Singinalot's 2023 Land Trip to Istanbul, Cappadocia, Rome, Amalfi Coast, & Florence

[bobmacliberty]

Is pickpocketing a problem in Istanbul?  I would imagine that Nate is sort of a natural deterrent for pickpockets though.  

[Guest]

16 hours ago, 1Lina said:

Hi there, 

I’m not a “foodie” but I do love to shop! 😂

Love your Gucci wallet. Do you know the name of this style? PS love your post 

 

 

I love to shop, too, and may have made a couple of purchases on this trip… 😉

I bought the wallet last year at Gucci Paris. I thought I saved the receipt but can’t find it for the name.

 

15 hours ago, NHProud said:

This is where we stayed . It was about 10 years ago . Our taxi was greeted with guards checking the undercarriage of the car with mirrors. They checked the inside, too . 

 

We mostly went to museums and I do remember my hubby telling me that my haul of Turkish delight at the bazaar was getting too big .  
 

 

 

 

I know someone that was staying there at the same time we were in town. The rooftop has a bar and restaurant I think?

13 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

Was that Nate saying "Holy crap, it's like a mountain". 😅

 

I guess it is hillier than it looks in the photo's!

 

 

 

hahaha yep!!! wait until you see our steps for the day and flights climbed

12 hours ago, #55worktoplay said:

Really enjoying your pictures and videos. That church was absolutely beautiful.

 

Thanks so much.

 

Thank you so much! I love old churches. 

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

Is pickpocketing a problem in Istanbul?  I would imagine that Nate is sort of a natural deterrent for pickpockets though.  

I didn’t see or hear anything about pickpocketing, BUT yes, he is usually a natural deterrent. 🤣

he did, however, fall for the shoe shine scam, I didn’t have a chance to warn him. He thought he was just being a nice guy by handing the guy’s brush to him and it quickly went in to “let me shine your shoes brother. thank you” and then “that’ll be 200 lira” 🤣

I yelled at the guy and gave him 150.

[Guest]

 

 

After dinner we decided to walk some more of the city and headed in the direction of the water.

 

we walked through a mini bazaar

 

[Guest]

 

 

[Guest]

we came to a sidewalk and park on the water that seemed to be a major locals hangout ❤️

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

we headed back towards our hotel

and stopped in Sultan Ahmet Park. This park is in the center of Hagia Sophia & the Blue Mosque. 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

The Green Corner is a shisha lounge right by the hotel. I thought I could get a glass of wine while we listened to some music, but was mistaken. Neither of us are smokers but we did try it…and didn’t enjoy it. 🤣 but when in “Rome”..:.

 

 

 

[#55worktoplay]

I had to google what a shush’s lounge was because I never heard of it. 😀. Wouldn’t be for me and good in you for trying it, I wouldn’t have. 
 

 

[Guest]

We walked back to the hotel and ordered a snack in the courtyard before bed

 

 

 

[Guest]

Who’s ready for another full day in Istanbul? So much to see in this giant, lively city!

 

The hotel provides complimentary breakfast in 2 of their restaurants. I will say this was the only day we partook. We either slept in other days, or went somewhere else.

 

view from the restaurant terrace

 

the terrace 

[Guest]

So, the Hagia Sofia Mansions has a spa, Sarnic. They offer massages, the cistern pool, a sauna, etc. For 40 minutes in the cistern it is 50 euros, but with our Hilton status, it was 40. I booked us for 10am. 

It’s completely worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bobmacliberty]

35 minutes ago, singinalot said:

So, the Hagia Sofia Mansions has a spa, Sarnic. They offer massages, the cistern pool, a sauna, etc. For 40 minutes in the cistern it is 50 euros, but with our Hilton status, it was 40. I booked us for 10am. 

It’s completely worth it.

 

 

IMG_0620.mov 40.41 MB · 1 download  

 

 

 

IMG_0615.mov 29.55 MB · 1 download  

 

 

 

That looks amazing!

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

That looks amazing!

it was! such a cool experience. it was so peaceful, too

[Ozark_Kid]

1 hour ago, singinalot said:

So, the Hagia Sofia Mansions has a spa, Sarnic. They offer massages, the cistern pool, a sauna, etc. For 40 minutes in the cistern it is 50 euros, but with our Hilton status, it was 40. I booked us for 10am. 

It’s completely worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That is really nice!  do they just let one party in at a time?  The size of it is nice.  That would of been to hard to turn down!

[Guest]

45 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

That is really nice!  do they just let one party in at a time?  The size of it is nice.  That would of been to hard to turn down!

 

only one party at a time! I really appreciated that. Definitely hard to turn down. I had questioned doing it, but once we were there I knew I wanted the experience.

 

stay tuned for more cistern

[PurpleTraveller]

9 hours ago, singinalot said:

❤️

 

 

Gorgeous photo of you!

 

Thanks for giving us such great detail of your trip. I'm thoroughly enjoying reading of your travels.

[Guest]

13 hours ago, PurpleTraveller said:

 

Gorgeous photo of you!

 

Thanks for giving us such great detail of your trip. I'm thoroughly enjoying reading of your travels.

 

thank you so much!

[Guest]

After swimming in the cistern, I quickly changed and headed out to explore a bit while Nate napped.

 

a walk back through the park

 

 

 

 

 

 

picked up a semit with cream cheese for nate

 

 

[dani negreanu]

4 hours ago, singinalot said:

a walk back through the park

 

Finally I've overcame a problem with my computer and managed to see your movies. Yay !!

[Guest]

2 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Finally I've overcame a problem with my computer and managed to see your movies. Yay !!

 

 

oh good I’m so glad!!! 

I hate that it for some reason doesn’t let everyone see them. Back in the days I used to have my travel camera and used my laptop to upload everything but with only using my phone now it leaves a gap in digital experience 😞

[Guest]

i had a goal in mind while on my walk: find a cool lunch spot. I passed several cute cafes and felt we’d be happy with any one of them, but then I spotted the Panoramic Restaurant and knew we had to go there! I’m a sucker for a view.

I quickly collected Nate and we made our way to the restaurant. This one had an elevator! It’s the small joys.

 

 

 

theres that panoramic view!

 

 

my halloumi salad was delicious! Nate got the chicken kabob. We tended to eat much the same dishes throughout the trip and never had a bad meal. So much more food to come!

 

the inside portion of the restaurant, but of course, we sat on the balcony

 

 

 

 

 

[Jimbo]

On 8/18/2023 at 9:56 AM, singinalot said:

Nate found his McDs

 

oops

 

 

 

Roasted Corn, wonder how they cook that? Husk on or off? I have to try that with corn out of our garden.

[Guest]

17 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Roasted Corn, wonder how they cook that? Husk on or off? I have to try that with corn out of our garden.

 

Husk off! They actually cook it right there. Behind the corn in the pic is a little round grill pan. We watched them brush the corn back and forth repeatedly across the top. The smell was so good! 

[Guest]

This Istanbul day was both of our favorites. 

After lunch we headed to the Eminonu port to find out about ferries or tours up and down the Bosphorus. Admittedly, I was nervous about this and had watched several Youtube videos on how to do it.

 

When you get to the port, this is the building to look for:

 

 

[majmaj4]

Do you know if you can book the Mansions spa if you are not staying there?