The otobus from Izmir ended up taking a car ferry part of the way up to Istanbul, so even though we didn’t get a ferry ride all the way, we did get a boat ride!
We were supposed to be staying at a hotel around the corner from the Petrol where we stayed on our previous visit, on their recommendation. Much to our disappointment, this hotel was pretty dire: smelly, roaches trying to muscle in on our sleeping areas, and fold-up beds which break when you sit on them! Angie decided to move us to another hotel the next day as this one was just disgusting. We ended up at a hotel around another corner. The staff was helpful, the beds were solid, and best of all there weren’t any bugs sharing our beds!
The morning we spend wandering around Taksim Square. A bit interesting to see 100 riot police complete with shields and water cannons in the middle of the mall, so we walked very quickly in the other direction. Then we went looking for the costume designers. The road signs aren’t very consistent, plus the apartment and street numbers are sometimes swapped around, so we didn’t know where to go to find the first one. Then we eventually found it, after traipsing up thousands of flights of stairs. Gorgeous costumes, but nothing for us bigger girls, even though Angie talked to thembefore we came and they assured her they’d have bigger sizes!
Then we took a taxi to the next place, Bella, but as we got to the suburb, the taxi driver discovered that the piece of paper we had with the address that was given on the website had no street name and number, only the floor and door number! Of course we didn’t know this because it was all written in Turkish, and of course our taxi driver couldn’t tell us this because he didn’t speak any English. Much confusion. We got out and eventually got hold of the others who had the address, and got there in the end.
Bella’s showroom was amaaaazing! As well as about 25 cats, there were hundreds of gorgeous sparkling costumes! None in my size, but I ordered one. Yay for retail therapy!
The we were supposed to be picked up by our dance teacher who didn’t arrive so we had to go find her studio… back to Taksim Square! We found it eventually, but it really wasn’t worth it. She just showed us each move once then danced and we tried to copy her. We also went overtime and we were all SO tired. Then we had to take the train, furnicular and tram back to Sultanahmet! We had dinner, then fell in to the hotel. What a day!
On our last day in Istanbul we popped back to the Grand Bazaar to pick up the costumes we’d ordered before we left. Another disappointment, as the guy at the shop had got the wrong idea about what I’d wanted. Fiona and I had ordered exactly the same costume, and he’d got it mixed up thinking I wanted something completely different. Gorgeous colour, but the style did absolutely nothing for me. So I had to go home costume-less because the one from Bella was being sent later.
To finish off our sightseeing, we visited another museum, and the Cistern, almost a whole underground city!
On our last night we headed out to a local restaurant with music and dancing – ours this time!
Turkey was fabulous, even though our second visit to Istanbul didn’t completely go as planned. I’d come back in a heartbeat!
Two Weeks Away 