İstanbul, Not Constantınople

That's what the song says anyway, and Istanbul ıs all I hear, so I guess ıt's rıght.

After a wakeful train trip, I arrived here safe and sound on Friday AM. The train stopped at the Bulgarian/Turkish border at around 2:30 AM and left at around 5:30 AM. In the interım, I was awakened 4 times. Once for a Bulgarian passport check. Then for a Turkish passport check. Then for another Turkish check, this time off the train. Stood in line until the clerk at the window said to go to another building to get a Visa. Got the Visa, got the passport stamped, went to sleep. Another wake-up call, customs check.

One good thing, I met an AU couple at the Visa window. We got together again when the train fınally started and talked until we arrived in Istanbul. Surprisingly, the hotel met me as they said they would, Even with the train being almost 2 hours late.

Decent hotel, with a 4 poster bed, cable TV (2 chan. in English, most of the Time) and a shower with real doors. More on showers later. Breakfast is served in a rooftop cafe overlooking the Bosphorous/Maramara Sea. Quite nice.

I looked around the area a bit, then went to the train station to make a reservation for Sofıa, Bulgaria. Clerks aren't very talkative. At informatıon, I asked where to get a ticket to Sofıa. 'Window 4'. At window 4 I told him what I wanted, and he wrote down the date I specified to make certain we were on the same wavelength. We were, so he did all the necessary paperwork and said '13.40'. So I paid him, got the reservation and left. Why waste words?

Had a nice dinner in the area where I'm at. It's a very good area for my touristy purposes. Near the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofıa and Topkapi Palace. Nice little area, with several nice budget hotels and several guesthouses and/or hostels. Best Western is sure well represented. At least 4 within walking distance.

Yesterday I took a tour which included a trip to the Spice Bazaar, but it was closed for the end of Ramadan. So we saw a jewelry store instead. Big Deal. Then a boat trip on the Bosphorous which was pretty nice. That was followed by a decent lunch, then a trip to the Dolmabache Palace, which was the last place the Sultans lived before Ataturk took over and democratized the country. They lived quite well.

Had dinner at a place I chose because it looked crowded, when all others weren't. Usually means good food, right? Wrong. In this case, it meant everyone was drinking. But they dusted off a menu, hired a cook, bought some fixings, and got me a decent meal.

Today was another tour, this Tyne of the Hippodrome, which is just a square with a few monuments now, but had glory days in the far past. Then the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofıa, and the Grand Marketplace, which was closed because it's Sunday. So a carpet salesroom. Great carpets, and they know it. I didn't buy one.

On to lunch, which really revealed that the tour was an international affair. Couple from Holland, lady from Kurdıstan, English, French, Spanish, American couple who spoke fluent Dutch, Philippine, Palestinian, and Italian. Our tour was in English and Spanish, but our guide, who was great, spoke 7 languages.

Then to Topkapı Palace. It was the palace until some sultan decided it was too old, and built Dolmabache Palace. Now it's a museum. Then on to Suleıman Mosque. In the next several days, with free Tyne, I'll visit some of these again, as they appear to be pretty interesting.
At dinner tonite, I met a couple from San Antonio. They could meet all your area realty needs, as one was a mortgage broker, and the other was a Realtor. Nice to talk to. Helene, I'll send you there names for Walt.

Now to the trivia: I guess all the dogs in Romania didn't get passports, because all I see here are cats. I'm not a cat lover, as many of you know, but at least they leave me alone. Here at least.

It wasn't the dreary weather that made Bucharest so bad for me. I've only seen the sun for a few hours on Friday after I got here. In fact, I've used my umbrella more than once. And I'm still enjoying myself.

Really nice guy at the Internet cafe. Last nite I checked my email and a few things. When I left, all I had was 20.00 ytls (yeni turk larasi, I can't help but think Yertle the Turtle). He didn't want to make change, so he just told me to pay him later. So I will. When I came back tonite, he didn't even remember.

Money here is a bit of a problem, as the ATM lists it in the old currency. The new ytl is 100,000 to 1, if I remember correctly. But all the bills and prices are in new ytls. Not so in Romania. They have both old (ROL) and new (RON) and you get either or both in change, plus pretty much worthless coins. The old to new ratio is 10,000 to 1. So a 10 RON bill is worth a 100,000 ROL. If you break a 10 RON you might get a mix of 1's and 10,000 bills back. Glad I'm no longer there.