@d.y.e3803

6 months ago

Excellent vlog! Istanbul is just as I remember it. I flew from L.A.-Paris-Istanbul during my annual Paris, spring-season vacation. Istanbul was a wonderful city with really nice people and great food. You got to experience the new International Airport which opened in 2019. Although I thought that I had been in Istanbul in the late 1990s (like 1999), it was actually April 2000. I just took out my photo album which I had added dates. I do remember seeing earthquake damage while in the taxi from the old Atatürk Airport to my hotel. I just realized that the big quake was in Aug 1999, 8 months prior to my arrival. I remember arriving with a mini emergency earthquake kit, just in case. I've been used to earthquakes here at home since a child and also was the head of the earthquake search and rescue team at work here. In various professions, we are trained for earthquakes. It was great seeing Hagia Sophia in your video. I stayed about a 3-minute walk from there in a small boutique hotel, Hotel Empress Zoe, owned by a woman from San Francisco and who was at the hotel daily. My room was a small room, directly across from the neighborhood mosque and the call to prayer several times a day. The sounds took some getting used to, but it was magical. Right near Hagia Sophia is the structure of the first jailhouse/prison in Istanbul which was built around 1918, but converted to the Four Seasons Hotel in 1996. The structure is quite historical. I wish I had also taken a few days at that hotel as it was still quite new when I was in Istanbul. Plus, they were having introductory special prices. I did go inside and the very friendly staff member told me about the history of the structure and showed me around. I think the structure was renovated again in 2021. There's a lot of history in Sultanahmet. It was great seeing you guys do Istanbul so extensively and on foot. I remember walking for hours on end and one day 12 hours of being out and about. I arrived back to my hotel at midnight.  One of the other solo female guests at my hotel, whom I accidentally met in the small breakfast room, and I connected and for one day went out into the city. She had already been there several days prior to my arrival. On that day, I remember us walking to the Beyoglu District as we walked across the Galata Bridge and went to the tower and also other places in that district. She was leaving Istanbul the next day and was on a solo 2-year around-the-world journey. She had taken a 2-year leave of absence from her high-stress law firm position, and decided to take off into the world. I remember us dropping into a travel agency that same day as she had decided, that her next destination would be Madagascar. I did Istanbul using a paper map and was fine. I also travel solo and am used to having to figure out directions, etc on my own. I also have to be cautious, in some areas of travel places, due being a solo female traveling around the world. But, I've been doing solo travel since I was seventeen years old and I am now in my sixties. Awareness of one's surroundings and street smarts are big helpers. Keep having a great time! I'm looking forward to the next vlog/video. Greetings from Los Angeles

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