It's Friday evening here. I got off the plane around 1:00pm and by the time I got out of the airport it was 2:00pm. I decided to take the Istanbul Metro and then transfer over to a light rail train. It went pretty smoothly and I got to the heart of Istanbul for only 3.20 Turkish Lira (vs 20 Euro taking a cab). The man sitting next to me seemed to have a 9mm tucked in the back of his pants. That made me a little nervous, as he wasn't wearing a uniform of any kind.I don't seem to be getting much hassle here. I'm guessing that it's because I look like I might be Turkish. I'll walk down a street and see shop owners urging tourists into their shops, but they seem to be leaving me alone.
The hotels are pretty pricey in Istanbul. The first place I went to was a bit of a dive and they wanted 35 Euros/night. That's 53 Canadian dollars. I continued walking around and looking for places. Two others were about twice that price and finally found one for about 30 Euros. I left my backpack and went walking around.
I didn't get a lot of time before the sun started setting. It started getting dark about 5:00pm. I managed to get some photos of the Sultanahmet Mosque (more commonly known as the Blue Mosque)and that's about it. Tomorrow should be a more fruitful day.
Landing in Istanbul:
Sultanahmet Mosque:
Vendors near Sultanahmet:
