Hi all! We finally have moved into our new apt. in Istanbul and are connected to the internet after two very long weeks. Our apt. is extremely spacious and cheery, our neighborhood is upscale and hip, and the Turkish people are super warm and friendly, not to mention creative and fabulously dressed! The shopping and restaurant scene appears promising so far (we haven't had a bad meal yet), and I am really excited about living here. I may post some pictures of the view from our apt. later. And when I learn a little more Turkish, I'll take some street style pics. Hope everyone is doing well!
It's sounds like a great start to an amazing adventure! I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures and hearing about what it's like to live in Turkey, Of course I have that song "Istanbul not Constantinople" playing in my head.
I was wondering if you were moved in yet. We just returned from our honeymoon last weekend and we did thoroughly enjoy Turkey. We did a guided tour taking us to the Virgin Mary's house and then to Ancient Ephesus. It was very hot so if you decide to make the trek down make sure to go in the fall or early spring. I wasn't expecting Texas heat over there but luckily since Mike and I are use to it, we understood when the guide told us to bring water and finish the bottle while touring. I found the people to be really friendly in our part but the market did scare us some. We ended up shopping just a little before calling it a day as they were fairly aggressive. I wouldn't mind visiting Istanbul so please post some pics when you have a chance.
Hey all - boots, I know, that song played in my hand for months after we found out we were headed here!
aurora - i'm glad you enjoyed your honeymoon! i def. want to check out ephesus and the other biblical sites. it's good to know about the heat - i had no idea. the weather is really nice here right now and not too hot at all (not at all like the TX heat I grew up with). i've heard about the sellers in the grand bazaar being aggressive. is that where you were?? that's too bad that they were so obnoxious to you guys. i'm looking forward to going, but i def. will have to prepare myself for the extreme sales tactics. we had that in cairo, and it's annoying, i know!
I wish I knew where I was but I didn't have a good map. The tours tend to leave you in market areas near the boat docks so you don't really need a map to get around.
I found that as long as you didn't express interest or really look at anything they left you alone but once you were in the store it was hard getting out without buying anything. We did end up with a fairly nice rug that we weren't really planning on buying LOL. Now that was a real salesman.
Our tour guide was mentioning a beach north of Kusadasi which is popular for tourists. On your trip down you might want to look into it as I'm sure it is nice. There was also a huge water park in the area that looked fun. I can't remember how old your little ones are so they might not be big enough for the water park but should do the beach just fine.
We also enjoyed the food. They brought us to a resort to eat so we could be in the air conditioning. I just remember having skewers as they were fantastic but some of the other things on the buffet were good too so I'm with you on good food over there. :)
Glad to hear the weather is better where you are. We were expecting hot but boy were we surprised! Luckily we dressed appropriately so we stayed cool and hydrated and did just fine.