Saw the interior of the Blue Mosque today (very crowded with tour groups) and the fascinating Archeology Museums this morning (blissfully crowd free). More on that later.
The Grand Bazaar is still closed due to muslim holiday (it re-opens tomorrow but my flight is in the morning), so I need to rethink my (shopping) plans a bit, and maybe do Dolmabaçe palace after all. And finally do the hamam tonight.
Yesterday I dropped off some limited laundry (just enough to get me home in a few days) as it cost TL5/$3 per kg to have the laundromat person do it (no self-service)!
One pair of jeans, one sweater, and four sets of t-shrit/socks/underwear cost TL16/$9.
That’s another way that summer travel is easier/cheaper: smaller, lighter clothes to carry and wash!
(late night power outage while I was writing this kept me from getting photos ready so will follow up tonight)
Day 2 was a day of knocking off more “must-do” items: Aya Sofya, spice bazaar, eat kebaps, drink Turkish coffee, try raki (anise brandy), try Turkish Delights, eat börek, try local pilsener beer Efes and snacks in a meyhane (tavern), walking across Galata Bridge at sunset.
And some not-must-do items, like the New Mosque.
(remember I already ate döner)
Note quite done: Blue Mosque (it was prayer time so I didn’t make it in) and Grand Bazaar (closing time).
Still to do: Topkapi Palace, ferry cruise, hamam, Süleymanyie Mosque, and (maybe) Princes’ Islands.
Here is my Istanbul map with the places I’m talking about, to give you some context.
I’ll be adding to it each day.
So much for an early start today. Missed my included breakfast on the view rooftop terrace. Though I did wake up a few times earlier, and hear the 5:45am call to prayer.
Now I need to grab some breakfast/lunch and meet a local friend of a friend for coffee in 90 minutes to get some 411, and hopefully some pronunciation help.
Did I mention last night that there is Starbucks here, inc. at the airport? I know, not the best coffee, but it’s comforting and consistent for my particular order. And I read in the guidebook that finding a good cup of coffee is surprisingly difficult here (and Turkish coffee is less common than you would think).
Side note for quick impressions: lots of stray cats here.
Modern sensibilities with old heritage buildings, with the streetside cafe charm of Europe.
People aren’t too pushy.
Public transit is good (even if they do use cheesy plastic tokens)
Cold. I actually put on a sweater and toque (not to mention socks and shoes 
Food will be good (had a refreshing fresh-pressed pomegranate juice for TL5/US3, to go with my pita chicken doner TL4/US2.50 (I only needed a snack, not a meal, after all that plane food).
Lots of stray cats.
Thought I’d get some more out tonight, but I’m wiped and will likely have more to say in the morning since I’ll probably be awake early.
Timezone here is GMT+2, so I’m 6 hours ahead of eastern timeUS/Canada, and 9 hours ahead of pacific time (at least until daylight savings ends in the US/Canada on Sun morning (since daylight savings ended here last weekend)
Long 10.5 hour flight from Chicago in a cramped set. Sleeping pills helped for half of that. Good food and service though. Lots of free movie selections on seat back tv, but I didn’t watch any. Must get an aisle seat for return flight.
My hostel (private ensuite room, nice though a little dark) is close to the Blue Mosque (I can see one minaret from my window) and I’m looking forward to breakfast on the rooftop terrace which has views of the Bosphorous.
Now, first things first: a light dinner and a US-to-euro plug adapter (I forgot my multi-plug-adaptor at home, oops) or there won’t be many more blog entries!
No, I did not eat here (esp. not after my vegan veggie burger at lunch)
The (buxom) waitresses are dressed in nurses outfits, and the patrons put on hospital gowns over their clothing.
Say no more!
So in Miami I saw more metered mini-spaces for motorcycles and scooters (also in San Diego, fyi) as well as this sign on a bicycle rack warning against towing of scooters 
