Just after 8:00am, we arrived in Paris, stretched our legs, and then boarded our connecting flight to Istanbul International Ataturk Airport.
Then, after flying twelve hours (total) and seven time zones, we arrived in Istanbul. We got our travel visas ($95 TL), went through customs, and collected out baggage.
Upon the recommendation of a friendly Turkish gentleman named Ahmet sitting beside me on the plane, we opted to take the metro instead of a cab. Apparently (and this was confirmed in my travel guide book), Istanbul cab drivers can be a deceptive, and charge passengers (both tourists and locals) exponentially more than they should. So my first bit of advice: take the metro. It's super easy, and super cheap - $1.50 TL per trip (that's about $1 CDN!)
After about an hour (it's now just after 5:00pm), we arrived at our charming little hotel, Triada Residence. Since we booked well in advance (over a month), we were offered the sixth floor penthouse suite.
The balcony was so luxurious, and had an amazing view of Taksim Square and Istiklal Street.
The major feature of the balcony was the view of Aya Triada Church, Istanbul's largest Greek Orthodox church - stunning.
And all things considered, the price for the suite was incredibly reasonable: $172 TL (just under $120 CDN). We had an amazing breakfast every day (picture to come), friendly service, tonnes of space (and air conditioning!), and we were in a prime location, with easy access to everything. Highly recommended.
We were starving, and based on a recommendation in the guide, we ended up at a restaurant called Melekler (113 Ipek St.). It ended up being one of our favourite restaurants in Istanbul! Exceedingly generous portions (that platter is about as big as a pizza pan), at the cost of $8 TL ($5 CDN!), it really was the cheapest kebab dinner in town.
After a delicious meal and a twelve hour journey across the world, we called it a night.
We were starving, and based on a recommendation in the guide, we ended up at a restaurant called Melekler (113 Ipek St.). It ended up being one of our favourite restaurants in Istanbul! Exceedingly generous portions (that platter is about as big as a pizza pan), at the cost of $8 TL ($5 CDN!), it really was the cheapest kebab dinner in town.
After a delicious meal and a twelve hour journey across the world, we called it a night.
