Day 61 - Europe 2011

Day 61 - Sunday, July 24, 2011 - Hotel Fahri, Instanbul

I got up at 6:00. Tried to check my e-mail but had trouble getting a connection. I updated my journal. I then went down to the lobby for b'fast and asked for the hotel password for the Hotel Fahri router. B'fast was on the 7th floor terrace. Quite a beautiful view of the harbour but spoiled by a couple of satellite dishes. Very sunny and bright. Lots of fresh fruit for b'fast plus cheeses, cold cuts, hard boiled eggs, etc I had fruit and tea for my b'fast. A couple seagulls, who were sitting on the open window ledge not 2 feet away from me, also wanted to join me for b'fast. I took some photos.
Went back to my room and lay down again for a couple of hours. I again tried getting on the Internet using the password that the hotel manager had given me. This time I was able to connect to the hotel router and had a much better connection. I typed up Day 59 & 60 blogs. I had another hours rest and then decided to go out for a walk to the water front but it was much to hot to be enjoyable. The temperature felt like it was 40C plus. I went back to the hotel and asked about transport to the airport. The manager said it would cost 45E or 100 TL. I also asked if I could pay by VISA. He wanted cash only. I went back to the train station, which was not to far off, and got another 200 TL and returned to hotel. I managed to get transport reduced to 80 TL and paid for both hotel and taxi which I booked for 8 AM Monday. I also remembered to ask for a receipt.
I went out for a short walk and and had a bite to eat. It was still very hot and it didn't take long for me to work up a sweat. I stopped at a restaurant in an alleyway which was partially covered with awnings and ordered a sort of paninni/pizza and tea. While waiting for my food to arrive, the restaurant manager, who was sitting outside in the alleyway chatting with his friends, was splattered by some seagull poop. One of the waiters brought out a glass of water so he could wash his arms where he got hit. The food was not so tasty or maybe it was just my appetite as I wasn't feeling all that great after my 23 hour train trip from Bucharest to Istanbul.
I returned to the hotel and had another rest. I again checked my e-mail and Facebook. I was able to chat with my sister, Mary Jean, in Oakville on FB. I went down to the lobby and got permission to go to the basement to remove the peddles on my bike. The hotel manager introduced me to the taxi driver who would be taking me to the airport. He has a nice VW van so transporting my bike wouldn't be a problem.
In the evening, when it had cooled down a bit, I went for a walk in the opposite direction. There were several interesting restaurants and shops selling all sorts of exotic Asian paraphernalia. I tried to do a walk around a square block but ended up in a dead end. I retraced my steps and stopped at a Turkish restaurant for dinner. I ordered Chicken Shishkebab, rice, tomato, cucumber, yogurt and tea. A couple sitting near me had ordered a special Turkish dish which came in a sealed clay pot that looked like an urn. The pot came out of the kitchen on a tray with flames all around it. It was placed on a table which had been set up on the street in front of the restaurant patio. A chef who had been standing around doing absolutely nothing since I had arrived then took over. He put on a pair of heavy duty gloves and wrapped a towel around the bottom of the clay urn. He had a heavy metal rod such as used for sharpening knives and I realized he was going to lop the top of the urn off with it. I had my camera ready as did the couple who had ordered the meal. It was quite a show. I took several shots and was able to get the actual top flying off and some of the contents spraying about. The chef then flipped the clay pot over dumping the contents onto a platter and it was served to the customers. I have no idea what this special meal was called.
I returned to the hotel and after doing some research on the Internet had an early night.