Planes, trains, trams, boats, trollies, horses, and more!

Merhaba!  In a week we will be in Istanbul, Turkey.  Amazing.

It is 7:18 pm here, now, and it is 8 hours later there, so it is 3:18 AM tomorrow.  We arrive next Sunday, the 9th at about 1 pm Istanbul time, having left Chicago at 2:20 pm on Saturday the 8th.  An 8.5 hour flight to Frankfurt, Germany and then a 3.5 hour flight to Istanbul after a couple hour lay over.

On my iPad I pulled up the extended forecast this morning, and it is looking pretty good as of Sunday, June 9, as you can see below.

Years ago I bought a couple boxes of National Geographic magazines at a rummage sale, so last night I started looking at their spines, looking for Turkey or Istanbul. I found the world map from the February 1965 issue, and took a photo (below) of Istanbul.  Many of the country names have changed around it, but this gave me a better picture of how Istanbul fits in the world.

Istanbul is on the northwest tip of Turkey - half on the European continent, and half on Asia. Our hotel is in Asia. Most of the tourist sites are on the Europe side, south of the Golden Horn - an east to west inlet from the Bosporus Strait, the body of water that separates Europe from Asia. The current Istanbul unrest and riots are on the Europe side, north of the Golden Horn.  I can avoid that area all together if necessary, although I hope it is calm in another week.

On the map below you can see Taksim Square - that is where the rioting is currently occurring.  I will be spending most of my time south of there in the Sultanahmet district, south of the Golden Horn.
I also plan to spend a good amount of time on or along the water - on public ferries, and at coffee shoppes. Istanbul is said to be a fairly safe tourist destination, and Frank's company is carefully monitoring the threat level, since this is a work trip for him. Our hotel is just east of the word "Kadidoy" below.

We are staying at the Marriott Istanbul Asia, which you can see  here.  It's very convenient for Frank's work, and, after all, his company is paying for and chose the hotel.   I will make do.  :)  There is a lot of commuting involved though, so I need to figure out the public transportation, or else just take a cab to the nearest sea port on the Sea of Marmara.  Hoping there will be some English spoken at the Marriott front desk!  Once I get to the Marmara there are a lot of public commuting ferries over to Sultanahmet.  And south to the Princes Islands which I am VERY excited about visiting.  Why, you may ask?  Take a peek here!

I'm beginning my lists: packing lists, sightseeing lists, daily itineraries, public transportation pointers, emergency numbers, etc.    I'll be posting again soon.

And for those of you who want to follow our daughter Anna's summer adventures, her blog is here.  She is currently in Bolivia for two more weeks, and then will be in Chile for seven.

Gule gule.   (I have no idea how to place two spots over those "u's") That means Good Bye for now.  :)
Please leave a comment so I know who is reading.  Thanks.