Today was our first full day in Istanbul. Our flight got in yesterday at four thirty. The Istanbul airport is huge so by the time we got our bags, found a cab and drove to the hotel it was almost seven. We unpacked, changed clothes and went back to the lobby to get a cab to take us to the Bosporus Strait for a dinner cruise on the Bosporus.
There are several different companies that offer dinner cruises and we had no idea which ones were good and which ones were bad. We just picked one and booked it months ago. There really weren't many signs so finding the right boat was a bit of a challenge. The area around the docks is vibrant and bustling with crowds and street food vendors and sidewalk cafes, the water views and night time lights of Istanbul are spectacular. We were confused, frustrated and jet lagged , yet we found the whole scene to be fabulous !!
Hey, we are traveling again, this happens.
Rhonda:
Our flight was 11 hours and I did NOT sleep. Chris did, and I was looking at him getting mad. Lol! So by the time we got to our hotel I was exhausted. It was about 38 hours with no sleep. So while I PREACH about not going to sleep when you travel until the normal nighttime where you are, so you get turned around , omg was I whining and trying to cancel the dinner cruise and just go to bed.
Chris let me whine while pushing me out the door to go anyway.
After we finally found our boat and got seated they brought us both a plate of different appetizers. Well for a good while, we thought it was our main course. It was hummus, and a salad with something vaguely familiar that was pickled ( maybe eggplant? ) some very dry potatoes, and a sour mashed up something. But no bread or crackers and it wasn't very good with a fork. So we were just tired and wanting to go back to the hotel. But wait, we are on this boat for THREE HOURS. Then the cheesy entertainment started. First with a whirling dervish. Then a belly dancer. Then a dance troup that did a bunch of stomping and Russian squat down kicking things. But you know, the more wine we had, the better they got! And the view of the Bosporus bridge was spectacular.
Low and behold there were many courses yet to come. A whole grilled fish, a cheese course, a dessert. Turned out to be a very fun night and I pushed through and did it.
Chris: it did turn out that it was a lot of fun. As it so happened the boat was a bit smaller and probably older than some of the others we saw docked so that added to a less than stellar first impression plus, read above, jet lagged etc..... but as we got underway the view just got more and more beautiful, our sever was quick with the wine, we were seated right next to a door out on to the deck and the entertainers got more and more talented the more the crowd drank. Funny how that works.
We met some interesting people, saw some great views, ate ok food and had lots of wine, not a bad start at all. What's next ???
Rhonda:
We have sign off. We are looking at 6 hours sleep before our next adventure starts. Love y'all.
Ps. Shout out to the waiter at our hotel bar. We love him.
H