Travel Day – Not Without Incident
Everything is smooth from Toronto to Frankfurt. Even the layover passes quickly. We arrive in Istanbul around 1:05 pm after 11 hours of travelling without incident. Let the adventure begin!
Our notes say to look for an Intrepid sign outside Gate 14. This is not a short hike after retrieving our bags. We arrive at Gate 14 and can’t locate the sign. A gentleman who looks somewhat official and thankfully speaks some English, sends us to Gate 8. We start our walk, rest, and begin again. Arriving at Gate 8, there is no Intrepid sign, so back to Gate 14 we head. The ‘official fella’ assures us it is Gate 8 and so back we head. We are travel-weary, and starting to get a little anxious. We arrive in a country where we don’t speak the language and we stand out from the long skirts and covered heads of the local women. Thankfully it is a cool day.
Sitting on a bench, Shannon tries calling the travel agency numbers but she couldn’t connect. Eventually we find a representative who says they have been waiting over an hour. I’m sure the look of frustration on our faces was evident. We explain the situation, but it doesn’t seem to matter. It turns out the private transfer is a third-party provider hired by Intrepid. It was expensive but we figured it would make our arrival easier, not harder. We can’t change anything now. We learn that the private transfer is not allowed to come into the terminal which requires us to wheel our bags across the street and across a parking lot to where our vehicle is waiting in a dark garage area. After the niceties to our driver and explaining why we are late, we realize he doesn’t understand a single word.
Time to get into the van. Our bags are being loaded. I turn to get into the van. Suddenly I hear, “Nooooo!” I quickly turn to see my Cousin Shannon falling backwards over a metal parking barrier onto the concrete floor. Chaos ensues! Everyone is trying to get her up. She needs a moment to check if everything is intact and she waves us off. Thankfully her backpack breaks the impact of the fall. She has some scrapes, and an ugly purple bruise is appearing on her hand, but otherwise she is fine. Thankfully, nothing broken. Once in the van, the shock hits her and she has a tiny emotional moment. The expletives fill the van. I feel so bad for her. What a way to start the trip. A few minutes later, we settle into our seats and take in our surroundings. Our van has pinpoint lights that shoot across the ceiling like shooting stars across a Muskoka sky. It is obviously a party van and a little over the top. We have a good giggle and snap some photos.
One hour later we arrive at our hotel, the Manesol Galeta, a boutique hotel in the Karaköy section of Istanbul. Checking into our room, my first thought is my airline seat had more room than this hotel room. No space to place an open suitcase, no room to put out toiletries. I certainly can’t swing a cat by its tail. (Sorry cat owners!) Oh well, it is only for showering and sleeping. I will survive.
Busy, Beautiful and Delicious
Heading to the hotel lobby, the concierge does his best to sell us on tours, etc. but all we want is a recommendation for dinner. We are referred to Rakofoli and their rooftop terrace overlooking the Bosphorus River. Plugging the restaurant name into Google maps, we descend the steep cobblestone road that ends at a busy four-lane road. When you enter in the directions, you receive this message:
Use caution–walking directions may not always reflect real-world conditions!
Major understatement! No crosswalk and no crossing lights! A busy 4-lane road with a cement median that these short legs must hop over. We shadow some locals and safely manoeuvre the rush-hour traffic and make our way across. Crossing this road after consuming a few beverages could be life-threatening! GPS directs us down a sketchy graffiti-decorated alley. We find the entrance and are confronted with stairs, and more stairs and even more stairs. As we are winding up, an elevator door opens, and the occupant says you can take it up to the restaurant. Thankfully, because it is another few floors up. When we arrive, we are warmly greeted by the restaurant staff and given an open-air window seat with a remarkable view of the harbour. We can see many mosques in the distance with their minarets jutting into the sky. The sun bounces off the red clay roof tiles, the mosque roofs, and reflects off the water creating a sparkling scene As the sun sets, the colours dull, but the lights of Istanbul eventually brighten to create a stunning view.
Menu tonight
- Muhammara dip (made with roasted red peppers, walnuts, breadcrumbs, chili flakes and pomegranate molasses) served with fresh pita-like bread with black/white sesame seeds.
- Beef and lamb kebabs with charred peppers, fennel and onion salad, grilled tomato and an interesting bread that had what we believe is sumac.
- Baklava with dondurma (Turkish ice cream)
Returning to our hotel, we take the elevator to the 3rd floor and attempt to navigate the hallway as the lights have been turned down so low, you can’t see a thing. Not even your room number. Not sure if it is to conserve energy or create a mood, but it could be dangerous! Lighting seems to be an issue in this hotel. Burned out or missing light bulbs or lights placed in odd locations. It will be tough to put on make-up or even dry our hair. We will let our tour guide know about this when we meet tomorrow. Keeping the bigger picture in mind, we are only here for a few nights.
Time to focus on tomorrow, our hammam experience. Nite, nite!
