baklava and tea and then decide to go back into the Blue Mosque one last time. It's just so beautiful and serene in there...and it was dry.

Our final dinner was at a restaurant mentioned in my guidebook. As usual, I can't remember the name but it was quite good. I have a pistaccio kebab and Matt had an Urfa kebab. The waiter brought out a big plate of hot flat bread with sesame seedson it that was amazing. We finish it off with a glass of hot tea and toast to yet another sucessful adventure.

It finally stopped raining so we wandered around the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia one last time just as a call to prayer starts. My eyes start to fill with tears of joy and sorrow because we would soon be leaving this wonderful country and we had such a good time. The people were so friendly, and not just when we were purchasing items. They genuinely seemed interested in talking with us. The food was excellent and some of the sights top our lists as some of the best we've seen. Overall we fell in love with the people and culture of Turkey and gave our trip 4.5 stars...I had to deduct half a star for stupidly flying into Sabiha Gocken airport!

Thank you to everyone for your help planning this trip. I honestly feel that I have fodorkites to thank for making our trips so successful, and without reading some of your wonderful trip reports I don't know if we would have ever found ourselves in Turkey.

Thanks for reading!
Tracy