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Istanbul in October 2011
Text: Siw
Haugnes
Photo: Siw Haugnes and
Arild Burud
Note: Photos may be used
if identified. Photos with persons may not be used.
(As usual, most of the photos are clickable.)
Dear Mum became 70 this winter. What she wanted most was a
short trip with her loved ones. Thats me, husband, children, brother,
sis-in-law and more. We didn't hesitate to say, Hey, that's a good
idea.
But where to? Well, there are a few places to choose from:
Paris, Andalusia, Corsica, Rome...
She found the places she had been to and got to know
uninteresting
this time, like The British Isles, Prague,
Stockholm, Gibraltar...
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Photo above: We left
early and felt foggy.
Photo left: A most wanted
dinner (1st day).
We settled for Istanbul
in October 2011. Temperature (perfect), culture (Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Agia Sophia etc.),
costs, time on travel and the fact that most of us were new to
Istanbul,
weighed a lot.
Wednesday October 5. all ten of us came to the airport early
in the morning. Too early, if you look at the photo above. Some of us
slept on the plane, enough that what we wanted most after arriving, was
to take a look around and get us something to eat.
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What Mum wanted to do was the same as the rest of us - and a bit too
much for three whole and two half days:
 We agreed that we did what we wanted and
used what time we wanted. No rush!
We could join and split and eat and relax and enjoy our time
when we needed and wanted to.
The point was to have a good time in Istanbul.
Thursday we walked to The
Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern and had lunch. Some wanted bazaar/market while some wanted to the
Orient
Express (right), so we did.
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The first night we (Dimos) noticed that the hotel had a pool
table. Of course he and the younger boys had to try a few frames. Every
night.
Friday we wanted to go to Asia by boat and bus, and planned
for Turkish bath (hamam)
afterwards.
I most certainly enjoyed to take the bus from the harbour to
the top. It was full of people, pupils, old and young grownups, talking
and laughter.
An observant man tried to get one of the girls to act as our
guide at the top. Nice of him to think like that.
The view was lovely, but the mist... It ruined most of the
pictures, see one to the right.
Only six of us went to Cemberlitas Hamam and was
bathed, scrubbed and got a massage. That was lovely.
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Friday night Air Baltic told us they had canceled our plane
from Riga to
Oslo Sunday night. They had a few suggestions to solve the problem.
By the time the ten of us had agreed on what to do, many of
the other passengers had changed their plans. Air Baltic had found a
substitute plane, smaller, but there was room for us. I would have
loved one more day in Istanbul.
Saturday morning I spent at the hotel's roof, taking pictures of the view. The rest of the
day we relaxed before celebrating Mum once more. The mid-picture under
was taken during that dinner.
Sunday was rainy and we were departing. Some walked - in the
rain - to Agia Sophia, became VERY wet, got to see the former church
and mosque, now a museum, and to see graffitties by Halvdan, the viking.
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Added October 23. 2011
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