And I'm wide awake...
Yesterday (as in two days ago) we got packed, rode the bus to Chicago with Claire (headed to Mexico at the same time!), barely made it onto the plane (busy airport and Steve didn't technically have a seat!), flew 8 hours to Munich, flew 3 hours to Istanbul, had luggage not arrive, shuttled to our hotel, rested, went exploring on foot, found a cafe for dinner, could barely keep our eyes open, and crashed into bed by 9:59pm!! We were trying to hold out until 10 pm. Four hours later I'm wide awake despite my previous exhaustion and thinking I'd get more than 4-6 hours for the first time since the week before the wedding! Meh. I was wrong!
My first impressions are these: the city is beautiful. It is crowded as any city is but its tiny winding streets aren't filled with hoards of tourists, just a handful of local merchants and couples of foreigners. There are rose bushes everywhere and flowers. Driving on the main highways there was so much color in the medians and fancy patterns loaded with annuals. The city besides the parks are very clean. I can't really understand just how old some of the buildings and streets are compared to anything I've seen in the US but try to absorb the incredibleness of it as best I can. The mosques are grandiose and the presence of the big ones a bit surreal. The food (as in our dinner- I definitely enjoyed the Rittersport and Haribo picked up in Munich) has been not that impressive. I got a veggie kabob (pretty bland and too smoked out) and Steve got a meat thing that was too chewy and fatty. The poofy bread (technical term:)) that comes with yogurt dill sauce was great though!
For such a busy city you hear individual interactions of the streets but not cars driving on the cobblestone streets too often. I definitely never thought Istanbul would be a peaceful stay but it's fairly quiet and dead silent now in the middle of the night. I think it's time for me to try to sleep a bit more.
I should also mention our room has a great view of the big blue mosque, sea and streets. We even have an adorable balcony to sit on and take it all in. (one of those you see in European movies!) Our extravagant lifestyle will take a step back tomorrow when we head back to the room we actually booked. They upgraded us to their best suite upon arrival; a nice change of luck considering we are still wondering when our bags will arrive.
LOVE this city! (no ya can't go back to Constantinople!)
Goodnight part two.
Hotel: Hotel Uvay
Restaurant for dinner: Cafe Kosh
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