Back To Beyoglu

 

Checkout time for most Airbnbs is 11 am.  It takes about an hour get to Atlanta Airport from Roswell.  Return car then board the SkyTrain to get to the Domestic Terminal.  Grab the shuttle to the International Terminal (about 20 minutes depending on traffic).  My flight out was at 9:25 pm.

There is always a lot of waiting around all these events.  Taking my time to get to the airport (get gas, lunch, and do any last-minute shopping), loading luggage in and out of shuttles, standing in line to check in my bag, enduring security, sitting at the gate.  All in preparation for a bear of an overnight flight (11 hours).

The flight was a flight.  Not good or bad, despite sitting in a middle seat.  Turkish Airlines always has decent service and good food.  There weren’t too many screaming kids (I still vividly remember my first flight with the airline back in May – oy).  It surprises me to realize how accustomed I’ve become to the whole process.  It’s still a pain in the butt and completely exhausting, but the process gets me where I want to be.  That makes it worth it.

Landing back in Istanbul served as a hard reset.  It felt like coming back to my home away from the place I really want to be my home (Portugal).  My tropical ‘vacation’ seemed like more of a nightmare to be quickly forgotten – except for the fact that my arms and legs were still covered in calamine lotion (thanks, Jamaica!).  Now it was back to this new version of my reality. 

Though … I did miss the island’s warmth.  It was cold and a bit rainy when I landed in the city.  Can’t say I was looking forward to dealing with that again.  In hindsight, I really did the last few months backwards.  If I had had any sense, I would have planned to spend autumn in Türkiye and spend winter on Madeira, but I didn’t think that far ahead.

And yes, I know the beautiful country of Türkiye is more than just Istanbul.  I just can’t motivate myself to leave the city.  I really do love it.  Istanbul is like nothing I have ever encountered.  

                                                    (See anything odd with this picture?)

Walking along the Bosphorus has got to be one of my favorite things ever, particularly during the call to prayer.  I’ve already gushed about Turkish breakfast – this time with fire!

And it’s even better in the city when it’s not raining every five minutes – yay!

Granted, I could speak to and understand the Jamaicans (in theory).  The Turks sometimes sound like they’re speaking backwards. 

Kül | Resmi Fragman | Netflix (youtube.com) watch with subtitles and you’ll see what I mean.

And that’s not to insult the Turks or their language.  I’m just saying that I’m a dumb American and their language is way too much for me to process.   Needless to say, I still only know a few words in Turkish.  I’m still training my brain to even understand phrases.

I wanted to get another apartment in the Balat neighborhood (maybe even the one I had the first time I was in the city), but the cheap, available place was again in Beyoglu.  I was stunned when the taxi driver drove up the street I stayed on last time. “Hey!  I recognize this street (just don’t ask me to name it)!”  I’m getting to know the city.  Cool!

The new place is on the other side of Istiklal Street and it’s another place that’s really only suited for short term rentals.  The apartment is very small and doesn’t get a lot of light.  Even the two windows in the living room face other buildings so the sunlight is filtered.  The bedroom is the darkest. 

It’s fine at 2 am, but when it looks exactly the same at 10 am, it makes it very difficult to judge the time.  Hard to get out of bed, too.  Not because the bed was so comfortable (it wasn’t), but after waking up in the night, I’d try to go back to sleep.  Call to prayer at 6:45.   Try to go back to sleep.  It’s suddenly 9:30. I’m still tired, it’s still dark, but I figure I should get up.  I guess.

Then there’s this.  This is the weirdest bathroom setup I’ve ever seen with the toilet and the shower being in their own small closets.  If you’re a bigger person, there’s no way you’re getting to the toilet.  It’s far too narrow.  And while the shower stall is a decent size, the area around the sink is too tiny to do much of anything, even dry yourself off. 

The bedroom is just big enough for the bed with no closet space.  The flooring is uneven and moved under my feet.  The thresholds for every room are large enough to trip on if you’re not careful.  There is a car lot just outside the living room window – lots of horns honking and raised Turkish voices at all hours of the day and night. 

There’s a hotel next door and for some reason, they insist on washing every dish in the universe after 10 at night.  The sound of clinking plates was so loud and went on for so long one night that I eventually got up to go to the slightly less loud living room until the noise in the bedroom stopped.

Not my favorite Airbnb experience.  I’ll still take it over that shack in Negril any day of the week.

This apartment was closer to the touristy action than the last place I had in Beyoglu.  Take a left out of the apartment, walk to the end of the block, take a left and two blocks later, you’re on Istiklal Street.  Can’t get more convenient than that. 

Even post-Christmas, the street was still hopping.  It was nice to have access to it without having to go too far.  I don’t think I mentioned it earlier, but the police presence is almost as heavy as it was before Christmas.  If they’re not walking along the street or driving down it, there are closed off areas where they keep watch.  These folks are openly carrying rifles across their chests.  I didn’t get a picture for fear of being shot, but that was my only fear.  They weren’t paying any attention to me and I never saw them arresting anyone.  I figure they were there less for the shoppers and more because of possible international terrorism.  Türkiye borders Iran, Iraq, and Syria to the south, so there have been issues there.  Istanbul is about as far north in the country as you can get from the Middle East, but it’s still a major city that could possibly be targeted. 

My concern is more for earthquakes than terrorism.  I’ve seen too many reports talking about the vulnerability of the city, particularly after the big quake experienced in southern Türkiye last year.  It’s a risk (I really don’t do the whole ground-shaking thing – not even a tremor) but, like I said, I do love this city.

And I still highly recommend a visit (preferably in the spring or autumn). There has been an update to the Turkish visa process for 2024.  Americans are no longer required to obtain an e-visa before travel.  I’m not sure how that works, though.  I’m still on the visa I got back in November, so I’m assuming that the 90-day limit still applies from that.  I think that you can only stay for 90 days total once you enter the country going forward, but I don’t know if that includes re-entry.  If anyone wants to visit from the U.S., please do your research as things are changing all the time.