Our last day in the hustle and bustle of Istanbul.
A quick stop at the 34th floor for some breakfast buffet and before you know it, it's time to get those bags packed. Let's check out and get these things stored as we've got a lot of walking and exploring to do.
Katie had picked out a couple of spots to visit in her trusty books the night before. A long cab ride to start the day over to the other side of the city. We stopped suddenly and the cab driver mumbled something that we took for, we're here. We paid and jumped out. Within about 20 seconds we quickly realized that we weren't here and this wasn't where we were looking to go. All we see is a closed Mosque and it's in some serious restoration. We were originally worried about cabs, but this was the first that actually steered us wrong.
Let's start walking as we know the general direction that we want to go. We enter what is known as the tool section as every store sells a random collection of tools and contractors, each store no bigger than your average convenience store and jammed full of bits and bobs. We continue on through and the buildings part and we're looking at a bridge full of fisherman and below them, The Golden Horn. As we walked across, we take in several 100 fisherman, each with a different setup. Because of the time of year, fishing boats aren't allowed on the river. So this collection of men need to go old school and use a rod and bait.
We stare at the main street and this is going to be a frogger like challenge in getting across. Light rail, scooters, taxis and a few of the city's homeless, dude where are your shoes? They all were going to make this something. It took us a while, but we managed to figure out the maze and we continued along the city streets taking it all in. Something you don't see everyday around here, a line of shoe shine stands.
We come to a very large and very beautiful mosque in the middle of a large square that's full of people. We take a seat on a bench and we listen to the call to prayer and we watch the men, one by one. All taking seats on the stools outside as they wash themselves in order to go in and pray. Ankles, Elbows, Hands, Head and behind the neck. Man after man, shoes off, socks off. The process and dedication behind it all. Not one, taking the quick and easy way out. There is a process and it must be done properly and fully before they can stand before their god. It was a site I won't soon forget.
From there we made our way to the Spice Market to see the sights and take in all the wonderful smells. The colors just popped at every turn. Quite a bit smaller than the bazaar and less variety in items but no less chaotic.
A quick stop at a rooftop mosque that was hidden away and took longer to find than we had anticipated. Didn't expect to find it on top of a restaurant.
Because of the timing in the day, we were only allowed to walk around the outside and not enter the main building because prayer was in session. From the way we had walked it only made sense to walk across a different bridge, a suspension bridge and the thought of this didn't excite Katie at all. You can actually see the bridge in the background here. For those that know Katie, you can just imagine us walking across this.
We made our way across, heads forward and moving at a good pace to get us over as quickly as possible. The subway train going over certainly didn't help my situation. Once safely back on land, we sat in a nice little square and took in the busyness of the day around us.
Being the seasoned travellers we had become in three days, I suggested that we move up our flight to Athens as we had seen everything we wanted to see in Istanbul. I didn't see the point in sitting around just to sit around and I certainly didn't want to arrive in Athens at midnight and it was a good thing we didn't. Katie hailed a cab and we were off to the Hilton one last time. A quick change and reorder of the bags to meet weight for flight and we were off again.
While here, we had some interesting cab rides, but nothing like what was waiting for us this afternoon. We got in what must be one of the craziest cab drivers in the city. Ripping down side streets doing 80 with cars parked on both side, inches to spare on either side. Through the tunnels and up the mountain in record times. Answering two different cell phones at once, changing lanes like a mad man. Changing gears with the ultimate smoothness. He took us to a piece of Istanbul we hadn't seen yet. The suburbs. The big box stores. Green space. We had gotten so twisted around I had no idea where the airport even was. Like in most situation like this, you turn a corner or go around a bend and boom, there it is.
A long visit with the ticket desk and a quick trip through the terminal to make sure that we made it as it was going to be tight. We were off to the next stop.
Thank you Istanbul for showing us the best in what you had to offer. I don't think either of us will soon forget the smells, the sights or the tastes anytime soon. The impact of the buildings we saw, the dedication of man and the commitment to ones god was truly amazing to see and it really hit me much more than I had an anticipated. It will sit with me for a long time and I'm not sure I'll ever forget it. Thank you.
To Athens...
A quick up and down flight and we've arrived at Athens. Another visit through wordless Customs and we're waiting for luggage. We've got some time, lets see if there is any wifi here that I can borrow. I haven't been on the internet since leaving Toronto so you can only imagine how twitchy I was by this point. Right? BOOM! Free Airport Wifi. There it is. Facebook updates. Emails. The Jays haven't lost since I left??!? What? Awesome. A quick check on how the fantasy teams are doing, a quick scan of Facebook to see what's been happening out there and we're off. Athens, here we go!
We wait at the Taxi stand and a Benz pulls up, nice start already. A man pops out and I best describe him as very mob hit man looking gentlemen. Hair slicked back, aviator sun glasses, he might have had a tooth pick, I don't remember. He takes the bags quickly and throws them in the trunk like he's used to throwing large heavy items in the trunk kind of ease. Katie hands him the paper with our Hotel information. "Got it." Off we go. As crazy as the last cab ride was, this was the complete opposite. Smooth all the way and graceful lane changes. No words are exchanged for what seems like 30 minutes. We get off the highway and we're zig zaging through streets and out of no where, he points up and to the right and says "Acropolis" and keeps driving. Oh ok. Cool.
We are then at our hotel before we know it. He drops us off with a smile. We're standing in front of a small boutique hotel and we make our way in and down the luggage ramp. We're greeted by a Guy Pearce looking fellow. Katie says, "Meredith's checking in" or something close to that. What comes next leaves us with a small uneasy feeling to say the least. "Oh. Mrs Meredith, we've got a problem." Maybe way back when, when I said, it'll be good that we arrive around 5:00 versus arriving at midnight. Here's why. The man, very apologetic and very nice. Goes on to tell us that his computer system screwed up and double booked the hotel. So, to correct the issue he's going to put us in a 5 star hotel around the corner and cover the difference. He gives us a beer and calls us a cab to get us around the corner. Great service and can't expect anything more from this man who's stuck. It was literally a 2 minute cab ride around the corner and then we're in a much larger, more established hotel. A bit dated inside, but our room had a great bed, a couple weird bathroom features and a lovely rooftop restaurant that looked right at the Acropolis.
So when you're flushing, you can decide how much power you'll need? Half power or full power?
Is it a blow dryer? A vacuum? A flowbee?
A quick rest and some time to get off our feet on the balcony, check the view and we were heading upstairs to check out the rooftop restaurant.
Turns out the restaurant had actually only been open for a few days now and that was apparent by the chaos that we were greeted with. That settled down, the chaos and confusion turned into some great light hearted service. The views stunning, how many times can I say holy crap, I'm eating dinner looking out at the Acropolis in front of me, well, it turns out, a few more times. But still, at the time. Stunning. You can't stop looking in amazement. The sun sets and the lights come up and light it up and it looks even more impressive. A lovely caesar salad started us off with a variety of breads. Katie opted for the steak and I some super tender pork medallions. Mmmm mmmm.
It was during this point of the meal the funniest thing happened. No matter how I tell this story, I'm sure to butcher it and not do it justice. Also staying in the hotel was a large travel bus of Asian travellers. A few of the group came up to the top floor to get the view that was advertised. Now, the top floor as you saw is half enclosed and half not. The patio/dining area is in the outside part so you can see the Acropolis. The 2 or 3 of the group take a step out to the terrace and don't see it so cut back inside and try to pry open a door that isn't to be opened. On the outside of the glass is a thin hedge along with some lattice. So they're trying to take a picture around the hedge and the lattice at night through the glass. Now if they would have taken 2 or 3 more steps they would have had the proper view. So for 10 minutes they're trying to figure out how to open this door because strangely enough, their pictures aren't turning out. 2 more people join and try to figure it out. 2 more. After way too long, the group walks away, disappointed at the view that was promised. During this 20 minute ordeal everyone in the dining area is just staring in amazement. This small group must have directed more people to the window view because 4 or 5 more tried to get a decent picture. 10 more minutes go by. They go. Again disappointed. 5 minutes go by and someone from there group approaches the host of the restaurant who then walks the person on to the patio and shows them the wonderful view that the others in the restaurant are enjoying. To see it all unfold and how hard grandma was working that door really was priceless and will more than likely stay with me with my memories of Greece.
With dinner all wrapped up, it was back to the lobby to enjoy some free wifi as the lobby was the only area to enjoy it. We joined a lot of fellow travellers catching up with stories from home as they wrapped up their nights.
We better tuck in because we've got a big day ahead of us and we don't even know it yet.
Day three, fade to night.
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