FourSquare Map of Istanbul Stops

After yesterday’s fifteen mile death march to every tourist location in Istanbul it seemed like an activity that involved sitting would be a good choice. So, I got a cab and set out to do a cruise of the Bosphorus. I made it down there only to learn… the cruise had been cancelled because there were sailing races going on today. No problem, I had planned on heading back to the Spice Bazaar to collect some souvenirs anyway and that’s right near by. Oh wait, you mean that’s closed on Sunday!? Well never mind then. It was also oppressively hot today so having been twice defeated now I returned to the hotel for some air conditioning and to regroup.

Having hit things so hard yesterday I was having a hard time coming up with other options so I decided to try another local place by me and walked to Nese Manti Waffle for lunch. It was good, the way the Turks do ravioli is interesting and delicious.

Now being full of pasta, hot and still tired from yesterday I decided to just head back to the hotel to recoup for the afternoon. Given my bad luck so far today I had prepared a couple of back up plans for dinner. I was hoping to do another rooftop so I could get some Istanbul sunset pictures. As I’m leaving I get another email from the State Department. Don’t go near Taksim Square today, there’s a huge rally taking place. Great, that was one of my options. The first one is right across the street from my hotel so I head there. …and naturally it’s booked out for a wedding that evening. Ok, I know I’m not supposed to go near Taksim but let’s see what the excitement is about.

It’s total insanity. People are peaceful but the sheer number of folks who have turned out is mind boggling. I wouldn’t venture into a crowd like this even at home. So, dinner plans are totally dashed.

While I hate to just eat at the hotel it looks like that’s how it’s going to go so I head to the Brasserie downstairs for dinner. I’m glad a did, though. The food was great and the service was superlative. But I guess that’s to be expected from the St. Regis. Hit it off with my waiter because it turned out that he lived in Aspen for a time. After an initial, “what are the odds!?” we conclude they are pretty good since he works for the St. Regis and was working at the hotel there…