March 19, 2013
We made it.
That makes it sound like it should be followed by “despite everything” but not this time. Our travels were smooth. Other than the crying kids and the too-small travel spaces, that is. All of our flights were on time or early and the car service was there to pick us up in Istanbul.
However, traveling for 26 hours (early start for Albuquerque, long [interminable] delays at Atlanta and Rome) has tired us out. Shortly after arriving at our hotel we went out for a walk and an early dinner.
This is the first time we have been here so early in the year. The temperature was in the mid-50s and it was sunny with no wind.
Even though it isn’t officially Spring, there are lots of flower beds. I can recognize the tulips, but without Patricia’s help I can’t name the others.
There are far fewer tourists than we are used to-good-but that means the street vendors are more aggressive-bad. We are staying just a block from where we stayed in October, 2011, so we are somewhat familiar with the area. We just strolled around and started getting comfortable with being here.
We found a new place to eat. It is small, seating perhaps 12 or 14 people, but the location and food were very good. Of course, to select this place, we had to first evaluate many others. That means I have to recapture the skill of brushing off the restaurant touts as we look. They are really persistent.
Our room overlooks the Sea of Marmara on one side and the Ayasofya on the other.
I took a couple of pictures at dusk to give you an idea of what we see from our balcony.
The weather for tomorrow promises to be even better than today, so we are looking forward to visiting familiar places and discovering new ones–after a good night’s sleep.
p.s. More pictures on the Pictures page
Tevya
19 Mar 2013Glad you made it! Enjoy the good weather.
Kate Jacobs
19 Mar 2013Hooray! So glad you guys made it safe and sound. The pictures are gorgeous. Mom, I love the one of you people watching.
Inger Seitz
21 Mar 2013Wow, Steven! Great pictures and very nice travel report. Makes me want to go to Turkey now….