Day 17 – Monday July 29th – Athens to Istanbul
We were somewhat sorry to leave Greece. Most of our group had already departed. We enjoyed the slow start to the day, and a very late (sumptuous) breakfast, which we shared for a final time with our long time friends Lynn and Glenn.
The taxi arrived on time at 11:15am for the 40min drive to Athens airport. The traffic was heavy getting out of the city centre, and the time passed rather slowly. The driver could not speak English, but at least we were able to secure the agreement for the maximum charge of 35Euro for the trip (we were advised by the Hotel that if they tried to charge anymore, to call the Police immediately. The driver was a gentleman though, and we were happy to give him almost 5Euro as a tip, which in these tough economic times for Greece, would be greatly valued.
We met some young Tasmanians who were on the same flight as us, who had been to at least eight ATM’s in Athens the previous evening in order to get cash – all unsuccessful. We thought of it a few hours earlier, and had no problems at the first ATM we tried, but it seems that within hours most ATM’s were out of cash. We had been hearing on the radio that the Greek banks were to be closed all week, and to expect large queues at ATM’s. We love Greece and feel very sorry for their predicament, but it seems we were leaving just at the right time.
Julie was comfortable with carrying her back pack on her bag and her smaller one on the front. For the first time, I carried mine on my back – it was heavier than Julie’s but surprisingly comfortable. It helps when walking stairs, or getting from the taxi into the airport. Having both arms free is also a bonus.
We managed to check-in smoothly, and then wait at our gate. Athens airport is quite large and very busy. The plane was a airbus A321 and very full. We could hear the accents of other Aussie travelers. We landed later than expected (closer to 4pm). Flying in over Istanbul was an amazing sight from the air – it is such a large city (apparently 17 million people) and spread out as far as the eye could see. We were told at the airport that Turkey is building a new Istanbul airport which will apparently be the largest airport in the world.
We eventually got our bags, and now both of us were loaded front and back – a pair of ‘granny’ back-packers! We came out through customs and took a while to find our waiting driver – it was very confusing, but he had our sign (and a few others) but we quickly learned that he was just collecting a group of us for our respective waiting vehicles outside. We were soon in a van all to ourselves, on our way to the Basileus Hotel in the heart of the old city of Turkey.
The Turkish people are extremely hospitable. They were waiting for us outside the Hotel, and took great courtesy with us. They had previously advised us that although we had booked for four nights, they could not accommodate us on the first night. Instead, they had arranged a room at the Hotel ‘down the street’. They say us down and the manager took time to explain things to us, and explained how we could best use our four days. He then had two other colleagues waiting outside, to carry all our bags for us for the walk to the Hotel up the street, and handing us over to the manager, who also sat us down and went through a lovely, gracious routine of welcome for us. We actually loved this Hotel.
It was now about dinner time. We went for a stroll though just to orient ourselves, up the cobbled narrow street to the Blue Mosque, enjoying the sounds and sights, the voices of stall holders who wanted our attention, and the vision of so many Turkish families who were all coming out at this time to spend family time together in the open plaza area outside the Mosque. It is Ramadan, so they were probably all waiting until sunset (8:58pm as one of them indicated!) so they could break their day long fast!
It was lovely just strolling in the early evening, and we couldn’t wait for the day to dawn tomorrow. We returned to our lovely ‘Erguvan Hotel’ for dinner. The restaurant is on top of the roof of the Hotel, with sweeping open views of the lower city and out into the channel. We enjoyed dinner, but the magnificent sunset even more, as the day came to a fitting close. The beautiful red sunset against the city skyline, with a dominant minaret a lone, standout feature.
We have three full days in Istanbul, and plenty of places to walk and many features to see. It was an early night for this grey haired pair of back-packers, pleased to know there would be no early morning call, and no bus waiting with a running engine at 8am!
From our third storey room at the Erguvan Hotel, with views across the city and the harbor, we send our love.
Until tomorrow…
KRA
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