A short trip to Turkey & Greece

[RB]

I have really enjoyed your report. From reading your posts, if you have the chance while you are over in Europe I strongly suggest a trip to Meteora. We had a great time there

 

[Mattg]

Excellent TR!

April we're doing 3 nights in ATH followed by 4 in IST....then a 4 day tour leading into ANZAC day. Your views on ATH are interesting - our bookings are flexible so we might cut a day out of ATH and enjoy IST a little longer.

Well yes, I do I have a clear favourite. But YMMV - don't cut out Athens altogether as you might like it more than I did. If you have 3 days in Athens, maybe considering spending one night on one of the lovely Greek Islands? Although failing that, I am sure you would not regret an extra day in Istanbul.

 

[Mattg]

As mentioned in a previous post, I returned to Istanbul last week! I just couldn't turn down a chance to return to such an amazing city, and this time I had a chance to tour Gallipoli too - something I've wanted to do since I was a kid.

The stars just seemed to align with this trip - I had a few days off work, Turkish Airlines was having a sale, and my tourist visa was still valid.

I'll re-commence my trip report exactly where I left off, at Tegel Airport!


TXL

Flight 7: TK1722 Berlin (Tegel) - Istanbul
Airbus A321
Departure time: 11:20
Arrival time: 15:10

I was actually very impressed with Turkish Airlines. The aircraft seemed quite new, and featured AVOD (personal TV screens) on the back of every seat. There was a reasonable selection of movies, TV shows, music etc. Enough for the short flight, anyway. The crew were very friendly as well.

But the highlight for me was actually the meal service. Even though it was just a European short-haul flight, printed menus were handed out and we were given a choice of two appetising hot meals - satay chicken or a prime beef burger. I chose the satay, and the meal was all-round delicious.



The mountains were capped with snow as we flew over Hungary, Romania & Bulgaria making for more great views.



We landed slightly early in Istanbul, making the flight not only enjoyable, but punctual too. I have virtually nothing to complain about.


Approaching IST



Well done, TK.

 

[Mattg]

The highlight of my return to Turkey was the tour of Gallipoli. I did a full day tour from Istanbul, and when they say "full day" they mean it - I was picked up from my hotel at 6.30am and dropped off at 11pm. The drive to the Gallipoli peninsula alone took 4-5 hours in each direction.

We arrived into a town called Eceabat where we met our guide for the day. He was a Turkish guy who was very knowledgeable and spoke English pretty well. To be honest, I'm glad we got a Turkish guide as it was good to hear about the battles from a non-Australian perspective. At school in Australia, everyone learns about Gallipoli and WWI, but from an Australian point of view. I must say, after this day my own view has changed a little bit. I am not a historian so I will leave it at that for now.


A memorial in the town of Eceabat

The percentage of Australians on the tour was 100% - according to the guide this is not unusual, although they do get a few Kiwis and occasionally other nationalities. I find this interesting considering that Britain and France also played a major role in the Gallipoli campaign.

The first stop was at the narrowest point along the Dardanelles. From there we went to the other side of the peninsula to a beach cemetery, then further along to Anzac Cove itself.



Anzac Cove

Just around from Anzac Cove was North Beach, where the Gallipoli dawn service is held on Anzac Day each year. This area was actually a lot smaller than I had expected - I have no idea how they will fit 15,000 people there in 2015!


Just behind North Beach, where the dawn service is held each year on Anzac Day.

 

[Mattg]

North Beach. As the sign explains, there is usually a sign on the wall which reads "Anzac" but it was recently stolen.




Other stops included the Lone Pine cemetery & the Nek. We saw quite a few trenches along the way, both original (though obviously not in original condition after 100 years) and reconstructed.


The cemetery at Lone Pine


The remains of some Australian trenches around the Nek


I was a bit surprised to see this - John Simpson's grave (you may have heard of Simpson's donkey)


It's clear that the conditions that the Anzacs had to fight under were pretty terrible. Had they landed on Brighton Beach as they were supposed to, they would have landed on flat terrain. The terrain around Anzac Cove however is steep and nasty and they were at a clear disadvantage coming from below. The adverse weather of the time can't have helped either.


Overall, the day was a very worthwhile experience and I'll glad I made the effort to visit.

 

[amaroo]

Terrific stuff!

What tour company did you use?

 

[Mattg]

Terrific stuff!

What tour company did you use?

I used RSL Tours. Would probably use them again.

By the way, I forgot to mention above that you can also do a combined Gallipoli/Troy 2 day tour. If I had've had an extra day, I would have almost certainly done that!

 

[amaroo]

I used RSL Tours. Would probably use them again.

By the way, I forgot to mention above that you can also do a combined Gallipoli/Troy 2 day tour. If I had've had an extra day, I would have almost certainly done that!

Good to know. We've booked their 4 day gig for the 100th.

 

[Mattg]

Good to know. We've booked their 4 day gig for the 100th.

Fantastic. I'm sure you will get a lot out of it. Although the whole place will probably be much more crowded when you visit than it was last week.

 

[Mattg]

I just realised that I never got around to finishing this trip report! A couple of days after returning to Berlin I went off on another overseas trip and sadly forgot all about this thread.

Well, better late than never right? I will finish what I've started now...

I spent the Saturday morning (my last in Turkey) revisiting some of my favourite parts of the Sultanahmet district in Istanbul. I spent quite a bit of time getting lost in the Grand Bazaar... and after several visits now, I still haven't seen everything!

A few more photos from around Istanbul:




The New Mosque




The fishermen on Galata Bridge


The salespeople in Istanbul were just as pushy the second time round. So many people want to ask you "just one question, my friend!", which is almost always "how much do you think this product should cost?" and is of course the start of a sales pitch. A lot of people ask where you are from, then fein some sort of connection. On the Thursday night I had stopped somewhere to buy a drink and a guy from the shop next door started talking to me. When I said I was from Australia, he said excitedly "my uncle once went to Perth!" (Like I care?) I made some polite reply, then he followed up with "I have a shop next door, come inside!" For some reason I followed him into the shop, and he shut the door behind me. His shop was full of leather jackets, and while I will admit that they looked good, I had no intentions of buying one. He asked me to sit down and asked what size I would take. I realised that I had to leave immediately or I would not get out without a leather jacket and a lighter wallet. I politely but assertively told him I wasn't going to buy anything and he suddenly lost all interest in talking to me. He didn't say another word as I walked out of the shop.

That night I was walking back to my hostel and there was a restaurant on the other side of the street to where I was walking. The restaurant was empty and there were three staff out the front trying to attract customers. One of them yelled "buyran" at me from across the street. I made eye contact for a split second and someone ran across the street to give me a menu while another worker turned on the heater and started setting the table for me...

 

[Mattg]

Apart from my experiences with pushy salespeople (and the time a pigeon shat on my head, but let's forget about that, shall we!), it was a perfect few days in Turkey and well worth going back! But as with all good things, the trip had to come to an end and I was back at Istanbul Airport on Saturday afternoon.

I was careful not to stand on the toilet at the airport...



Flight 8: TK1723 Istanbul - Berlin (Tegel)
Airbus A321
Departure time: 16:05
Arrival time: 18:00 (Actual: 17:30)

The Turkish Airlines flight home was another enjoyable one... the food didn't blow me away quite as much as it did on the outbound flight, but it was still good.



Watching the sun set:


We actually arrived about half an hour early but because we were arriving from outside the Schengen Zone we had to pass through immigration and this process ate up the time gained.

The immigration setup at Tegel Airport is an absolute joke. The airport is so small that they don't even have an immigration/customs hall. We had to queue up inside the aerobridge while just two officials singlehandedly processed the entire plane (an A321, which holds about 200 passengers) from inside their little booths at the end of the airbridge. The Turkish passengers didn't seem to understand the concept of queuing either and seemed to try to push in front of everyone at every opportunity. I wasn't one of the first off unfortunately (I was sitting by a window in the middle of the plane, and the guy on the aisle took forever to move...). It ended up taking me over half an hour just to get out of the aerobridge. A quick tip for anyone arriving at Tegel Airport from outside the Schengen Zone: sit as close to the front of the plane as possible!

Well, that (finally) concludes my trip report! I hope you enjoyed it.

 

[ellen10]

Thanks mattg I enjoyed your trip report.
Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

[kevrosmith]

Aways enjoy your trip reports mattg. I trust your time in Berlin is going well.

 

[medhead]

Definitely enjoyed it. Some great tips for my trip to IST in April.

The Parthenon was covered in scaffolding and with cranes well over a decade ago when I was there.

Hmm. Maybe they're still doing the same work? It is Greece, after all.

I've been to the Parthenon 3 times, it's always covered in scaffolding!

I'm pretty sure it had scaffolding in 1979 as well.

 

[JohnM]

Definitely enjoyed it. Some great tips for my trip to IST in April.

I'm pretty sure it had scaffolding in 1979 as well.

Probably dates from the time of construction - hence the rust . I guess the scaffolding hire company has gone out of business...

 

[Infreq]

Great trip report on Athens. We're doing 4 days there in April and you've definitely provided some food for thought.

 

[JohnK]

Very nice trip report with lovely photos.

I like Aegean Airlines and there will always be a soft spot in my heart for Greece regardless of their economic and political problems.

 

[Pushka]

Just found this report. Great photos .

We loved Aegean airlines too. And very much enjoyed our time in Athens.

The aggressive sellers in Sultanahmet are annoying. Like you we were approached many many times. One guy who said he lived in Australia but was in Istanbul on holidays, couldn't understand why we didn't want to buy a carpet. But the dodgiest people were the shoe cleaners dropping their brush.