Day T-3 - Istanbul
So let's be honest - the best part of any trip is seldom the travel itself. It took us 27 hours plus ten time zone changes to get from Ashland to Istanbul. That said, we made it. Though exhausted when we finally arrived at the hotel at 1 AM Wednesday, we were also wired. A little wine at the 14th floor bar overlooking the Bosporus Bridge did the trick though. By 2 AM we were on our way to sleep and we barely moved a muscle before early afternoon.
Today has been simply one of acclimation - to time change and to geography. Late afternoon we went for a walk down to the Bosporus and had a fabulous waterfront meal - grilled Sea Bass as recommended by Jonathon Pudas. (Thanks Jonathon.)
The look here is rather distinctive. The people tend toward dark complexions and fairly swarthy builds - particularly the men. They also smoke up a storm - think US circa 1940's - 1960's. OSHA would also disapprove many of the walkways - we did have to pay careful attention less either of takes another tumble. All that said however, it does make us wonder if we Yanks don't take ourselves a bit over-serious.
Tomorrow we'll begin to do more serious exploration and tomorrow night our Norwegian friends will arrive for a couple of action-packed days. The trip is certainly off to a lovely start.
Today has been simply one of acclimation - to time change and to geography. Late afternoon we went for a walk down to the Bosporus and had a fabulous waterfront meal - grilled Sea Bass as recommended by Jonathon Pudas. (Thanks Jonathon.)
The look here is rather distinctive. The people tend toward dark complexions and fairly swarthy builds - particularly the men. They also smoke up a storm - think US circa 1940's - 1960's. OSHA would also disapprove many of the walkways - we did have to pay careful attention less either of takes another tumble. All that said however, it does make us wonder if we Yanks don't take ourselves a bit over-serious.
Tomorrow we'll begin to do more serious exploration and tomorrow night our Norwegian friends will arrive for a couple of action-packed days. The trip is certainly off to a lovely start.
Janet with the Bosporus behind and a constant flow of commuter ferries, me, a raven that I think was a co-owner of the restaurant, and our succulent dinner. We'll take a lot more scenic shots beginning tomorrow.