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Thread: One week in Istanbul: a summary (COMPLETED!) 240 pictures

  1. #161
    Boustrophedon's Avatar Grote Smurf
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    Default Re: One week in Istanbul: a summary (updated 01-10-11 - 25 new pictures)

    Wednesday - Day 8: Flight home

    8 AM

    We get up and take a luxurious morning washing ritual: using up all the soaps and oils, a full bath (400-500 liter) and just taking everything possible out of the room (like Ross in Friends haha) before heading downstairs and plundering the buffet once more. The staff had given up all effort to be friendlyor helpful and gave us angry glares. Their way of telling us that young students aren't welcome in a five star hotel that charges 350 euro pp per night but we didn't care. At the breakfast table we decided each could do what they pleased in the morning and that we'd meet up again at 11 AM to pack our bags and check out of the hotel.

    I decided to visit the Old Bazaar again and buy some souvenirs for the people back home. Mainly buying ansicht cards I also bought these two pieces of jewellery below for two of my female friends. They were affordable and I thought they would've like it.





    I wander some more around the city and I end up at the old Hippodrome where I sit down for a while and try to grasp the centuries that have come and gone in this place. This beacon of christianity for over a millenium, the most beautiful mosques that had arisen over the centuries after the conquest of Constantinople by good old Mehmet Fatih. Truly a fascinating place and I hope to return again in the future to discover more of its Byzantine history, which was limited during my 7 day trip.

    Not sure what else I could write about here. I feel I've said all I had to say on this topic Some closing remarks in Turkish

    Senin sabırın ve iyilik.

    Original size images
    I've also decided what to do about the pictures. The original images are very large and if I wanted to upload them it would take between 600-800 MB. How to solve this problem? Send me a pm and detail which pictures you would like the original (5000x3500 pixels) version of and I will upload the files for you on a filesharing host.


    Thank you once again for your patience, rep and comments This log was started on May 1 2011 and is now finished on October 2 2011 so that's a pretty long time. Please consider taking a look at my two new logs I've started.

    Egypt
    Rome

  2. #162
    Comes Domesticorum
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    Default Re: One week in Istanbul: a summary (COMPLETED 02-10-11)

    That was an amazing experience, mate, it was almost like being there with you, considering the plethora of pictures and depth of the descriptions! Thanks!

  3. #163
    MorganH.'s Avatar Finis adest rerum
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    Default Re: One week in Istanbul: a summary (COMPLETED 02-10-11)

    Yes,congratulations on finishing this awesome log. Very interesting and beautifully decorated with great pictures! +rep

    Looking forward to the Rome and Egypt Logs.

  4. #164
    Boustrophedon's Avatar Grote Smurf
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    Default Re: One week in Istanbul: a summary (COMPLETED 02-10-11)

    Quote Originally Posted by Conscript Stavroforos View Post
    That was an amazing experience, mate, it was almost like being there with you, considering the plethora of pictures and depth of the descriptions! Thanks!
    Thanks mate your friendly comments have been appreciated!

    Quote Originally Posted by MorganH. View Post
    Yes,congratulations on finishing this awesome log. Very interesting and beautifully decorated with great pictures! +rep

    Looking forward to the Rome and Egypt Logs.
    Nice to hear you enjoyed it MorganH! We all know it's the Rome log you're interested in though

    You can download the rar-file with 241 resized pictures from my Istanbul travel log through this link:

    http://www.mediafire.com/file/2v3hwy...n_Istanbul.rar

    I've put a password on the file so PM me if you wish to open the file and see the images. This to prevent the non-members from dowloading the images and spreading them everywhere. I've experienced this before and it's not enjoyable to see others take credit for my work.

    I will provide the password if requested through PM

  5. #165

    Default Re: One week in Istanbul: a summary (COMPLETED!) 240 pictures

    You always need a local or someone who have been there before to visit such cities. It's always interesting to read such things from foreigners and you seem to have very strong skills in photography. Color and use of frame is very good.

    What is the name of the hotel that you were at?

    I also ask this to many foreigner: What did you see that you didn't expect to see and what did you not see that you did expect to see?
    The Armenian Issue

  6. #166
    Boustrophedon's Avatar Grote Smurf
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    Default Re: One week in Istanbul: a summary (COMPLETED!) 240 pictures

    Quote Originally Posted by TheDarkLordSeth View Post
    You always need a local or someone who have been there before to visit such cities.
    Yeah agreed.

    Quote Originally Posted by TheDarkLordSeth View Post
    It's always interesting to read such things from foreigners and you seem to have very strong skills in photography. Color and use of frame is very good.
    Thank you very much. You should know though that I took alot of pictures that are very bad. I made a selection of the best ones to show here on TWC. I'm not that good at photography

    Quote Originally Posted by TheDarkLordSeth View Post
    What is the name of the hotel that you were at?
    Celal Aga Konagi in Sultanahmet (or Fatih) district. Very nice hotel, beautiful rooms but bad service. Very pretty girls on the staff though I did not expect Turkish girls to be so hot!

    Quote Originally Posted by TheDarkLordSeth View Post
    I also ask this to many foreigner: What did you see that you didn't expect to see and what did you not see that you did expect to see?

    Did see and didn't expect:
    • women without headscarf
    • women with jeans and cleavage
    • lots of university students (90,000+ in whole Istanbul I was told)
    • the beauty of the harem in Topkapi
    • flooding of sewers after every heavy rain
    • couples kissing on street (I thought this was frowned upon?)
    • hot girls! Turkish girls in my city are very rarely beautiful
    • Hippodrome Egyptian pillars
    • very very clean streets, much cleaner than in my country (first world country supposedly?)
    • some people are very rude towards women (girls in my group were sometimes pushed by men on streets)
    Did not see and did expect:
    • police brutality
    • radical islamists
    • not as much "warmth" in the people as I thought
    • not alot of people in mosques, I expected them to be packed with people praying
    • Byzantine architecture (not as much as I thought)
    • not alot of soldiers (Turkey has 600,000+ soldiers iirc)
    That's all I can think of at this moment.
    I would love to discover the city with a local to guide me. We went from tourist hotspot to tourist hotspot and we only visited the Asian side of Istanbul for a very short time and only one day. So much still to see and do

  7. #167

    Default Re: One week in Istanbul: a summary (COMPLETED!) 240 pictures

    Quote Originally Posted by Boustrophedon View Post
    Thank you very much. You should know though that I took alot of pictures that are very bad. I made a selection of the best ones to show here on TWC. I'm not that good at photography
    What camera did you use?


    Quote Originally Posted by Boustrophedon View Post
    Celal Aga Konagi in Sultanahmet (or Fatih) district. Very nice hotel, beautiful rooms but bad service. Very pretty girls on the staff though I did not expect Turkish girls to be so hot!
    I see. Do you remember the price per night?


    Quote Originally Posted by Boustrophedon View Post
    Did see and didn't expect:
    • women without headscarf
    • women with jeans and cleavage
    • lots of university students (90,000+ in whole Istanbul I was told)
    • the beauty of the harem in Topkapi
    • flooding of sewers after every heavy rain
    • couples kissing on street (I thought this was frowned upon?)
    • hot girls! Turkish girls in my city are very rarely beautiful
    • Hippodrome Egyptian pillars
    • very very clean streets, much cleaner than in my country (first world country supposedly?)
    • some people are very rude towards women (girls in my group were sometimes pushed by men on streets)

    Did not see and did expect:
    • police brutality
    • radical islamists
    • not as much "warmth" in the people as I thought
    • not alot of people in mosques, I expected them to be packed with people praying
    • Byzantine architecture (not as much as I thought)
    • not alot of soldiers (Turkey has 600,000+ soldiers iirc)

    That's all I can think of at this moment.
    I would love to discover the city with a local to guide me. We went from tourist hotspot to tourist hotspot and we only visited the Asian side of Istanbul for a very short time and only one day. So much still to see and do
    Places you've been to give a good idea on the general mix of the population through out Turkey(best in Taksim).

    I think the number of university students in the city of Istanbul would be over 200 thousand. Istanbul University alone has 70+ thousand students.

    The infrastructure in the Golden Horn is exceptionally old and that's probably why when they flood in every rain.

    Couples kissing is not rare. Just yesterday I was walking side by side with two young males holding hands and kissing each other for farewell.

    I wouldn't label Turkish cities as clean though they've been trying harder in the past few years.

    Police brutality have been continuously decreasing in the last decades. Most people think it's like in the "Midnight Express" but there are still few shameful cases. The problem today is more about negligence rather than brutality.

    Anatolian Turks are more hospitable than the Turks of major cities. The stressful daily lives of city population kills that warmth pretty accurately. Still compared to many other states it's better I think.

    Mosques are usually crowded during the Friday prayer but a recent study showed that only 25% of Turks attend mosques regularly. Though, this percentage drops in major cities.

    There are few army bases around the city but you'll never see one in downtown areas. They're mostly located in the outskirts of the city where there is less population and slowly get pushed out for expansion.


    I could see it in the pictures but have you been to Istanbul Archaeology Museum?

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    Last edited by PointOfViewGun; October 08, 2011 at 01:17 PM.
    The Armenian Issue

  8. #168
    Boustrophedon's Avatar Grote Smurf
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    Default Re: One week in Istanbul: a summary (COMPLETED!) 240 pictures

    Quote Originally Posted by TheDarkLordSeth View Post
    What camera did you use?
    Canon EOS 5D Mark II. A pretty powerful thing and affordable too.

    Quote Originally Posted by TheDarkLordSeth View Post
    I see. Do you remember the price per night?
    Normal price was 330-350 euro per person per night (5 star hotel) but we paid 100 euro pppn.

    Quote Originally Posted by TheDarkLordSeth View Post
    Places you've been to give a good idea on the general mix of the population through out Turkey(best in Taksim).

    I think the number of university students in the city of Istanbul would be over 200 thousand. Istanbul University alone has 70+ thousand students.

    The infrastructure in the Golden Horn is exceptionally old and that's probably why when they flood in every rain.

    Couples kissing is not rare. Just yesterday I was walking side by side with two young males holding hands and kissing each other for farewell.

    I wouldn't label Turkish cities as clean though they've been trying harder in the past few years.

    Police brutality have been continuously decreasing in the last decades. Most people think it's like in the "Midnight Express" but there are still few shameful cases. The problem today is more about negligence rather than brutality.

    Anatolian Turks are more hospitable than the Turks of major cities. The stressful daily lives of city population kills that warmth pretty accurately. Still compared to many other states it's better I think.

    Mosques are usually crowded during the Friday prayer but a recent study showed that only 25% of Turks attend mosques regularly. Though, this percentage drops in major cities.

    There are few army bases around the city but you'll never see one in downtown areas. They're mostly located in the outskirts of the city where there is less population and slowly get pushed out for expansion.
    Interesting remarks!

    Quote Originally Posted by TheDarkLordSeth View Post
    I could see it in the pictures but have you been to Istanbul Archaeology Museum?
    Yes, I have. There's 2 updates about my visit to Archeology museum! Very beautiful collection and of my favourite museums ever.

    Lovely picture below btw

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

  9. #169

    Default Re: One week in Istanbul: a summary (COMPLETED!) 240 pictures

    Quote Originally Posted by Boustrophedon View Post
    Canon EOS 5D Mark II. A pretty powerful thing and affordable too.
    Pretty powerful indeed. I got the exact same one.


    Quote Originally Posted by Boustrophedon View Post
    Normal price was 330-350 euro per person per night (5 star hotel) but we paid 100 euro pppn.
    That sounds quite expensive for that hotel. I think you could get a better hotel in Taksim for the same price. Maybe Point Hotel.



    Quote Originally Posted by Boustrophedon View Post
    Yes, I have. There's 2 updates about my visit to Archeology museum! Very beautiful collection and of my favourite museums ever.

    Lovely picture below btw
    I went to Jazz concert where the stage was put over those stairs. I didn't know until last year that the building existed.
    The Armenian Issue

  10. #170
    dogukan's Avatar Praeses
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    Default Re: One week in Istanbul: a summary (COMPLETED!) 240 pictures

    Dudewe have an house just around where your hotel is, and no one from the family stay there. We rent it
    350 euro would be so sooo much. Lucky you for paying just 100 but I'd say even that is pretty high price. Then again I never stayed in a hotel in İstanbul so I doN't know the prices

    Great pictures and work here mate, thank you very much for sharing. And yes, "western life style" is pretty common. Though you have to take care of your girl in some areas with visible legs and cleavage. Besides, like all the girls, Turkish girls are very much into manliness so they like increasing tension
    "Therefore I am not in favour of raising any dogmatic banner. On the contrary, we must try to help the dogmatists to clarify their propositions for themselves. Thus, communism, in particular, is a dogmatic abstraction; in which connection, however, I am not thinking of some imaginary and possible communism, but actually existing communism as taught by Cabet, Dézamy, Weitling, etc. This communism is itself only a special expression of the humanistic principle, an expression which is still infected by its antithesis – the private system. Hence the abolition of private property and communism are by no means identical, and it is not accidental but inevitable that communism has seen other socialist doctrines – such as those of Fourier, Proudhon, etc. – arising to confront it because it is itself only a special, one-sided realisation of the socialist principle."
    Marx to A.Ruge

  11. #171

    Default Re: One week in Istanbul: a summary (COMPLETED!) 240 pictures

    I know of a friend who owns a hotel that charges 350 euros for a non-busy day. I know of others where it's more expensive. The service in these hotels are purely excellent and you'd find even maids talking multiple languages.
    The Armenian Issue

  12. #172
    Darth_Revan's Avatar Primicerius
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    Default Re: One week in Istanbul: a summary (COMPLETED!) 240 pictures

    awesome pics yet again dude!!

  13. #173
    Boustrophedon's Avatar Grote Smurf
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    Default Re: One week in Istanbul: a summary (COMPLETED!) 240 pictures

    Quote Originally Posted by dogukan View Post
    Dudewe have an house just around where your hotel is, and no one from the family stay there. We rent it
    350 euro would be so sooo much. Lucky you for paying just 100 but I'd say even that is pretty high price. Then again I never stayed in a hotel in İstanbul so I doN't know the prices

    Great pictures and work here mate, thank you very much for sharing. And yes, "western life style" is pretty common. Though you have to take care of your girl in some areas with visible legs and cleavage. Besides, like all the girls, Turkish girls are very much into manliness so they like increasing tension
    Well normally I would not pay even 100 EUR for a night but I wanted some luxury I'm always glad to hear people enjoy my writing and pictures. It makes it all worth the effort because these logs ask more time and effort than you would think...

    Quote Originally Posted by TheDarkLordSeth View Post
    I know of a friend who owns a hotel that charges 350 euros for a non-busy day. I know of others where it's more expensive. The service in these hotels are purely excellent and you'd find even maids talking multiple languages.
    This was not my experience maybe I just got stuck with a bad hotel?

    Quote Originally Posted by Darth_Revan View Post
    awesome pics yet again dude!!
    Thanks, Revan!

  14. #174

    Default Re: One week in Istanbul: a summary (COMPLETED!) 240 pictures

    Quote Originally Posted by Boustrophedon View Post
    This was not my experience maybe I just got stuck with a bad hotel?
    I'd say it was bad luck. My company regularly has foreign visitors but we never had that problem even with cheaper hotels. It's a gamble nonetheless though.
    The Armenian Issue

  15. #175

    Default Re: One week in Istanbul: a summary (updated 21-08-11 - 36 new pictures)

    Quote Originally Posted by neoptolemos View Post
    Actually this is exactly the one i am referring to.
    In Greece it is known as sujuk lokum.(as "sausage lokum")
    Please can you tell me where to buy the sujuk as pictured. The one that is white with that light covering of flour. Please! My daughter goes to Istanbul in a couple of weeks and she can try to find it for me if I can get any clues. I grew up with sujukh that looks the same... Over 50 years ago. Please, I appreciate any info be sent directly to me at ( rwyleczuk@gmail.com ). Thank you so much Rosanne

  16. #176

    Default Re: One week in Istanbul: a summary (updated 21-08-11 - 36 new pictures)

    Quote Originally Posted by rhw View Post
    Please can you tell me where to buy the sujuk as pictured. The one that is white with that light covering of flour. Please! My daughter goes to Istanbul in a couple of weeks and she can try to find it for me if I can get any clues. I grew up with sujukh that looks the same... Over 50 years ago. Please, I appreciate any info be sent directly to me at ( rwyleczuk@gmail.com ). Thank you so much Rosanne
    Try the Spice Bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı) in Eminönü.
    Last edited by PointOfViewGun; May 01, 2015 at 04:48 AM.
    The Armenian Issue

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