Istanbul: Walks of Turkey shows you the mystery, the splendor, the sites

Istanbul, Turkey

with Walks of Turkey

Is there any other country that evokes such mystery, history and assault to your  senses in color, sounds, smells and tastes?

Day ONE:  Mosques and More

When Walks of Turkey was launched earlier this year I KNEW this way the way I could travel solo and be confident I would see everything and learn more.   The exceptional reputation of Walks of Italy assured me I would have a similar experience in 

exotic Istanbul.

  It was a great pleasure to be invited on two of the tours Walks of Turkey offer and the photos only tell a portion of the wonderful two day events I experienced.   I also learned a great deal about solo travel to exotic locations.

From the roof terrace in my hotel I had a view of everything.  This day started hazy

 The covered colonnade surrounding the interior courtyard of the                                            Blue Mosque

Before 9 am this popular site is less crowded but within an hours hundreds and hundreds of visitors flooded the interior

 We were prepared with scarves to cover our hair (women) and plastic bags were handed out to put our shoes into.  The entire interior was carpeted.  Our guide told us that year ago fine carpets lined the floor, either from donations or gifts.

Our guide Duygu, on day one was amazing and made all the difference.
She knew more history than my brain could absorb but went beyond the Ottoman Empire and told us
about religious customs, beliefs and practices.

No question was off limits but the three (tourists) were respectful:

Why are there only men working in the shops?
How many times a day are the devout called to prayers?
Is there a separate place in the mosque for women?
and on and on.....but she NEVER tired nor did she ever say 'I don't know".

Next stop:  Hagia Sofia:   Here it was not just the architecture but the history of the building that went back centuries.   

                     From the second floor of the Hagia Sofia there were great views of the Blue Mosque

Next Stop Basilica Cistern

The lighting is very dim but adds to the atmosphere 

There are GIANT fish (perhaps carp) swimming around in the dark

Part of a movie was filmed here and we debated if it was the Dan Brown adaption or a James Bond film.  Either way how they got a speed boat in here is the question.

There was one other couple on this part of the tour.
They were very friendly and did not mind a solo traveler at all.

At the end of the visit you can stop for a beverage at the underground cafe.   

          See part II for a review of the incredible food served during lunch!  Without a 'tour' I would never have found the restaurant nor been able to order such a wonderful assortment of great treats.

I was the guest of Walks of Turkey for the full day tour but the opinions and photos are my own.

Solo supplement be gone! More good news for individual travelers!

As seen on travel weekly, link below

from http://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/Insights/For-solo-river-cruisers-strength-in-numbers

Insight River Cruise Insight

For solo river cruisers, strength in numbers

By Michelle Baran / July 08, 2015

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In the past, passengers traveling alone were often seen as a bit of a liability — one passenger in one stateroom is definitely much less financially viable than filling ships with two people in each cabin.
Enter the single supplement, that nagging fee that solo travelers often have to pay to compensate for their economic inefficiency, which can cost as much as double the per-person cost of two people traveling together in one cabin. It is an unfortunate, but often necessary, single traveler tax.

Michelle Baran

But one by one, as the number of solo river cruisers continues to increase and as river cruise capacity balloons creating greater competition between the river cruise lines, solo passengers’ cumulative buying power is beginning to hold some sway, and river cruise companies are responding by adding more departures with waived single supplements. 

“It is extremely important that we continue offering programs specifically for solo travelers … without any additional costs or sacrifice,” said Kristin Karst, executive vice president of AmaWaterways, which recently announced that it will now have a limited number of base category (lower deck, category D and E cabins, which range from 160 to 170 square feet and have a fixed window), double-occupancy staterooms with no single supplement available on all of its 2015 and 2016 sailings. “We continue to see high demand in this fast-growing market.”
Additionally, Ama has four vessels that have two single cabins onboard with French balconies, and two vessels that have one single cabin with a fixed window onboard, all of which are 140-square-foot cabins with one twin bed.
Other river cruise lines have been increasing their offers for solo travelers as well.
Uniworld, which says that 10% of its customer base is made up of solo travelers, currently waives the single supplement on more than 80 departures — 54 in 2015 and 29 in 2016 — including on river cruises on the Rhine and Danube as well as in France, Italy and Russia. Uniworld’s waived single supplement offers are inventory controlled and as such, availability changes throughout the season.
Thus far, 20% of Uniworld’s 2015 Europe sailings had or will have a waived single supplement offer. These offers are not available for suites, but is otherwise not restricted to specific cabin categories.
For 2015, Tauck eliminated the single supplement on its lower deck, Category 1 cabins on its ships in Europe, something the company has been doing since 2013. While the program itself isn’t new, each year Tauck continues to sell out of the Category 1 cabins for solo travelers despite the fact that the company’s fleet has grown by 75% (from four ships to seven) since 2013. 
In addition, Tauck this year reduced the single supplement by up to $1,000 for solo travelers booking Category 4 and 5 cabins on 37 departures of 15 different river cruise itineraries.
Avalon Waterways, Scenic and Emerald Waterways all feature reduced and waived single supplements for solo travelers as well.

So, wave your lone traveler flag high and proud, solos! It would appear you are no longer a liability but rather a hot commodity, and river cruise lines with their ever growing number of cabins to fill are vying for your business, one solo traveler at a time.


Thank you for sharing great tips for Individual Travelers!

Learn about yourself on a solo trip

So much to remember from the non stop events over the past 9 weeks.  

First thing I do when I return to the USA is obtain a new passport.
For the second time a customs official has questioned if I was the same person on the passport!

This week he broke out laughing!

I reminded him in 30 years he would be old too.  But he did not believe me.


Other travel surprises:

I do not like unplanned travel!
There were NO seats on the train I tried to reserve this week to take me from Lyon France to Torino, Italy and on to Florence where I left my luggage.

After 5 weeks of train travel this had never happened before

Reservations:  I do not like not knowing where I will sleep the next night.   Of course money solves all problems but when an entire town is booked because of a scout competition, I found I had to move on because 'there were no rooms at the inn'.

WIFI:   When there was a short term train strike and the hotel had no wifi and there are NO LONGER internet cafes, I had a melt down.   Of course it was solved, but this caused my hosts to ask if 'I had ever traveled before'?    And this prompted creating a list of what make my travel more difficult.
Now I search for a mobile wifi device that works in all countries.

Slow Travel:
Because of some commitments to do interviews or participate in events, I found myself traveling every 2 days.  That barely gives you time to unpack!  Finding a laundry on short notice is also more difficult.  Here again the problem was solved in Lyon via the internet.  Hotels need to install coin operated laundry facilities.

Down Time
A writing trip that gives you NO time to write is not productive.   Returning from a trip with more than 30 stories to remember and write will keep me chained to the computer for 2 months.  All worth it but reports from the road would make far more sense.


Some things I noticed on this trip:
Everything in Germany was a new experience since I had not been there since my 'see Europe in 3 weeks trip' after college.
Traveling in Italy is easier because I know what to expect and how to solve the strike problems or missed trains.
Large train stations are like mini cities and Germany has some wonderful stations.   They offer luggage storage, all kind of food (up until 9pm or even 8pm), clean bathrooms for 1 euro, one offered showers.  And two had shopping malls within 1 block of the station!
Germany has the BEST reservation staff.   Day one I asked for a day ticket to Cologne to 'test' my train skill and made reservations for seats on my next travel leg.  When the train was late and I missed the tight connection, the reservation office with BAHN simply found me a seat on the next train without any charge.   Wonderful.  Not so for the BAHN office in Bolzano................1 hr wait for a reservation.

Changes since last year:

Women here do not wear 4 inch heels.  Women are now wearing stylish flat shoes

And they walk and walk.  This must contribute to no weight gain.

No one tries to talk with ‘strangers’. Perhaps there are too many of us over the years and they get tired of us

In Italy and Germany most of the sandwiches are one type of pork or another.   If you do not prefer port, travel with the word for chicken or turkey     A very luck encounter with a young woman in Germany who spoke Italian as well as English.  Thanks to her I traveled with the word 'turkey' written on an index card.

The isolation of the 'cell phone' is getting worse.   No one looks up from that small screen.

This year fewer tourist were blocking the view by holding ipads in the air.

Far more real cameras were seen.   And yes the selfi stick is still out there.  Now they offer one with a 3 foot stand so you don't have to tire your arm.    Ridiculous.