Greetings from Istanbul. I had to fly there with a friend, until she realized she needed a passport, which was expired. It made my trip challenging in some way, but not too much. The most challenging thing was to carry and drive around my big luggage. Why big? Because I could take one. And maybe needed, but not too much.
So, here I stepped out of rainy 3 degrees warmth Vilnius into a fifteen-ish sunshine-filled Istanbul. What could be better... Maybe, not to have a big luggage at your side. First stop - tourist information center at the airport. I didn't get to buy a transportation card there, they were out of them.i was too I can buy one at metro station, but filling one is somewhat tricky - there are no English instructions, so I should ask for help once there. Truth is that buying a card and adding some money into it is so easy and intuitive that you don't expect it to be so easy. Just select an upload option, place your card and insert the money. That's all. All you need is to get smaller bills. If you change a metro line, you are charged again, but the ride is cheaper compared to other places I've been.
So, it took me an hour to get to Taksim from airport.the train doesn't always run underground so yoU get to see what is waiting for you next day once you start exploring the city. Lots of different layers peeling off - demolished buildings, block houses and residential block houses and minarets of mosques reaching for the sky in the most unexpected places.
Finding a booked hostel was not so easy as it should have been. smaller streets don't have name plates. But asking someone even if they don't speak English and you don't know any Turkish-turns out to be helpful anyway. Not lost in translation.
Once I reached hostel, I realized I've been promoted to the second floor of the bed. Some exercises didn't hurt anyone. Actually, this is my first time at hostel sharing a room with strangers. One can't tell he travelled for real if he/she didn't stay at the hostel. But more about that next time.
2015-03-31
2015-03-14
Bonjour, Paris
Two and a half days at Paris is not even close to the time you should spend there. But two and half days is a lot more than never. Actually, it wasn't my first time there. First time I went about sixteen years ago after winning a quiz on history dates contest in a youth magazine, even celebrated a new years eve there. But it was a trip with a group of tourists, not that I've been on many of that kind, and the experience was different. This time I went there with my sister who hasn't been to Paris before and I had to be a leader of our "big" tourist group. With my rusty basic French knowledge all I managed is to be polite and ask if they speak English. I guess it was more than enough.
The thing I knew but this time I experienced on my own that flying to a cheap flight airport like Beauvais takes a lot of time from the day you have to spend in such a big city - well, at least you can't getlost in an airport and getting to a city from there is easy - the downside is that it takes time(an hour and a little bit more). Then, if you booked a place to stay in some of the southern or eastern parts of Paris - you'll spend an hour by hoping on and off metros and hopefully it won't be a peak time there and you'll get a seat. That's minus 2 hours. The same goes when you have to get back at the airport.
The metro system is really easy to figure out even with so many lines (having a metro map in your pocket also helps) and your feet are thankful to you for using it a lot - however jumping from one station to another just to see tourist attractions - takes a lot from the experience you would get by walking from one spot to another.
Apart from visiting most famous spots what else did we do? There was some unforgettable experience to watch paparazzies hunt down celebrities at the Paris Opera House. Every hunter had their prey, but the most wanted beast there was Paul McCartney, as it happened we managed to get there just after Stella McCartney's show.
Monmartre is definitely my favorite part of Paris. And not because I'm a big fan of "Amelie from Monmartre" and Yan Tiersen's music. Narrow streets and stairs and beautiful panoramas of the city opening everywhere and all wrapped in an elegant grey and beige at this time of year. You can't hurry there, you have to keep calm and just flow.
The thing I knew but this time I experienced on my own that flying to a cheap flight airport like Beauvais takes a lot of time from the day you have to spend in such a big city - well, at least you can't getlost in an airport and getting to a city from there is easy - the downside is that it takes time(an hour and a little bit more). Then, if you booked a place to stay in some of the southern or eastern parts of Paris - you'll spend an hour by hoping on and off metros and hopefully it won't be a peak time there and you'll get a seat. That's minus 2 hours. The same goes when you have to get back at the airport.
The metro system is really easy to figure out even with so many lines (having a metro map in your pocket also helps) and your feet are thankful to you for using it a lot - however jumping from one station to another just to see tourist attractions - takes a lot from the experience you would get by walking from one spot to another.
Apart from visiting most famous spots what else did we do? There was some unforgettable experience to watch paparazzies hunt down celebrities at the Paris Opera House. Every hunter had their prey, but the most wanted beast there was Paul McCartney, as it happened we managed to get there just after Stella McCartney's show.
Monmartre is definitely my favorite part of Paris. And not because I'm a big fan of "Amelie from Monmartre" and Yan Tiersen's music. Narrow streets and stairs and beautiful panoramas of the city opening everywhere and all wrapped in an elegant grey and beige at this time of year. You can't hurry there, you have to keep calm and just flow.
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