Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

Why did Constantinople get the works? That's nobody's business but the Turks...

We had a four day weekend on our school schedule, so several weeks ago we started tossing around ideas of where to go...Greece? Spain? Italy? Hmmm......they all sound good...but how 'bout Turkey? Yup, that'll work.

Added bonus is that we could go by either car (6 hour drive) or train (12 hour ride*). We decided that it might be a little more convenient to take the train. Instead of driving in the evening , finding a hotel and then driving more the next day, why not take the train in the evening and arrive refreshed and ready to see the sights?

So, on Wednesday evening it was off to the train station. We arrived at 7:15...plenty of time ahead of the 7:50 departure. We looked over the departure board and struggled to find the information for the train to Istanbul. Then I spotted it, track 6 at 7:16. Oh s*%$!

We raced for the platform, hoping that the Bulgarian-run train would not depart on time. We fended off a man who offered to help us...obviously seek to make some leva off of us. We arrived at the platform to find two well-worn trains, neither of which looked like it was departing anytime soon. Did we miss it?

A couple of men in the blue jackets and pants asked us if we were heading for Istanbul. We said yes and they smiled and said no problem as they asked for our tickets. They then escorted us to our train (the shorter, decrepit-looking one) and on to our cabins. Within a couple of moments they two "gentlemen" how assisted us to our cabins were requesting their tip. Hmmmm....this is a little direct I thought, but the last thing I need is to be on the bad-side of the employees that will be accompanying us to Istanbul. I reluctantly handed over some leva & euros and then they were off. Uhhhh....did I just get scammed for the first time? Yes sir, you are indeed correct. But things we surely get better.

We checked in with the Martins, who were traveling with us to Istanbul, and had also successfully made it to their cabin. Ok... we were ready to go. But the train wasn't. After nearly two hours, the cars from Belgrade arrived and shortly after that we were underway, slowly.

Getting to sleep (at least for me) wasn't to much of a problem, but we did need to wake up at 3 or 4am and leave the train to pass through passport control at the Turkish border.

That went fairly quickly for us (the Turkish border guards escorted us to the front of line because we were traveling with 4 small kids), but we still lingered on the tracks in Edirne for a couple of hours before we were underway again.

That morning our train lumbered across the Turkish countryside as it dawned on us (no pun intended) that this was not going to be a 12 hour train ride (hence my earlier *). Finally, shortly after midday we pulled into Istanbul's Sirkeci Station, the final stop of the old Orient Express.

We were ready for our adventure.

After we checked into our hostel we began walking around the old city (Sultanahmet) in search for a bite to eat. Before long we found a small outdoor cafe we were ate pide (Turkish pizza) and drank some tea. After that we did some more sightseeing and enjoyed the beautiful weather-- which was ideal-- in the low 70s. Our visits included the Blue Mosque,

where Cameron was a little apprehensive about putting on her headscarf (but she did look really cute in it), and a

walk across the Golden Horn on the Galata Bridge. That night we returned to the same place we dined earlier in the day for a repeat of salad and pide. Our efforts in searching out a vegetarian-friendly restaurant weren't exactly successful. Although that wasn't for a lack of trying from restaurant hosts-- who may be the most persistent in the world.

Over the next couple of days we visited many of the sights that make Istanbul such an impressive city: the Aya Sofia, Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar, and the Tokapi Palace. While we didn't enter every single one of those sights (hey, you gotta save some for next time!) we certainly enjoyed the city. In fact, I'm putting it up there with Paris & Rome. On our last full day, we took the ferry across the Bosporus to the Asian side of the city, where we found a great tourist-free pedestrian area full of restaurants, markets and small shops selling just about anything you can imagine.

That evening, it was dinner and then on to the train station for the long train journey back to Bulgaria. The 10pm departure (on time!) lead us to christen the train as the Midnight Express. Ironically, the real name is the Balkan Express-- this, on a train that takes 15 hours to cover 360 miles-- yes-- that's right, an average of 24 MPH. Ouch.