This trip started out with just Turkey….the highlight of the trip was to be a gulet cruise along the Lycian coast.  Initially we had enough people interested to look into doing a private charter but as often happens as time went by they changed their minds and it ended up being only our friends, Rae and Glen, and Ken and I.  We then had to go for a “tour”, which morphed into a second week tour of historic sites along the Lycian coast.  It was an excellent trip booked thru Explore Worldwide.  As with all our holidays, while still working, time was precious so we tried to include whatever else seemed to be logical add-ons to get the most out of our vacation.  With the Greek island of Rhodes just a hop, skip and ferry ride away from our Turkey trip starting point we worked that in too…..the Rhodes had to go to Rhodes!!!  The best flight options to get us there and back from Turkey were thru Frankfurt…but leaving a few days earlier than we’d planned so made good use of our start days in Mainz, Germany.

This journal is in 4 parts: Part 1 Mainz and Rhodes, Part 2 Turkey – Tour of Ancient Sites, Part 3 Lycian Coast Gulet Cruise and Part 4 Istanbul

Mon June 29

Up early.  Another beautiful day and a new adventure!  The gulet trip was so just amazing…..could definitely do it again!

Breakfast and pretty much right off the boat by 10.  Said goodbye to everyone….nice to meet you etc. etc.

Took our luggage to the hotel we stayed at last week to hold for us until we had to leave for the airport (Dalaman).  Found a great place around the corner for coffee and pastries.  Wandered around the market for a while then went and had a nice lunch down by the marina.

Found a taxi driver and made arrangements for him to pick us up at the hotel at 1.  80L but we gave him 90 as I’m not sure he’ll get a fair back.   Discovered after he’d left that he’d dropped us at the wrong terminal!!  We wanted domestic and dropped us at International….argh.  Was about a ½ mile slog in the heat….was a bit exhausting but luckily we didn’t have to rush too much.

Had to go thru security to just get in the airport.  Sat around, read etc. waiting for our 4:15 Turkish Airways flight to Istanbul….the Asian side airport, Sabiha Gokcen Airport.  Rae bought a paper to get caught up on the news and found out that Michael Jackson died!!!

Good flight. Just over an hour.  Served buns with cheese, water and chocolate pudding!  Arrived at the “other” Istanbul airport.  Grabbed a cab for what should have been about an hour drive but took over 2 hours!!  Was supposed to cost 85L but gave the guy 120L cuz he got us there safe, not sure if we were sound though….very scary driving!!  They drive everywhere and anywhere….curbs, emergency stopping lanes, sidewalks, other people lanes (half in/half out).

The Ferman Hotel is great!!  In Sultanahmet…..great location.  All that it said it was on the website and maybe even better.  They have face clothes!!!!  Rae flopped on the bed and said she was never leaving lol…..will be a treat sleeping in a real bed and a comfortable one at that!  They gave us a nice little fruit plate with those great little green plums, an apple, kiwi, and orange, nectarines and cherries!! Fantastic rooftop terrace!! Spectacular views in every direction.

Rested for about a ½ hour and headed out to find a place for dinner.  A little place around the corner called Ocean’s 7 (v.g.) I had beef wrapped in eggplant with cheese, Ken had the kefte, both really good.  Long day so we just headed back to the hotel rooftop bar for coffee…but they don’t have it set up yet!  The guy made us tea, which was nice.  The views are spectacular!!!  Unbelievable!!  The Blue Mosque with the birds (seagulls?) flying around it….then off to the right/east is Hagia Sophia, both lit up and then to the south and west is the Bosphorus with tons and tons of freighters and the colourful lit up bridge.  Just amazing.  Beautiful at night, can’t wait to see it in the daylight tomorrow!

Great, fun and exciting day.  So excited to be in Istanbul.  Haven’t seen much but love it so far and can’t wait to explore tomorrow.

Tues June 30

Up at 4:30 and then again at 7:30.  Met R & G for breakfast on the rooftop terrace, which has to have the best views in Istanbul!  Spectacular all the way around.  Great continental breakfast with the usual Turkish stuff, plus hard boiled and scrambled/omelet type eggs too.  And a toaster!

Headed for Hagia Sophia, or Aya Sofia.  Absolutely massive!  The entry fee is 20L not 10 like the guide book said.  The height of the dome if the equivalent of a ten story building.  They are doing some restoration work so the scaffolding kind of ruins it but also gives you a perspective on just how huge of a place it is.  Impossible to take half decent pictures…..they really mean nothing and do it no justice unless you can see it, so I just gave up.  The work to uncover and restore much of the interior artwork will continue for years apparently. Some beautiful mosaics from roman times were discovered…they were covered up during the conversion to a mosque because of the faces.  The marble floors are still in reasonable shape considering how old they are (6thC AD).  Walked up the ramp to the next level which gives a different perspective of the size of it.  Just an amazing building, great history and some wonderful relics or artifacts from eons ago.

Outside it was so incredibly hot!  Slowly worked our way toward the Grand Bazaar.  Stopped for coffees/drinks along the way.  Some beautiful tree lined streets with nice buildings….not sure what style, some maybe sort of mid-century modern mixed in with old ottoman and new.

The Grand Bazaar….what can one say!!  Today it’s pretty much a big open shopping mall full of stores/shops, many of which sell the very same stuff.  The usual carpet shops, lots of food places, jewelry shops, places selling spices/herbs, nuts, beans etc.  It smells wonderful!  There are a few really unique shops tucked away here and there.  Bought a dolly for Cadence, a pashmina for Shirley and a pretty water colour painted by a local artist.  It was all a little overwhelming as you just didn’t know which direction to go next.  It’s quite a maze.  Not what I expected really.  Most of the shops are real little stores with signs and doors etc. not open stalls that I was thinking.  Surprisingly I didn’t find anyone terribly pesky.  Some are little persistent but nobody really bugged us a lot.  They say that if they haven’t got you in their store in 60 seconds it’s a waste of their time and they move on to the next potential customer wandering by.  Found the Turkish bath towel I wanted but didn’t buy them.  Spent about an hour and a half in there.

Thought we were heading towards Eminonu (sp?) area but apparently not….wandered up and down some non-touristy streets and ended up in the Kumkapi area where supposedly the best seafood is in Istanbul .  Wonderful old Ottoman buildings and not busy at all until you get to the restaurant district….thought we’d find a place with a view of the Marmara Sea for lunch but ended up in one that wasn’t terribly good and didn’t even have a view!  The food was iffy, mine was shrimp and mushroom casserole, was very dry, Rae had calamari, which was good, Glen ended up with a bowl of shrimp…little ones, not like prawns. Ken never did get his food!!  Terrible service and way overpriced. And the waiter thru water on a cat that was lurking!!!

Blue Mosque was our next stop.  Many wonderful street scenes…..fruit vendors etc.  Walked through the Hippodrome on the way.  It’s now Sultanahmet Square, a nice park with a fence outlining the perimeter of the ancient arena.  Saw the obelisks and the serpent column…….fantastic history, good and bad!  

The Blue Mosque is absolutely huge!  Very beautiful.  Had to cover our heads so I used the pashmina I got for Shirley lol….she’ll like that though.  Also had to put on a skirt type cover up to hide our knees.  The inside of the place is just amazing.  It’s very hushed.  It too is too big to attempt taking pictures….impossible to get enough of it in to appreciate it.  The tile work and painting is exquisite.  The dome is massive.  Seen it’s been in use forever, it’s in much better shape than Hagia Sophia. The tulip designs are everywhere.  On the walls, on the rugs, which have a pattern marking individual prayer spots.  The ladies are at the back.  A couple women just sitting around and chatting waiting I guess for the next call to prayer. It’s closed to tourists during prayer.  It is an incredibly beautiful building inside and out.

Speaking of call to prayer…..you cannot escape it in this city!!  It’s loud!  There are, of course, many mosques and I’m pretty sure all of them use loudspeakers.  Not all the mosques have synchronized their clocks!  One starts, then another 10 or so seconds later, then another so they are all doing the Allah thing at different times.  Even though it wakes you up it’s still pretty magical hearing it.  Some people start running down the street, or find a corner facing the right direction and just put down their mat, others don’t seem to bother with it at all and just carry on with whatever they’re doing.  Very secular country (many synagogues and catholic churches) still with some ways that we think of as oppressive but progressive at the same time….

Outside the Blue Mosque and all around that area we saw the “Candy Man”….not sure exactly what kind of candy he’s making (hard, various flavours, why the lemon??). Wanted to try one but was always a line up so never did.

Back to the hotel to clean up and have our own little happy hour on the roof.  Cracked open the bottle of wine we’d picked up to go along with cheese and crackers.  Rae and I were feeling a little tipsy by the time we left.  Stopped at the Best Western Obelisk for a drink at their rooftop bar…..nice but ours is way better, much bigger and a more wide open view.  I think our building is taller maybe….  Glen had a beer, Ken had coffee, Rae and I had G & T’s.  Gin was 8L and tonic 2L….interesting that you pay separately for them. 

Had a great dinner down and around the corner from there.  Back to the hotel for drinks but nobody was at the bar, so we self-served coffee!  At night it’s fantastic with the birds flying around and around and the BM all lit up.  A great way to end the day.

And what a busy day, but what an exciting city. So much to see.  It was great wandering down the little streets that tourist normally wouldn’t go down.  Many people just sitting around though.  The city is wonderfully diverse.

Tomorrow the Cisterns and if we head in the right direction Eminonu or Sirceki to check out the spice market and the Galata bridge.  Need to get a ferry schedule too.

Wed July 1 Happy Canada Day!

Did not sleep well….too hot, too cold argh.  Finally up and dressed around 6.  Up to the roof to see sunrise, get some coffee and take some pics.

Sunrise was beautiful.  No cups for coffee right away but when the man came to set up breakfast he quickly brought me a coffee and a couple of buns, how nice

Many ships on the Bosphorus today.  A big cruise ship too…..would be kind of cool to cruise into Istanbul.  Went and got Ken for breakfast around 7:30.  Same as yesterday but with a cold potato salad that was really tasty.

We must have walked 30km today!!  Started out with the Cisterns which are pretty incredible….there are some really big fish down there!! Saw the Medusa heads…..taken off their original columns and used a footings in the cistern!  Neat story of how they discovered the cisterns…..people living in the buildings above had cut holes in their floors and would fish from them…..intrigued by that the city or whoever, started doing some excavating and discovered the long buried cisterns!  They hold concerts and special events as well…..good acoustics.  To Russia With Love was filmed there.

Topkapi Palace next.  20L to get in.  Very impressive.  Quite a nice museum with some really beautiful stuff especially the quartz jugs and a very gorgeous 68ct diamond.  Quite crowded though so a bit slow working our way thru the displays in the museum.  There is a very nice European style pavilion.  Lots of Iznik tiles, fountains.  The gardens were lovely.  Great little display of the kitchens and how they worked. Didn’t pay to go into the harem.  The views across the river were wonderful. 

Down towards the Golden Horn….grabbed a ferry schedule to see if a trip up the Bosphorus would work.  Crossed the Galata Bridge.  Many, many fish restaurants all under the bridge touting their food along the way.  Too expensive and supposedly not the best place to eat. 

On the other side we found a great little restaurant up some stairs….little sign in the window as we were passing by.  Rae had the chicken shish, Ken, Glen and I had the doner….all pretty good.  Service was really good.  Total bill for 4 was 30L.

From there we walked to the Galata Tower but didn’t go up because I’m sure it’s a 1000 stairs!!.  Stopped and had a “cay” break.  Nice little spot.  Decided we’d walk up to Tunel to catch the tram up to Taksim Square.  The tram was 1L each way and runs up Istiklal Caddesi, the main shopping/eating street.  It was like Oxford St in London…..wall to wall people!  The little tram took about 15 min and takes you right up to the Square, which was jam packed with buses and taxis….and people.  Not at all pedestrian friendly trying to cross the road…..lol actually felt rather traumatized!!!  Needed a drink so stopped in a very pretty café in the park…..nice view but did NOT serve alcohol!

Walked all the way down…..fun street.  Stopped in one of the cafeteria type restaurants and tried a couple small samples (kofte and halumi), very good but we just weren’t hungry enough to try more….maybe another day.  Stopped in a couple of the shops looking for tee shirts.  Picked up some coffee. 

Once down to the Galata Tower decided to try a different route back.  Way off the beaten tourist track.  Lots of narrow streets with shops/houses etc. and hills!  One area we walked thru sold electrical stuff…..blocks and blocks of everything type of electrical product you can think off.  Crossed the bridge again but on top this time to watch all the fisherman…..not sure what they’re catching but most seemed to have pretty empty baskets.

Crossed under a busy street and ended up at the Spice Bazaar but was 5:30 and we were pooped so will save it for tomorrow or Friday.  Back to the hotel, a quick clean up and up on the roof for a drink before heading out for dinner.

Great place called Arias…..Very good food.  I had stuffed eggplant that was excellent, rice, salad and a baked potato!  And the best crispy, puffy bread!  Looks like a balloon…..you crack it and just break off bits as you want.  Ekmek? Delish!!

Will do the Bosphorus Ferry ride tomorrow.

Thurs July 2

Up early to get upstairs to read a bit before breakfast……that said sitting there with a cup of coffee and enjoying the view I didn’t get much reading done!  It really is quite glorious….something to look at in every direction.

Around 9 we grabbed a taxi to take us to the ferry terminal.  After chatting with the driver we ended up booking him for our ride to the airport at midnight tomorrow!  Ferry ride to Anadolou Varagi was 20L and took about 2 hours.

Great ferry ride.  Very pretty and really interesting on both sides of the Bos.  Many new, restored or ruined “yali” (summer homes) along the way.  Some really nice hotels and the Dolmabahce Palace.  The straight is really busy with freighters, ferries, fishing boats, pleasure craft etc.  Because of so many accidents, freighter traffic is restricted to one way during the day and the other way at night.

Arrived at Anadolu Varagi just after 12.  There really isn’t anything there unless you go up to the ruined fortress.  It was quite the climb and very, very hot so we decided to just have lunch instead.  Wandered around a bit and even there you are pestered continually to eat at “their” restaurant.  One or two little shops but other than that only fish and ice cream places. 

Had lunch at a place NOT on the water away from all the crowds.  Ordered a bunch of stuff to try….battered mussels on a stick, calamari, meatballs, kebabs and salad.  The best calamari I’ve had.  Lots of cute and very friendly cats around.

Took the 3PM ferry back.  Some gorgeous yali on the Asian side…..more newer, bigger ones, with pools!  What a beautiful place to have a summer home…..close to the city but far enough away to be quieter and with wonderful views up and down the straight.

Back in Istanbul by 5.  Headed to the Spice Bazaar.  It was way more crowded than the Grand Bazaar.  Only every 3^rd or so stall actually sold spices.  Many jewelry stores, trinket shops, scarves etc. everything is all mixed in.  So colourful and the smells were amazing!! Bought spices for Steve and Di and a brass spice grinder.  A pretty purple scarf for Kim.

Walked back to the hotel on a different route.  Stopped for beers and wine along the way.  Rae and I shopped for a bit at the Arasta Bazaar by the hotel.  Found some nice purses but didn’t buy anything.

Had a quick clean up and out for our “complimentary” Ferman Hotel dinner.  The “morning guy” showed us the way up the street back to the Arasta Bazaar to the restaurant, Mesale Café.  They have a whirling dervish!  He didn’t whirl very fast and he was the only one, so not quite the show we’d hoped for.  Dinner was awesome!! They brought a huge tray with all different stuff….lamb kebabs, meatballs, chicken kebabs and wings, salad, stuffed eggplant, tomato couscous.  In the centre of the platter was a flaming (blue) bowl.  He put the flame out and under the bowl was the yogurt dip.  No alcohol served at this restaurant but you could smoke a nargili (sp?).  Had apple tea.  Great food at a great spot!

Wandered around looking for a place to have a glass of wine.  Found another rooftop that unfortunately didn’t have much of a view…..and had to WALK up 5 flights of stairs to get there!

Back to the hotel around 11 for our last sleep in Istanbul.  What a fantastic city….could easily have spent a few more days here.  So much to see and so many great places to explore.

Fri July 3

Up early thanks to the guy in his truck selling watermelon at 5AM!!!  Yelling “watermelons” thru a megaphone!  Got up and had a look out our little balcony…..a fairly big truck with wooden sides loaded with watermelons…..people from the restaurants and hotels were out there buying them up!!  Annoying but fun! 

On to the glorious rooftop for coffee and to write in my journal and read for a bit before breakfast.  Nothing specific was planned for today. A nice sleep in day for Ken (after the watermelon guy moved on!).

And as if the view and coffee on the roof wasn’t good enough I was treated to dolphins…..tons of them!

After breakfast we walked up toward the Horn or “Halic”.  Wandered up and down some very odd streets…..lovely but a mishmash of old and new buildings, many with the Ottoman wood framing and glassed in balconies.  Many sort of “half” streets connected by little narrow walkways.  A few shops and cafes thrown in…..really an interesting area.

Walked toward the university.  Uni grounds were nice, lots of students milling about.  Ended up following signs for the “Halic Café” which took us past some of the older Ottoman row houses that have been meticulously restored….just beautiful.  The café was in one of them.  It had a wonderful view looking east over the Horn and Istanbul across the way.  Rae and I had tea and apple pie!  Ken and Glen had a milkshake and ice cream.  The bill came to 40L!!  But the view was worth it.  The man took our picture with the view in the background.  He told us we “must” see the Suleyman Mosque Botanical Garden, so we did.  It was pretty much a big mess!!  Had great potential to really be nice with an awesome view but needed a lot of work.  Unfortunately it’s all “cared” for by volunteers and could use quite a few more.  Some wonderful flowers and huge trees…..was built in the 1930’s. 

On the way back we found all the outside street markets that sold all the “real” Turkish stuff.  Ken bought a belt that the guy fitted and made for him right there.  Rae bought a Swiss Army Knife.  Found a deli and bought some pastrami, mortadela and cheese to have for our late dinner “picnic” dinner on the rooftop.  This market, or bazaar, area was just great.  It was what I thought the GB would be like.  The shops sold everything…..teapots, wooden spoons, tools, party supplies, jewelry, scarves, sponges!!  You name it you’d find it somewhere there.  And the best part was that it wasn’t crowded….just the local people picking up whatever they needed.

Made our way back to the Mexican restaurant that we’d spotted earlier.  Was actually really good and a treat to have some different cuisine. 

Stopped to buy some simit and other buns from a street vendor for our picnic.

Back to the hotel around 4.  Ken had a nap and I went up to the roof the enjoy our last evening here.  Around 7 Adnan (the breakfast guy) came by to say goodbye.  So, so nice.  Watched the ships coming out of the Bosphorus heading out to sea. 

Finally had to go down and get Ken up and collect our wine and “picnic” stuff.  Really enjoyed our little picnic.  The owner came by and chatted for a bit….he got us plates and a proper knife (tried using Rae’s army knife lol) to cut our buns and cheese.  Can’t remember his name but he was lovely as was everyone that worked at this hotel.  I don’t think you can beat this hotel anywhere here.  We actually look down on other rooftop terraces and can easily see over all the buildings across the way.  The rooms are really nice, just as pictured and of course the view from the rooftop terrace…..there are no words!

Collected our luggage and to the lobby to wait for the taxi driver.  Took all our leftover meat and cheese out for the cats lol.

Hasan, the taxi driver, arrived right on schedule.  Got to the airport in one piece…..traffic not at problem at midnight!  It was supposed to cost 85L but when we got to the airport he said it was 105L because of tolls…..we had already decided to give him 100 to use up the last of our lira, so he was just lucky we still had the extra!  At the airport before the check in even opened!

Sat July 4

1AM!  Flight left on time.  Uneventful.  Tuifly gave us a very nice bun and drink along with some snacks. Must say it’s a pretty good airline for the price you pay, other than the ungodly hours some of their flights leave!  More legroom than Lufthansa for sure!

Arrived in Frankfurt just after 5:30AM.  We got our luggage, hoofed it over to terminal 1 to get a train schedule and caught the shuttle to the Steigenberger Hotel and checked in….it was just 7AM!  Got an upgrade to the “Executive Tower” for free!  Really nice room with a cappuccino maker to boot!

Had a short rest and met up with R & G at 9.  Back to the airport to catch the train into Frankfurt and then another on to Heidelberg…..about and hour and half train ride…..I dozed most of the way!

It was beautiful, warm and sunny when we arrived.  Grabbed a city map from a hotel and headed to the “old town”.  A bit of a walk….thought it might wake us up, but no…..

Wandered around feeling a bit lost due to sleep deprivation.  Cute place but very touristy.  Many restaurants, lovely old wood frame buildings, lots of shops.  They were having what looked like a Caribbean festival….or maybe North African (would make more sense!).  Lots of brightly dressed people, food stands and music….fun!

Found tables outside at a great restaurant but just as we ordered the thunder started rumbling and lots of lightening so we ended up inside just before the downpour started. Excellent schnitzel….and a lot of it!

Luckily the storm had passed by the time we finished so went up to the castle which was very impressive from below.  Took the funicular and wandered around looking at the ruins…. just as lovely and interesting once up at it.  Beautiful views of the river (Necker?) from the top.  Had to pay extra to go into the courtyard so we didn’t bother….you could see it from where we were.  Took the “antique” funicular further up to the top of the mountain because there was a beer garden.  The funicular was really old and went about 1 mile per hour.  Finally made it to the top.  Had time for beer and wine and a bathroom break….the absolute worst bathroom of the entire trip!!  Filthy!  The views though were awesome.  I’m pretty sure you could just about see Frankfurt…… Headed back down……very, very slowly….and took a taxi back to the train station to catch the 6 o clock train.

Made it back to the hotel just after 8.  Had a nice dinner out on the patio at the hotel.

To bed by 10…….very, very long day!

Sun July 5

Up around 7 and down for our “included breakfast”.  OMG!  Definitely the best breakfast buffet I think I’ve ever seen.  We all ate A LOT!  It was huge….you name it they had it!  All the usual stuff…..eggs, bacon etc., with all the full English breakfast trimmings, plus cheeses, cold meats, pickled herring, fruit, cereal, breads, buns, pastries…..

Checked out and to the airport around 10:30.

Good fight, long though.  Arrived in Vanc around 2:30PM.  Linds picked us up and home!

Just a fantastic trip!  Not sure how much more we could have worked into a month…..but could easily have stayed another week or two in Turkey….so much more to explore there.