Live Blog: Journey to Constantinople

By Kin Enriquez -

I will be live blogging my trip to Turley, which starts today. I will be flying to Istanbul via Abu Dhabi. I will update the post as much as I can, and as I have done before, the latest post will be at the top.

Cheers Hostel, 8:00pm
I'm back at the hostel and resting for a bit and catching up on my messages and posts. I might sleep early; busy day tomorrow. 

Kybele Cafe, 7:00pm
I finally settled at this cafe to have dinner, which I got al fresco (may not be such a good idea, as it was cold outside. I got the kebab with roasted tomatoes. 


Gulhane, 6:30pm
I went around the area near my hostel to look for food. I also chanced upon a pastry store - Efezade - which sells Turkish delight and baklava. I made a mental note to come back and buy some before I leave Istanbul.


Hagia Sofia, 4:30pm
After check-in I proceeded to Hagia Sophia - the most important Byzantine structure in history. 
(See separate post here:  https://goo.gl/9VbYps)

Cheers Hostel, 3:15pm
I arrived at the hostel a little over 3pm, and I promptly checked in. The location is very convenient - very near Sultanameth Square, Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.

Tariq, the one in charge, gave me a rundown and warned me about touts and scammers. I changed into a fresh shirt after check in and proceeded to Hagia Sophia - the main reason I wanted to visit Istanbul.


Zeytinburnu Station, 2:30pm
I took the M1 line then changed to the tram line. There was a bit of confusion with the payment, but no other issue came up. The tram was kind of full - not Manila MRT full but enough to get bumped by other passengers.


Ataturk Airport, 1:00pm
We landed im IST a little before 1pm. Immigration was a breeze, got the stamp in no time. After that I changed some money and got a local SIM with data. I then found my way to the metro.

Abu Dhabi, 9:20am
We took off late from AUH because of some passenger seating issue. The airline changed the flight into a bigger plane, so some people complained after being seated differently. Other than that the flight was uneventful.


Abu Dhabi International Airport, 4:50am

Landed in Abu Dhabi, will have about 3 hour layover before flying to Istanbul. I'm at the gate waiting for the flight but went around the duty-free shops. Had an eye for some Ferrari merchandise.


3:00 am
My inflight meal: sausage, omelette and potatoes, with fruit and blueberry muffin.

My seatmates are two EU diplomats. We had an interesting conversation about Philippine politics.


11:44pm
Boarding now. I'm at 41K, windowseat. It will be an 8hr45min flight to AUH.

My next post will be in Abu Dhabi.


10:30pm
My ride is here - a Boeing 777 to Abu Dhabi.


9:00 pm
Done with check in and immigration part. The officer seemed to be a tad curious on why I am going to Turkey. Asked  me more than a few questions and even asked for my work ID. I saw some passengers got off-boarded too; felt bad about them actually.

After immigration I am hanging out in Starbucks until boarding time.

December 15, 4:30pm
I arrived safely in Terminal 1. I usually don't use this terminal - the last time was during the Japan trip. The checkin counter for Etihad is still closed so I have to find ways to amuse myself till boarding time.

December 15, 3pm
Finally my Uber arrived. I decided to go to the airport early as I am anticipating crazy traffic today - aside from a Friday, today is also also a payday, basically the last Friday before Christmas, and also most of office Christmas parties will be scheduled today.


Check out the rest of the updates:
Day 1: https://goo.gl/i4M1G7
Hagia Sophia: https://goo.gl/9VbYps
Day 2: https://goo.gl/qjQdLa
Day 3: https://goo.gl/WnvCPS

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Off the Beaten Track: Mapun, Tawi-Tawi

By Kin Enriquez -
Image
Guest post by Mara Ione Sarail Mapun? Where is that?” I get this question a lot when people ask me about my hometown. I’d ramble on and on the island (its location and the culture and the pretty spots...) but since the place is not really in any of the Philippines tourist spots and is in the middle of nowhere, I might as well talk about Atlantis instead. But the island does exist.  Mapun Tawi-Tawi or Cagayan de Sulu) is an island municipality in the Sulu Sea on the southwestern extreme of the Philippines, located very close to Sabah. Or from the way I see it on the Philippine map, the island is located on the Philippine’s “armpit”. Mapun is a volcanic island. The picture above shows Mt. Nanggoy, an inactive volcano near the Sapah Lake. The most popular tourist attraction in Mapun would be the three crater lakes on the west part of the island. Legend says that the three lakes were once volcanoes that erupted together. The first two, Danao and Singuwang, becam
Read more

Golden Tara of Agusan

By Kin Enriquez -
Image
One of the main reasons why I am always drawn to museums when I travel is that I would want to see, in real life, the fascinating things that I've only read in books or have seen in the films, such as archaeological artifacts or the paintings of Van Gogh and Dali . Museums give you access to all that. I majored in History when I was an undergraduate in the University of the Philippines. As such, I am always excited to see artifacts and historical curiosities that I encounter during my travels. But sometimes, they also make me sad, like when I saw the Golden Tara of Agusan in the Field Museum in Chicago.  The reverse of the Golden Tara The Golden Tara is a gold statue of a Hindu-Malayan deity discovered in 1917 in Esperanza, Agusan del Sur, in southern Philippines. Weighing about four pounds, the 21-karat gold statue depicts a woman deity sitting cross-legged, ornamented with a headdress and various accruements in the arms and legs. It was dated to early 13
Read more

National Museum of the Philippines

By Kin Enriquez -
Image
It's quite ironic that many people sometimes neglect to see the treasures that are right in their doorsteps. The usual excuse is, "they're just there and they aren't going away anyway."  I sometimes have that problem; I've been inside some of the great museums abroad, but I haven't been to the one just a few miles from where I live. I did try to rectify that last weekend, when I went out of my usual weekend routine of going to the gym and then to the mall. I went to see the National Museum of the Philippines in Manila instead.  Facade of the Old Congress Building, home of the National Museum Known in Filipino as the Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas , the museum is the official repository of historical and cultural treasures of the Philippines. The museum is composed of several institutions, including the National Planetarium and the Museum of the Filipino People. It also has several branches around the country, the Fort Pilar Museum in Zam
Read more