Istambul in one evening. You must be crazy!

'Istanbul?!?

Over a day!

Are you two crazy?' 

My boss was really surprised when my colleague and I gave in an invitation for a really important meeting.

My job is related to chemical safety and dangerous chemicals.

Though I have a degree in pharmacy.

And now I am heading towards environment protection.

Hip and in place to be, they all say.

Among other things, my job is to recognize all the dangers of the produced, stored and used chemicals, check if the labels are Ok and  come up with procedures that would lead to safe use of chemicals (by industry and general public).

So this meeting held by ECHA in Istanbul was really important to us.

We just HAD to go.

'So what' I said.

'We will not be absent long'.

And it gives us a chance to get attention and eyes on us.

Solve some burning issues.

That morning of February 2014 when we started packing I thought of Snatch.

When there is a crap to be solved, Dennis Farina sips a shot, steps on a Concorde and flies to London for a day.

Well this trip of ours was nothing like that.

We flew by Turkish airlines.

Perfect.

When compared to my other flights.

I always fly economy class, and being tall makes it sometimes rather uncomfortable.

And I always get really hungry when flying.

And when I am hungry I am not the most pleasant character.

Turkish Airlines respect that.

They give you several pillows, headset.

    Some food to ease the flight.  

                                 Nice.                           

           

Ataturk.

I do not like airports settled by the water.

I know it does not matter much if you crash on water or land, but still - I prefer solid ground.

  Short procedure at the customs.

Showed my passport and they widely spread their arms in a big hug.

'Welcome. Neighbour.'

'Shoot!' I thought.

And I looked around seeing all those British and American citizens awaiting for passport control and visa check and I thought 

'Shove it! Finally no ques for me!'

We stepped outside and it was raining.

Of course.

But both my colleague and me are not made of sugar so we did not mind the rain.

We caught a taxi at the airport.

17 EUR I remember.

And they give you a receipt without you asking for it.

Kind.

We managed to get a short glimpse of the Valens Aqueduct.

And our hotel was the only hotel in the pedestrian zone, Istiklal Avenue.

Hotel Richmond.

I got a room with three beds.

Too bad I was not staying over for three nights - I could sleep on all three like Goldilocks :).

Old tram had a stop just outside the hotel which was great.

But we did not use it.

Both my colleague and I are freaks when it comes to walking or exploring new cities.

Since the meeting took all day we explored Istanbul over night.

And we did not mind that.

Some people would call it crazy.

Two women,

in big city in Turkey.

Strolling around the old town.

Come on people!

Such homophobic behavior is not EU acceptable ;).

Istanbul is very crowded.

Even at evening and night.

Has this kind of Arabic feeling.

Similar to Cairo (only Cairo being bigger, dirtier, overcrowded and too noisy - just the way I like).

Plan your route and mind your own business.

Yes, men do try to get you in the cab or to talk to you on the street but you just ignore them, and mind your own business.

And use the lighted paths.

No narrow streets for me in Istanbul!

It was way too dark.

We walked from the hotel towards the Galata bridge.

Galata bridge is crowded over the evening too.

Fishermen everywhere.

You can buy a fish if you want to (do not worry about the dangerous chemicals in its fat tissue :P).

Under the bridge you have many restaurants and just next to it is a fish market.

Many boats taking you to all parts of Istanbul.

We were on the European side of the city.

Did not manage to see the other side :(.

And we only saw a glimpse of the Bosphorus bridge the day we were leaving.

Did not manage to enter the famous Hagia Sophia and the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (the Blue Mosque), Imperial Harem, Topkapi Palace and Basilica Cistern.

All these were closed when we reached them.

And we missed Cicek Pasaj!

Which does not mean we did not enjoy Istanbul.

We took the map and marked the route.

The walk towards the Galata bridge...

Not much to see except all those souvenir stores, jewelries and fast food spots.

Lots of cats in the shops.

Few old ruined buildings.

Some graffiti.

We stopped by the Galata Tower.

  

The night lights of Istanbul were amazing.

We caught a train across the Galata bridge..

Goes on time.

Very cheep and clean.

You buy a ticket at the train stop.

First stop Grand Bazaar, of course.

Yes it is crowded and is packed with shops - but there is nothing much interesting there.

Do you know what three words are most read in the world by all nations?

 Made in China. 

Same here.

Though I do like lamps and carpets, colorful plates, handmade jewelry.

Food on display everywhere.

Just outside, 

within a short walking distance you reach the Hippodrome and the famous mosques.

Hagia Sophia and the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (the Blue Mosque).

And the Basilica Cistern is near.

But all were closed.

Though we did see The Obelisk of Theodosius. 

On our way back we combined the train and funicular.

Ended up at Taksim.

It was packed with Galatasaray supporters and police.

Since I do not follow football, did not pay much attention.

There were many funny looking supporters.

Apparently the game was over.

Galatasaray vs Chelsea 1:1.

 I recall I have received a txt from home about some kind of incident on the streets regarding that match.

I can not remember now what it was...

Whatever, never mind.

Short walk down the Istiklal Avenue.

Shops, restaurants, cafes.

Ended up in a nice restaurant just across our hotel.

Patisserie Markiz.

Food was great.

And we were dead tired.

In the morning we sipped coffee to go, fast breakfast than hit the street for a short walk.

All in all,

the meeting was good and we managed to explore the city (kind of) in one evening.

I  wish sometimes that there will come the day when I will take all the advantages of these nice hotels I stay in on my business trips - get some rest, spa, enjoying slow dinner.

No.

I know.

That will never happen :).

If there is next time in Istanbul,

and it is over one day,

I will travel like this.

Skyfall.

Though it would be wise to try on a bike at home first...

Time to take off people!

So long Istanbul!

Kiss.Kiss.

...........

My Cappadocian adventure. Yes it is true wonder of nature.

Turkey!

No. Not that turkey.

It was late September. Year 2007.

No. I do not have such a great memory and it does not seem like it was yesterday.

Thankfully, I like taking photos and it was enough to take a quick look and remember it all.

I was planning Greece that summer actually.

All summer.

And it was not easy.

It included visas too.

But I have managed to plan a great trip.

Crete for 7 days.

Santorini 3 days.

Plus a visit to Mikonos *over a daylight, thank you.

And this trip should have included some speed boats as well.

Imagine my devastation when in last minute I found out we had to cancel.

Oh poor me.

I was really sad.

So much that I have decided to go to Turkey.

Turkey is fine, you would say.

But no.

Not for me at that time.

Because that year of 2007 was very popular among my fellow citizens to travel to Turkey.

I kept on hearing about resorts at Marmaris, Bodrum, Antalya, Alanya... on and on and on.

And I am like that - when everybody goes to Turkey, I decide to go to Greece, when everybody goes Greece - I choose Italy.

Meaning - I ended up not going to Greece. At all!

Though Croatia being close kind of influenced it too...

Since I was planning Greece all summer a place of choice in Turkey, consequently, was Side.

It turned out I liked this trip.

Now I regret I did not make a detailed plan before I left.

I stayed at one of the infamous all inclusive hotels just 15 mins ride by dolmush (taxi minivan) from Side.

This hotel was packed with Germans.

Old married couples.

Drinking and singing all day.

Yes you have guessed it right - the beach was my sweet escape.

I went to Side as many times possible.

Day and night.

And loved it.

Nice things to see there like Ancient Theatre  and Temple of Apollo.

It turned out that All-inclusives are not my thing.

It ties you to the hotel.

And after couple of days you start thinking about food only.

I even managed to pile some fat on my ass and belly.

And that one thing kept on itching me...Cappadocia.

 I swore to myself that if I ever go to Turkey - I will visit Cappadocia.

Even if it would mean taking me there by plane.

Turned out you can go there by a simple minivan :).

That one evening I went to Side, strolled around the center alley watching how crowded tourist shops were and I randomly selected the one that was most crowded.

Ok, starting point.

You can chose two or three day trip.

They show you nice photos of places you would be visiting along with photos of luxurious air conditioned buses.

I needed that bus.

Even though it was late September, it was really warm still.

Three days in Cappadocia it was.

120 EUR per person (back then).

Three meals included (one each day).

Two night stay at Nevsehir.

Plus a guide fluent in at least three foreign languages.

PERFECT!

Now I can say I regret I did not stay at Cappadocia for at least a week.

I could go again.

If I had someone fun to join.

This is not one of those trips I like to do by myself.

So if you are up for it, have no one adventurous enough to go with and you don't mind me tagging along you know where to find me :).

Cappadocia was known as Katpatuka during the Persian rule in this area.

Means - Land of beautiful horses.

The history of this place is amazing.

But I can not write about it here.

Would take me months to finish...

Do buy a good guide if you plan to go there.

I bought two simple guides just out on the street in Side and was quite pleased with both.

We started this little adventure at 4:00 a.m.

'Yeey!' was my first reaction when I saw the lights approaching hotel.

It was a minivan.

Turned out that if they show you that they have a bus - it does not mean you will be taken by one.

Hehe. Turks.

And then I remembered (since I haven't prepared well as always) that I haven't asked how far are we from Cappadocia.

'650 km' my guide answered.

Say WHAT?!? 

'Round trip?' I asked.

'No. One way' he said.

Oh dear God.

But what is done is done.

I fell asleep.

And this trip was quite easy to take.

We stopped often, and often it was boring so you would fall asleep.

And did you know that there is a road to Nevsehir that is 250km strait line?

You can see it up from the sky when you are flying commercial flights.

Our guide was very funny.

His accent was very much Borat like.

When he opened his mouth and started talking, I would laugh instantly.

But learned to control myself after couple of hours.

We were told he was fluent in English and German.

And we had this old german couple with us that spoke only german.

After talking for 40 mins our guide asked if anyone speaks german.

And this one guy with backpack raised his hand.

'Then you go and tell them what I have been saying'.

UnFREAKINGbelievable!

One of our stops included stone crafting place and very interesting underground city of Derinkuyu.

Magnificent.

Our guide.

He was good actually.

A stove.

Not that I have recognized it :).

Going down.

I would like to apologize to you,reader of this post, for it will be packed with less and less words and MORE&MORE&MORE  photos.

But you will forgive me.

Because these are photos of Cappadocia, of course.

The hotel that the agency booked in Nevsehir for our small group was very tiny and quite modest.

And no, this is not our bus in front of the hotel.

Lobby and restaurant of this hotel were packed with weird looking handmade dolls.

They even had them in rooms.

I had to move mine in the closet.

They reminded me of that clown in The Game.

I get chilling goosebumps still when I think of them.

Cappadocia.

Land of fairies for me.

It offers so much, apart from magnificent scenery.

Wine, open air museum with rock churches, balloon rides and many other things.

And there are rather nice hotels you can stay in - including ones at caves.

Now sit back and enjoy the scenery.

I will enjoy it again too.

Pasabag chimneys.

Derbent rock formations.

Urgup and Pancarli Valey.

Beautiful, isn't it?

But the most striking were the villages.

Houses built in these rock formations.

My personal favorites were Uchisar and Ortahisar.

Take a look why.

 

You may enter to see how it is inside.

Have a look.

Our little group grabbed a lunch on a way.

Nice restaurant with great views.

Can't remember its name now.

This is the view from their terrace.

Cappadocia offers open air museums.

I highly suggest you take some time and visit churches at Goreme Valley.

Rock churches of Cappadocia along with the underground cities  are the real treasures of Cappadocia.

Very rich in history and artifacts.

And the people are nice.

You go out in the evening for a nice walk.

Dinner and drinks.

I was kind of sad that I had to leave this place.

Tranquility and magical scenery.

A wish tree.

Along with magic lamps.

Wish I had such a lamp now...

On our way back we visited Avanos famous for its pottery.

You could try yourself to make a pot.

It is quite easy actually :).

Some souvenirs on the way.

And we got a glimpse of the famous Anatolian Silk Road.

Al in all,

great tour.

I would do it all over again.

I regret only one thing.

I missed the balloon ride.

Next time I guess.

...................

My good friend V was really fascinated with my Cappadocian story so she decided to pay this fairy tale place a visit in 2013.

She did exactly the same trip - Side with three day tour to Cappadocia.

Take a look what I have missed.

* plus V got to meet some really nice people on that ride ;).

Cheers V, apple of me eye :)

See!!!

Niiiiiiice.

:)

Turkey turned out to be quite interesting.

Big country it is.

With many interesting places to visit like:

Assos, Pergamon, Sardis, Ephesus, Kaunos, Myra and the tombs, Aspendos, Kizkalesi and its Maiden Castle, Sumela Monastery, Ishak Pasha Palace, Mount Ararat, Castle of Mahmudiye, Hill tomb of Antiochos I, Lake Van, Adiyaman with its treasures like Nemrut Dagi.

Amazing isn't it?

Only it would take you at least a month to see it all.

Notice how if I got to go again  I would be extra prepared this time.

Top of the class!!

Hehe.