Yesterday I wrote about what I missed the most about home. Today, I want to share what I love most about Istanbul.
1. Food glorious food!!
2. Warm, friendly, hospitable Turks.
3. Excellent metro system - frequent and rarely any problems (so far!)
4. The Bosphorus.
5. Çay!
6. The sights and sounds of Sultanahmet.
7. Credit card 'taksit' - if you pay by credit card, you can spread the payment over however many months you like!
8. Discount for cash! And not just in Sultanahmet. I bought shoes in Nine West recently and they gave me a 10% discount for cash!
9. Cheaper labour = more affordable services. From 10YTL blow waves to car washing/vac for less than 10YTL, tailoring pants for a fiver, or even for free. Yes, the tailor fixed something up for me for free!
10. Para Puan. Points accumulated on credit card can be spent like cash. We paid for 50YTL of supermarket shopping with points!
11. Dolmuş. Small version of a bus, but operated privately. One any route, it will stop where ever you want. Great service!
12. Akbil. An electronic key that you load money onto to pay for trips on transport like bus, metro, tram, funicular, sea bus and ferry, but not the dolmuş. The fare is 10% lower than using the standard token. Australia should get onto this!!
13. Cheaper public transport. On all of the above forms of transport-regardless of distance- is 1.20YTL. Love it!
14. Taxi's. Easy to find and cheap to use!
15. Fish and fish restaurants. You can eat a great meal of fresh fish caught from the Black Sea of Bosphorus for less than 15YTL.
16. Open hours. Most malls and shops are open for longer hours. Malls usually from 10am to 10pm, 7 days.
17. Buy now, pay later. Sometimes if you don't have the right change and the local shop, bakkal, doesn't have any either, they tell you to pay next time, no problems at all. Even in a taxi twice, the drive had no change, so it was a free ride. This would never happen at home!
18. Diverse areas of town from Bebek to Balat.
19. Never ending list of things to see, do and learn about.
20. Snow! The first country I have lived in where it truly snows in winter. An amazing sight for someone from Australia!
1. Food glorious food!!
2. Warm, friendly, hospitable Turks.
3. Excellent metro system - frequent and rarely any problems (so far!)
4. The Bosphorus.
5. Çay!
6. The sights and sounds of Sultanahmet.
7. Credit card 'taksit' - if you pay by credit card, you can spread the payment over however many months you like!
8. Discount for cash! And not just in Sultanahmet. I bought shoes in Nine West recently and they gave me a 10% discount for cash!
9. Cheaper labour = more affordable services. From 10YTL blow waves to car washing/vac for less than 10YTL, tailoring pants for a fiver, or even for free. Yes, the tailor fixed something up for me for free!
10. Para Puan. Points accumulated on credit card can be spent like cash. We paid for 50YTL of supermarket shopping with points!
11. Dolmuş. Small version of a bus, but operated privately. One any route, it will stop where ever you want. Great service!
12. Akbil. An electronic key that you load money onto to pay for trips on transport like bus, metro, tram, funicular, sea bus and ferry, but not the dolmuş. The fare is 10% lower than using the standard token. Australia should get onto this!!
13. Cheaper public transport. On all of the above forms of transport-regardless of distance- is 1.20YTL. Love it!
14. Taxi's. Easy to find and cheap to use!
15. Fish and fish restaurants. You can eat a great meal of fresh fish caught from the Black Sea of Bosphorus for less than 15YTL.
16. Open hours. Most malls and shops are open for longer hours. Malls usually from 10am to 10pm, 7 days.
17. Buy now, pay later. Sometimes if you don't have the right change and the local shop, bakkal, doesn't have any either, they tell you to pay next time, no problems at all. Even in a taxi twice, the drive had no change, so it was a free ride. This would never happen at home!
18. Diverse areas of town from Bebek to Balat.
19. Never ending list of things to see, do and learn about.
20. Snow! The first country I have lived in where it truly snows in winter. An amazing sight for someone from Australia!
3 comments:
These are great oids, Istanbul is a diverse and interesting city. I can't wait to be there again. See you in 13 sleeps xx
I love lists and yes I can't wait for the snow! I want to add a few: 21. How so many people here adore children and go out of their way to help mothers.
22. The history - it is just dripping with it here.
23. Iskender. Mmmmm!
k, can't believe only 13 sleeps. It will come around quickly!
V, 21, 22 and 23 are all true! Also, another one is kuru fasulye, which i love!!
Post a Comment