Istanbul | It’s been a blast - Thank You!

Did anyone else notice coming back from Istanbul and going home through Manchester how clean, green, organised, traffic free, and in general how good Manchester looked compared to Istanbul? TBH I was pretty shocked, but happy with the difference, and I was glad to be home.

This first thing I did was have a cup of tea.
 
jrb said:
Did anyone else notice coming back from Istanbul and going home through Manchester how clean, green, organised, traffic free, and in general how good Manchester looked compared to Istanbul? TBH I was pretty shocked, but happy with the difference, and I was glad to be home.

This first thing I did was have a cup of tea.
Click to expand...

tbf - I was fortunate enough to cram in some sightseeing during the trip. If you managed to drag yourself away from the lively Nevizade street & chaotic Taksim area there were some beautiful areas in Istanbul.

Stumbled across Gulhane Park which was next to Topkapi Palace & it was like an oasis amidst the city population. Certainly took me by surprise & also grew fond of using the public ferries to get to different parts of the city all for about £1 return. Definitely agree about the signposting of public services - non existent & the city council really should have used this event to upgrade it for tourists & locals alike what with all the money that was pumped in from UEFA & especially us lot.

Tea - bloody hell mate, every where I went tea was available. Used the mornings to soak up the previous evening's alcohol consumption by indulging in the infamous Turkish breakfast. Not quite your fry-up & certainly healthier but did the job with unlimited refills of tea.
 
hammersmithlad said:
tbf - I was fortunate enough to cram in some sightseeing during the trip. If you managed to drag yourself away from the lively Nevizade street & chaotic Taksim area there were some beautiful areas in Istanbul.

Stumbled across Gulhane Park which was next to Topkapi Palace & it was like an oasis amidst the city population. Certainly took me by surprise & also grew fond of using the public ferries to get to different parts of the city all for about £1 return. Definitely agree about the signposting of public services - non existent & the city council really should have used this event to upgrade it for tourists & locals alike what with all the money that was pumped in from UEFA & especially us lot.

Tea - bloody hell mate, every where I went tea was available. Used the mornings to soak up the previous evening's alcohol consumption by indulging in the infamous Turkish breakfast. Not quite your fry-up & certainly healthier but did the job with unlimited refills of tea.
Click to expand...

TBH I didn't. I had one spare day at the end of my 5 day trip, but looking at the traveling times, transport changes, Metro, finding the bus stops, walking distances, etc, I decided to stay local.

I wanted to visit Besiktas where the Inter fans were as I'd read plenty about the area and how nice it was. Wish I had. Also the Blue Mosque, the Bazar, etc. Unfortunately drink and celebrations put paid to that.

My comments were in general about Istanbul, walking around the city centre, traveling by taxi, train, etc.

Istanbul's appearance aside in parts, the locals were very friendly and brilliant, and the food was superb.

When I was walking around the city centre I stumbled across the lighting district. Street after Street full of shops selling ceiling lights, lamps, bulbs, etc. All the lights were on in every shop, and I talking hundreds of lights . The electricity bill for each shop must be enormous.
 
jrb said:
Did anyone else notice coming back from Istanbul and going home through Manchester how clean, green, organised, traffic free, and in general how good Manchester looked compared to Istanbul? TBH I was pretty shocked, but happy with the difference, and I was glad to be home.

This first thing I did was have a cup of tea.
Click to expand...
But first I noticed how shit and embarrassing our permanently portacabin airport was.
 
kerem gokmen said:
a very interesting experience for me, from friday night, about turkish police :)))
we, turkish citizens, esp if you are an opposition guy, we have never had good relations with police. in the streets, in the stadium etc; they do not behave us well...they are so arrogant to us. anyway.
on friday night i met with steve at vera pub, for half an hour i was with them with my dickov jersey; there were some turkish fans there, they thought that i am from UK first, many people thought that i was from UK that day. anyway... i gave some torches to steve and his friends; also gave some to turkish guys. then a police came (a civil police-in clothes, there were many that day) and got angry with turkish fans because of torches (they couldnt warn enlishg fans with torches but turks). the turkish guys pointed at me, implying that they got the torches from me, so blame on me.
police looked at me, tought that i am from UK, and just turned his head and go away. :)))))))) it was a funny and strange moment for me, for the first time in my life, turkish police hesitated, reluctant against me:))))
thanks:)) good feeling....
Click to expand...
Dye your hair blonde and change your name to Dave
 
GaudinoMotors said:
But first I noticed how shit and embarrassing our permanently portacabin airport was.
Click to expand...

On the way back I dropped and lost my passport in the airport after passing through security. I was wondering around like a nervous wreck trying to find it. If I couldn't find it I was fucked. I eventually found two Pegasus staff, asked them if a lost passport had been handed in, one of them held up a passport, asked me my name, and handed it over to me. I shook his hand. In all honesty I wanted to give him a massive hug.
 
jrb said:
Did anyone else notice coming back from Istanbul and going home through Manchester how clean, green, organised, traffic free, and in general how good Manchester looked compared to Istanbul?
Click to expand...

! Try Piccadilly Gardens on a Sunday morning after the Saturday night collective piss up…

That said: watched Topkapi the other night for the first time since I saw it in the cinema in 1964!! In honour of the final.
Cracking film. Istanbul then did not look particularly clean, and it certainly looked chaotic. But it also looked really fascinating, and the Bosphorus seems to have a certain grandeur to it. When you think what episodes in history that narrow stretch of water has seen. One of the few European capitals that I wish I'd visited and haven't.
 
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