Written in Haydarpaşa train station
I've had a nice chilled out couple of days in Istanbul with Alex.
On Sunday, I did get to Taksim in the Havaş bus and then a nice taxi driver leant me his phone so I could call Alex. I think he was disappointed I wouldn't then take his taxi, but I was insistent that I had a plan with my friend and therefore had to get the metro.
I got back to Alex's and we ordered some food and watched some TV and played with her kitten, Amy. It looked for a long time like we wouldn't be going out that night but at about ten, when I was asleep on the sofa in front of Wall-E, her Kiwi friend Will called to say he and two other friends, Dionne, a friend of his from back home, and his flatmate Matt, were going to Taksim.
So we got a bit dolled up and headed on out. Mojitos, dancing, etc. Part way through the evening a couple of American girls came and introduced themselves and joined us. They'd just arrived that day and are staying for three months on an exchange programme to study urban planning. We all laughed at that -- "So you came to İstanbul to learn how not to do it?!"
Alex and I got back home after 3 am and I didn't surface until 1pm yesterday despite Amy tromping around on me most of the night!
Yesterday we decided to go into Sultanahmet. We got a mad, packed bus to Kabataş and from there got the tramvay all the way up to the Kapalıçarşı (Grand Bazaar). It was closed, but we had a nice late afternoon wander down the hill to Sirkeci. Then we went to our usual "bean bag place" under the Galata Bridge and played tavla (backgammon) for a few hours.
We tried to get in touch with people to see if anyone wanted to go out, but no one did, so we just had a few drinks in Taksim on our own. We headed up İstiklal Caddesi at around midnight because Alex thought the metro would be running until 12.30, but unfortunately it was closed when we got there. However, there was a fair with a lot of stalls on in Taksim meydan, celebrating the bayram (end of Ramazan holiday) so we did some shopping before getting a taxi back to Alex's.
In the meantime, Alex had decided that she would like to go to Bodrum next weekend. I decided that I would go to Ankara, and Konya if I have time, on my way down to meet her there on Friday evening. So, yesterday, Alex booked her flights to Bodrum and I booked my train ticket to Ankara -- tonight, leaving at 10.55, which is in 25 minutes, so more on the train.
On Sunday, I did get to Taksim in the Havaş bus and then a nice taxi driver leant me his phone so I could call Alex. I think he was disappointed I wouldn't then take his taxi, but I was insistent that I had a plan with my friend and therefore had to get the metro.
I got back to Alex's and we ordered some food and watched some TV and played with her kitten, Amy. It looked for a long time like we wouldn't be going out that night but at about ten, when I was asleep on the sofa in front of Wall-E, her Kiwi friend Will called to say he and two other friends, Dionne, a friend of his from back home, and his flatmate Matt, were going to Taksim.
So we got a bit dolled up and headed on out. Mojitos, dancing, etc. Part way through the evening a couple of American girls came and introduced themselves and joined us. They'd just arrived that day and are staying for three months on an exchange programme to study urban planning. We all laughed at that -- "So you came to İstanbul to learn how not to do it?!"
Alex and I got back home after 3 am and I didn't surface until 1pm yesterday despite Amy tromping around on me most of the night!
Yesterday we decided to go into Sultanahmet. We got a mad, packed bus to Kabataş and from there got the tramvay all the way up to the Kapalıçarşı (Grand Bazaar). It was closed, but we had a nice late afternoon wander down the hill to Sirkeci. Then we went to our usual "bean bag place" under the Galata Bridge and played tavla (backgammon) for a few hours.
We tried to get in touch with people to see if anyone wanted to go out, but no one did, so we just had a few drinks in Taksim on our own. We headed up İstiklal Caddesi at around midnight because Alex thought the metro would be running until 12.30, but unfortunately it was closed when we got there. However, there was a fair with a lot of stalls on in Taksim meydan, celebrating the bayram (end of Ramazan holiday) so we did some shopping before getting a taxi back to Alex's.
In the meantime, Alex had decided that she would like to go to Bodrum next weekend. I decided that I would go to Ankara, and Konya if I have time, on my way down to meet her there on Friday evening. So, yesterday, Alex booked her flights to Bodrum and I booked my train ticket to Ankara -- tonight, leaving at 10.55, which is in 25 minutes, so more on the train.