I will add more pics. But the wifi is a bit slow at the hotel.
Place: Terrace of the Mimar Sinan Inn, overlooking the Bosphorous
The bus ride was looooong to Istanbul. Just over 11 hours. We arrived at the bus station around 6am. Bladdy tired and ready for bed. Grabbed the closest taxi and headed for the inn. Quite a bit of confusion as to where the hotel was, but we took a chance anyway.
We arrived in the old city of Sultanahmet and the taxi driver asked about 6 people where the inn was and eventually we stumbled upon it on a narrow road – boy were we glad to have found it. The hotel has an old run down area on one side with the most incredible view of the Bosphorous. And on the other side is a well looked after area and mosque and the university of Istanbul.
Edom, the owner, was incredible. We woke him up at 6:45am and he welcomed us in still wearing his batman pj’s. Served us coffee and tea and promised to have our room ready by 9:30am. We went for a short walk to get rid of the bus bum and returned for breakfast at 8:30am.
As promised our room was ready early. We were helped down the very narrow stairs to our room and jumped straight into the shower and then to bed around 10am for some much needed dos. The room is fantastic. Very comfortable and the shower was great and water tight. Some bathrooms we have had have had leaking showers or baths which result in wet bathroom floors – my flippen worst.
We woke up almost 6hours later. I dosed through the lunch time prayer call – never heard a thing. And the mosque is 150m from our hotel. The Sulimanye mosque is impressive in structure.
We went upstairs after our sleep and relaxed on the terrace with coffee and tea and had a long chat to Edom who is full of information. We had an early evening stroll to absorb some of the vibe.
Istanbul has an amazing mix of old and brilliant new buildings. They preserve historic buildings to an extent and prevent people from developing in these areas if it means that the historical buildings will be demolished.
We are excited to explore this historical city tomorrow. It is about 13 degrees C here so a bit chilly – for Donna very challenging. I had an ice cream earlier as I felt sorry for the salesman. Today must have a been a bad day for turnover.
Our accommodation
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