2 Epic Days - some Good some Bad

At 9pm tonight I really thought this would be a boring feel-good post that wouldn't be that interesting. Amazing how things can change so quickly. But you will have to read to the end to find out why.

Anyway - Thursday started well with a trip to the airport to pick up a hire car for our two days away - went to the airport as we were recommended to as the hire car companies in town are of ill repute. First stop Avis - no cars available. Then Hertz - same same. WTF ? A hire car company with no cars ??? Anyway - 3rd time lucky and Budget came up with the goods. So - we were all set for our first Road Trip in Turkey.

Off we set from Ataturk Airport, armed with the route on the iphone google-maps, and headed off in completely the wrong direction, towards Istanbul rather than away from it. A cross between navigation errors and the driver getting used to driving on the other side of the road. 30 mins later, around many one way streets, we were back on the road in the right direction. We had a 4 hour journey ahead of us, calling into Gallipoli National Park, before heading to Canakkale (near to Troy) for the night. So we should be at Gallipoli by 3pm. Best laid plans and all that !!

When Paul used to cycle around Singapore in the early days I used to tell him to stop relying on GPS and look at the road signs instead. Should have followed my own advice !! Loads of signs said "Gelibolu". How was I to know that meant "Gallipoli" ?? Each time (twice) Paul said "Gelibolu" I said "no, go the other way instead". Well, we did see a lot more of the coastal road, which was painfully slow, but we missed the National Park completely.  We eventually arrived at the car ferry to take us to Canakkale at 5pm, and got to the hotel at 6pm - having seen no sights at all.

Not to worry - there was always the Trojan Horse in the town centre - the one donated by Brad Pit and co after the film "Troy". Picture below - nothing to write home about, but still nice to have seen it.

So we had just the ONE beer and headed off back to the hotel to get a shower. Both of us felt pretty washed out - and fell asleep until 9pm ! We know now that it was dehydration. It was still 36 deg at 6pm - and we hadn't drunk enough water all day. It was a very mediocre meal at the harbour front (highly touristy) and home to pass out by 11:30pm.

Thankfully today was a far better day. TROY (Epic 1) was amazing. Ok, its just a pile of old ruins, but ruins that date from 3000 BC (Troy 1) to 500 BC (Troy 8). It was re-modeled 8 times. (or something like that). Very interesting - and it was a cool 32 deg in the breeze.

After that came GALIPOLLI (Epic 2). Another great experience. You drive around something like a 10km radius and can see lots of different cemeteries from the battles that went on for 6 months in 1914. Around 36,000 soldiers lost their lives.  Particularly interesting was Anzac Cove where around 2000 Australians and New Zealanders were killed after landing 1 mile down stream of where they should have, in a cove from which they had no way out. It was blitzed.

Part 3 of today was a food stop at Mamara Elegize - a small fishing town about 80km west of Istanbul. We got stopped at the harbour and were pushed into a small fish restaurant with the promise of great food. We aren't usually ones to be badgered like this but we were so hungry we went with the flow. And we were so glad we did. Wow ! The fish and meze were amazing. Paul even tried a Turkish coffee. And we were introduced to Raki - the Turkish liqourice liqueur they mix with water and ice. We'll be buying some of that - but only because I like the glasses !

So - feeling sated and full of ourselves, we drove back to Ataturk airport to drop off the car. The only mishap was that we couldn't find the garage on the way into the airport so we will be stung for half a tank of fuel at their prices - but it was only half full anyway. So no big deal. But all in all - a good end to the day. We would be back at the apartment by 9:30pm.

Then the fun started (Epic fail) !!! We went to Domestic Arrivals to get a taxi. The queue was huge and full of smokers who were lighting up as many fags as they could as they'd gone without on their flights. (That a big downside in Turkey - so many people smoke, and in public places). We saw a bus that said Istanbul, via Bakirkoy - our current abode. So we hopped on it, waited 15 mins, then it went to the International Arrivals to get more people. By this time we would have been at the front of the taxi queue ! But the conductor who took our money assured us he would stop at Bakirkoy and would let us know when we got there. Huh !!! The lying little shitbag got off the bus and never told the driver to stop to let us off - so we sailed past Bakirkoy, all the way into Istanbul ! That's only about 30 mins out of our way !!

So, we were off the bus at the first stop, found a taxi, and asked the driver to drop us off at the bottom end of Bakirkoy - near the Marina. We planned to stop in at the local pub on the way up the hill. Really thought he had understood - until he also sailed past our stop and had to go to the top of the street. Seems like we weren't destined to get home until 11pm after all. And to add insult to injury, the short walk back was dry - not a bar in sight ! So we split the one can of beer from the fridge - and here we are !

Lessons learned today -
(1) - Do not get the bus from Istanbul airport. A long wait in a smoke filled taxi queue is more preferable
(2) - Istanbul is manic at all times of the day
(3) - we really do need those Turkish lessons
(4) - do not expect the taxi drivers to understand what you say - always keep the GPS on n your phone.

Still - we are managing to maintain our semi-detox - the number of beers consumed this week has fallen dramatically. And we did have a wonderful day today.

Quiet day tomorrow - need a bit of a rest !!! And we've heard the temperature might drop to below 30 deg and it could rain. We look forward to that.

Day 4 - Accommodation, Aeroplanes and Atakoy Marina

Well, my day started at 6am when I woke up with my head buzzing. So it was off to the PC to do some research while Paul continued to inspect his eyelids for another 2 hours. My thoughts were along the lines of :

- Where can I get my pedicures done ??? (trivia - but important to know we are moving to the right type of community.) Woke my lovely husband  to discuss this. He'd already noticed a few places in Yesilkoy and logged the info for when I needed it ! What a lovely man :-). Thankfully he went back to sleep - I don't think its even registered that we had the discussion.
- Why am I complaining about 36 deg C when the UK is having the worst July in years ? Sorry folks, I guess our (too hot) weather issues are infinitely better than yours !
- Our friend Rob Wrightson is working out of China now. His new language issues are far more difficult than ours. At least our words are formed in the same alphabet. And his local people are far less friendly.

Well that put things into perspective, so it was off to start the day.

Our lovely Emlak (estate agent) Caglam (Chalam) - who stole us from another Emlak on Monday btw - but he had the edge as he's worked in London for 4 years and knows more than 10 words in English ! - he had only one property lined up. What if this one was no good ? Would he have others ? We had prepared ourselves for an Emlak tour of Yesilkoy in the searing heat - looking to see what was out there and prepared to have to lower our standards.

We needn't have worried - we met Caglan at 11am, and by 11:02 we were both grinning from ear to ear - and we had only just got in through the front door.

There it is - first floor - above a hairdressers and nail place - so that's that issue also sorted :-). Its 3 bedrooms (not 4 - Sorry Colesy), furnished (a minor problem), 1 bathroom (a compromise), no outside space (another compromise), and superbly decorated. Its also a 2 min walk from the town centre, 5 mins from the bus that takes you all the way into Istanbul, and 5 mins from the beach. So the benefits far outweigh the compromises.

Very well furnished - but what will we do with our 20ft container of "stuff" ??? Good old Caglan can arrange storage if we need it - or we might just keep what we need and sell off the living room and dining room furniture (except the wooden bottle stays, as does Dai the Dragon ! ). Decisions to be discussed on the weekend.

Oh - another positive (or negative ??) is that the owner will be living below us - but he seems like a really nice bloke, as does his mother who lives with him. And we have a deal that I will teach his 11 year old son English if they will help us improve our Turkish. Young Roy will be speaking Doric and Singlish with a Welsh accent in no time !

I'm not sure if this is coming through when you read this - but we are so very very very excited about all of this. My grin was of gigantic proportions for several hours and I kept jumping around the place. I'm sure Jan (owner) and Gul (mother) thought I was a nut case - at least they are getting the right vibes up front I guess. Thankfully Paul the Pilot maintained his sense of calm !

So it was off for a coffee with Caglan and then off to explore the area. We crossed over a disused railway line and saw, on the other side of the road, an Aviation Museum. I knew I would be bored, but I had lots to think about, so encouraged Paul to go in. It was amazing - yes OK I was impressed. A definite for visitors when they hang around Yesilkoy during their stay. Guess which one was the type that PTP did his first solo flight in btw ?

Then a celebratory lunch followed in a new restaurant - half the price by our old standards, and the wine was only 20 GBP. Only ONE bottle though - don't forget we are on a semi-detox now.

So over lunch, in-between FB posts and Whatsapps, we did grab a short conversation and decided to get away for a few days - well its been a hard few days hasn't it? So - decision made - we are off to visit Gallipoli and Troy on Thu and Friday. TROY !!!! Classical studies was my all time favourite course in school (even though it was my only CSE) and I perversely enjoyed my Latin A-level too. Homer's Oddessy here we come. (Guess I should gen up on Gallipoli too.). We have to rent a car first though - should have some tales to tell from that one.

But the day didn't end there. After just salads for lunch, and a lot of walking on a false mission to find non-existent car rental companies, we were hungry. So in the interests of Visitor Reconnaissance we strolled to Atakoy Marina to see a sunset and have a small bite. Must point out that we only had ONE beer each - we are so well behaved just now !! Atakoy Marina is only 10 minutes by bus from Yesilkoy btw - so we think this will be well visited from now on.

Signing off here as this is a huge post - but then its been a huge day. No post on Thursday as we'll be sleeping inside a Trojan Horse - but will be back with more tales on Friday.

(PS - think we've started making local friends already !!! We're up and running)

Day 3 - First Efes in Istanbul

OK - there needs to be a beer in the day somewhere - but its a surprise angle today.

So - off we set for the big city this morning. After walking 2.5km to the nearest metro-bus station in 33 deg and as much humidity as Singapore, we were a sweaty heap.

(We could have caught a minibus to the metro-bus but, since we are bike-less, gym-less and pool-less this week we have decided to walk as much as we can. Stupid week to choose with the soaring temperatures here just now ! Oh - and other news - we are on a semi-detox. Not had more than 2 beers each day and only eating 2 meals, with the odd baklava in-between.)

We managed to get ourselves on the metro-bus, 2 stops and then a shift to the metro-tram, all the way to central Istanbul. So we now consider ourselves expert on the public transport here. Pretty good achievement since everything is written only in Turkish, and the metro map consists of about 5 different types of transport with no explanation of what to look for.

Went straight to Tourist information where there wasn't a leaflet in sight - until we asked for them when they proudly pulled several out from under the counter - I guess it stops damn tourists stealing them all ! The information people were pretty useless actually - we really have to learn Turkish ! - so we left no wiser that we entered. We did see a load of mosques when we started walking though. A picture of the New Mosque below - its only 500 years old !

Walked and walked and ended up in the Eastern Spice Market - which was jammed full of spices (funny that) and Turkish Delight. Whetted the appetite so we stopped for my daily dose of Khave (Turkish coffee) and some baklava. No pictures as we ate it all before we thought to take a photo. 

We've been to Istanbul before, done the main sights already - Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia, Basilica Cistern, etc - and weren't really in a touristy mood. Far too hot. So we found a pub instead. And - we couldn't believe this - it was the very pub we went to the first time we were here in 2009 - The Port Shield (note the tartan carpet). This was the place where we tasted our very first Efes in Istanbul. So it had to be done !!! Just the ONE though because we are on a semi-detox after all

After spending an hour over one pint in an air conditioned pub, we realised we had to brave the elements again. By this time it was 36 deg outside. What better than an open top bus tour? This one did have a tarpaulin roof which, after 1.5 hours in the blazing sun - Paul likened to being inside a hot tent ! The bus tour was good - but we won't be doing it again - visitors you are on your own with that one ! We did get to go over the Bosphorous Bridge to Asia though - that was pretty cool (well, really hot actually as there was a traffic jam. And on the way back the driver went so fast in the bus lane that Paul donated his baseball cap to the sea below).

Then it was back for food in a rip-off restaurant near the Port Shield pub - called the Cappadocia. I wanted proper Turkish food. Disappointing as the meze was the most bland we have ever tasted. Had far better in the Nargile in Aberdeen. Only redeemed by the wonderful taste on the mixed grill (lots of lamb of course) and healthy salad. 

Then it was back on the tram - which was packed in rush-hour. And it really is a free-for-all at that time. I had to shoulder a man out of the way just to get off at our stop ! Then the 2.5km walk home (with a stop at Starbucks - which really doesn't taste the same after my new found Khave) and back to the apartment.

A quiet night in watching "The World's End" (thanks Netflix) and having a cup of tea, and here we are. Oh - I did manage to do a load of washing but still no sign of a clothes airer - so the living room looks like a Chinese laundry. 

And - believe this - we've split one can of Efes and that's us done for the day. I tried to persuade Paul to open the other one but having none of it :-(

Tomorrow hopefully brings another round of apartment hunting. We are seriously hoping there are plenty to view as we suspect that Yesilkoy may be running out of choices to suit our needs. Fingers crossed ! Otherwise we have to re-visit our list of "must-haves".

PS - thanks for all the support we are receiving on this blog. It seems a lot of you are enjoying it. No pressure on me to keep writing then ! 

Day 2 - Humidity and New Homes

Well - what a day. Been out of the apartment 12 hours - and achieved quite a bit.

First things first - breakfast at Bakirkoy Marina - a full Turkish. Very tasty and healthy. Served by the lovely restaurant owner who patiently listened while we tried to pronounce the Turkish versions of the food, and smiled as we did our little language lessons at the table. It all sounds great if you read the words as they are spelled - but that's not how it works ! High priority has to be Turkish classes.

 After being sated by breakfast it was time for a new adventure - catching a local bus. Far easier than we expected. Took it all the way to Florya - the posh seaside town we hoped to set up our new home at. With temperatures hitting over 30 deg, and it being school holidays, lots of people headed to the beach. First time we've seen a beach surrounded by barbed wire fences, with a charge of 10TL to go through a gate that resembled a concentration camp ! So weird. We didn't bother even trying - it was mobbed. So we took a walk along the fenced off promenade instead - absolutely no unauthorized access to this beautiful coastline, with a huge fence and rolls of barbed wire for miles. Why ?????

So we took ourselves off to nearby Yesilkoy (pronounced yesh-il-ko) - not by bus as we took the wrong one, got thrown off at the end of the line, and resorted to a "tacsi". What a litte gem of a town this is, Very European feeling - small enough to walk around, but so many shops, cafes and bars. We found an estate agent, booked an appointment for 2pm and went for a Turkish coffee (kahve). These take some getting used to, but I keep trying. When in Rome .......

And it was at 2pm that the fun began. In the next 3 hours we saw 7 apartments. The first 3 were too big, out of our price range, out of town, and badly advised by a money-grabbing woman who thought she saw "rich ex-pat" written on our foreheads. Needless to say she didn't last long. One of them we didn't even go into, and 2 are possibles - but probably not. 

One was 40 years old and has recently been vacated by the owners  and their 3 children. To use the agent's words - it looks like a "shit-hole" but he promised it would be cleaned. (Ffion and Catrin - if you read this - it was 10 times worse than anything I have ever seen in your bedrooms ! ). I could see past the mess but Paul's nose was wrinkled for quite some time. Another had an olympic sized swimming pool next to the beach, but was on the top floor (4 flights) with no lift. And it was only 2 bedrooms. And very ugly. 

So - with our potential visitors in mind all have been rejected and the quest continues on Wednesday. To whet your appetites though, the picture below shows Yesilkoy beach. You will have to enjoy it as it doesn't look as if we will be getting a swimming pool ! 

To finish a very eventful day we met 2 Turkishair pilots for a drink, who regaled us with stories about life in the company and the country. Very informative and worthwhile and left us in the knowledge that we have made the right decision. (Ask us that one again in a few weeks !!)

Oh - humidity - must have been on a par with Singapore today. Apparently it only goes on for around 6 weeks - and we are in day 2 ! Looks like we brought it over with us. So lots of washing lining up, but I still can't get the nice guy at the front desk to understand what a clothes airer is - even though I did carefully write it down and stick it under his nose.

So - off to look around Istanbul city tomorrow - no idea where we will go or what we will do. Will just have to see where the transport takes us. Lunch on the Bosphorous sounds good though.

Day 1 (cont'd) - Efes, Shopping and Eating Out

And the roller coaster continues into the evening.  But first back to shopping for food this afternoon. We didn't have a clue what we were buying, and only came out with milk, biscuits and toiletries. Most were ok - apart from the milk which Paul put in his tea - turned out to be runny yogurt ! Made for a messy cup of tea. Also bought our first 2 Efes - not a bad drop. (Just as well as the restaurant we ate at later was dry !)

Oh - and when I mentioned us having difficulty with the language earlier - just look at the texts we are getting through from our new phones ! Where do we start ???

Lovely temperature when we went out for the evening- 33 deg at 6:30pm. But far less humidity than what we are used to. So we chose to walk 2.5km to the nearest metro station to get some travel cards and suss the travelling out. Also - taken the decision to leave the bikes in their bags until Paul's training is over at the end of August. Too many unknowns in terms of routes, traffic, safety, workload, etc. And no public gyms around - that we can see. So Shank's Pony is our method  of exercise for the next few weeks.

So we walked through some very dirty and very busy streets, the unstable pavements precarious under foot. (Singapore - you spoiled us  !). Got to the Metro "station" to find that its little more than a tram stop. Once again Turkish hospitality prevailed - when a very kind passer-by helped us buy our tickets. So tomorrow we learn how to use them and where they will take us !

Walked back the 2.5km, had some Turkish food at a restaurant next door (a dry restaurant ! ) and its home to get some sleep. Paul is currently counting the TV channels - over 1000 - and not one in English !

Sorry if this blog is a bit depressing - the enormity of our decision is hitting us today ! But tomorrow we meet with a Turksihair colleague for lunch. Never met him, but someone gave us his name, and he is coming armed with lots of info on what we need to do to live here comfortably. Its a whole new ball-game visiting a place when you will be a resident rather than a tourist ! We've promised ourselves a day in the big city on Tue or Wed - looking forward to that !

To end on a more lovely note - the really nice guy who welcomed us with coffee this morning has just knocked on the door with extra towels and sheets, and also a fan for the bedroom. And we never even asked for them.

I think the kindness of the people here is going to be (once again) at the heart of our lives in our new home environment.

Day 1 - Arriving in Bakirkoy (Near the airport)

So..... this blog has been set up to (1) let those who are interested know how we are settling in; (2) to give others who are moving to a foreign country an insight into how it feels; and (3) (most importantly) to preserve my sanity. Bear with me - this is the first blog I have ever written and I don't know what I'm doing - it will improve over time)

After an amazing send-off by our cycling friends at the airport (and 5 weeks of saying goodbye to all our friends in Singapore) we boarded the overnight flight to Istanbul. We even got our beloved bikes on board for the small sum of $190 for two - not bad for all that extra luggage. Got a few hours sleep and arrived at the airport at 5:30am.

PROBLEM NUMBER 1 - the bikes didn't come through til 7:30am. First realization that our limited (non-existent) version of Turkish is going to cause us a problem. But they did get through - so we loaded two trollies with 9 pieces of luggage and went in search of a taxi.

PROBLEM NUMBER 2 - We were approached by a nice man at the arrivals who seemed unfazed by the extent of the luggage. He could get us a taxi. So we followed him onto the rooftop of a car park, where a huge white van was waiting. After much heaving and struggling the bags and bikes were all loaded. Short lived sigh of relief. The money-grabbing bugger only wanted 400 Turkish Lira(TL) for the 15 minute ride. That's 100 GBP !! So much for the savings on the baggage allowance ! We were stuck on the roof with 9 bags and too tired to argue. 

Got to our apartment - which we couldn't check in to until noon - but at least the guy at the desk restored our faith in humanity with a cup of coffee and a smile. 

Off we went for a walk around the area - The marina is lovely - full of working shipping boats on one side, and huge multi-million dollar yachts on the other. Had a lovely breakfast - started to learn new words - and left feeling optimistic for the times ahead. 

Went to a phone shop and successfully bought 2 new sim cards - pay-as-you-go - and we did - another 340 TL gone (divide by 4 for GBP, by 2 for SGD). So now we are set up to communicate with the outside world.

PROBLEM NUMBER 3 - as long as the outside world is only in Turkey or we can get free wifi !!! Communication was once again non-existent in the phone shop - but they were lovely people none the less.

Then - back to check in at the apartment - after trying to find the local metro station which wasn't where google maps says and it had shut down some years ago. So that's tonight's challenge. 

So - the apartment - clean, airy, nice friendly staff, living room, kitchen, bedroom and even a washing machine. 

PROBLEM NUMBER 4 - I can't work the damn washing machine ! Had to resort to yellow stickies. Only found out when I tried to go for an afternoon nap to find that the thin blanket (no top sheet) was still wet after it was washed this morning. Where is my promised tumble drier ?

BEST SOLUTION SO FAR - I resorted to my lovely new friend Bercin Geezer (who lived in Singapore, and is moving to Istanbul next month when her husband Karl starts work the same day as Paul). Bercin translated "Clothes airer " for me. I can now go to reception and ask for one. And some towels and a top sheet. 

SO - WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ? AND WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO ? 

1. Learn Turkish - pretty damn quick

2. Resort to the new translation app that's downloaded onto our phone in the meantime.

3. Make sure our data usage is very limited when not in wifi (pay-as-you-go is expensive)

4. Find the metro station - we're told its only 1km away

5. Find an agent to help us choose an apartment

Signing off now - we need to shower, clear our heads, and get out to do more searching of the area. Lets hope things improve a bit once we are less tired.