Istanbul Turkey
 

As I'm sure most of you know, I travel the world quite often as a technical rep. for the company I work for. I'm headed to Istanbul Turkey tomorrow morning, and I am completely ignorant to the country. Does anyone have any can't miss types of things I need to check out?
But the question I really need answered, and the reason I started this thread, is: Am I going to be in ANY kind of danger over there? Should I be even more cautious than any traveler should be when abroad? Like I said, I'm ignorant to Turkey. Anything anyone can tell me will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Delicious with mashed potatos. That's all I know about Turkey.

It was Constantinople...

DON'T BUY THE HASH!


If we don't hear from you for a few years we will know you ignored this advice.

Congrats, I wish I had a job like that.

Turks love to stab whitey.

Thanks. Going straight to the Bahamas after that, and then to Norway. I LOVE my job.

You are safe there. Comparatively speaking.

Do I need to make a brad loaf helmet or anything?

I'll post some pics when I get back.

No, Turkey is kinda like the Olathe of that area.

Turkey is a pit. I was pretty shocked. But, I haven't been since 93 so, who know what they've done in 18 years. I felt pretty safe but I was part of a 500 strong military exercise so, who is going to mess with that? One of my favorite memories of that region was their bread. They can definitely make some delicious bread.

Better play it safe. If someone asks where you're from say Canada.

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I don't know who brad loaf is, but it wouldn't hurt to take a friend with you. Especially if they like to stab whitey as much as i hear they do.

Its not that bad, you cant go expecting Milan or anything. Go with an open mind and enjoy the culture. I was on the other side of the country, wished I would have made it to Istanbul. Have a good time.

I'd really like to visit Turkey. I've read that there are more Roman ruins in Turkey than in Italy, and it's got a lot of history and neat geographical features. That said, I don't know much about the specifics.

My impression is that it's a pretty safe place to go. They're good muslims, not bad muslims.

I was there in '92. I'd say you should avoid the Gypsies.
Also, any sort of touristy places are crawling with people trying to sell you their shitty trinkets. Some of them can get pretty aggressive. You know… stabbing and stuff.

I was in a bazaar in Cairo once and some vendor came up behind me and grabbed me. He was just trying to pull me to his little booth, but it freaked me out. I was used to saying, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no" as I walked, but no one had ever touched me, much less coming up from behind.

Watch out for this guy.

LMAO

I've never been to Egypt but I've heard from others that the vendors are very similar to those in Istanbul.

Not really a big deal. If he charges at you, just punch him in the stomach. Game over man... game over.

Once you figure out his patterns you'll be able to kick his ass easily.:thumb:

Good Call.

Istanbul Turkey, huh.

There's a parking lot overlooking Bosfor (or Dardanel) in a beautiful area called Casablanca. Our VW station wagon was burglarized there while the whole family was napping in it. Cash and jewelery. The police told us that they would catch the thieves and recover our stuff by the time we were on our way back from the European family trek in the Summer of 1960. Well, they hadn't.

While you are there, could you ask the police if they have our cash and Jewelery?

Thanks.

Taking a friend isn't a option.
lol. Bread loaf.

I was there a couple of years ago. I had no problems. Took a tour of the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar. They do that call to prayer thing ever couple of hours. Boy, was that annoying.

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now it's istanbul, not constantinople.

Tripadvisor.com
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Yeah, you are from Canada, right? Eh? Eh? Use lots of "Ehs" since you are from "Toronto"... heh

Wear your yarmulke so they don't mistake you for a Kurd or an Armenian.

Why they changed I can't say, some folks liked it better that way.

A little off topic but, I'm wanting to buy a new laptop before i go. Scratch that. I'm going to buy a new laptop. I'm actually wondering if i can get a tablet that will fit my needs. Are there any out there that actually are worth a shit. for under $400. I heard someone talking about that archer thing. I need to, you know, use office 2010, maybe do a little CAD, and what not. I know any of them could take care of my entertainment needs, but I need one that I can do a little work on too. Can I do these kinds of things with an android OS? An iPad seems like it would be basically useless to me considering it has no USB ports, and I have an iPhone anyway. No thanks.

Any Thoughts?

Thanks.

A netbook mabye? Or the Galaxy tab?
Tripadvisor> Turkey > Istanbul > attractions (thing to do). Never fails me. Read the reviews. Get a tour guide or download some of Rick Steves audio tours.
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My thought is that you're not going to get anything worthwhile for under $400 and that you're not going to find a decent tablet anywhere near that price point that can do what you want. You should look for a laptop in the $400-$500 range, IMO. Maybe someone else will have a better option for you.

Wiki "Midnight Express". Then DON'T do what that guy did.

"Display Determination"? I was there for that in '91. We flew into a place called Corlu then bussed to Gelebolu (Gallipoli). Place was still tore up from WWI.

Don't drink the local water, use bottle water for everything including brushing your teeth. Just watch your back, they have vendors everywhere on the street. Big note when leaving the country be sure you watch your bags get loaded on the plane. They put all the bags beside the plane and any unclaimed bags are taken to the end of the runway and burned, this is how they deal with bombers. Take anti-diarrhea meds too. They usually warn Americans if they don't want you in a certain establishments. Public bathroom is a hole in the ground. Turkish airlines allow you to smoke on the flight.

Bought an Acer aspire with a dual core 2.3Ghz, and dropped 8 gigs of ram in it. It absolutely BURNING through autodesk inventor. Very Happy with it.
$380.

Good for you. Does that price include the 8GB? The best I can find at that price is 3.

Nah. Paid the 35 apiece for the 4 gig sticks, and sold the 3 gigs for 25 to my boss.;)

Close enough. Good deal. :thumb:

If you guys are gonna partially quote the song, you should at least link to a decent version, like They Might Be Giants's...

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Might try wearing one of these

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...WbAQZuvhWF_mAg

Go see the Hagia Sophia, formerly one of the foremost churches in Christendom, but now a mosque, of course. If memory serves, ti was at the Hagia Sophia itself that the excommunication of the Orthodox church occurred, which effectively split christendom in two.

I would check out the remants of the famed Theodosian Walls, which were some of the greatest pre-gunpowder era fortifications in the world.

I was looking up Blachernae Palace, but it's rubble. In the quarter where it used to be, however, is a sacred spring, associated with the Virgin Mary. The water there is considered holy by Christians and Muslims alike, based on my VERY brief reading. If you're into that sort of thing, it's inside the Church of St. Mary, in the section known as Ayvansaray. That section of the city is called "picturesque", so probably not a bad place to check out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayvansaray,_Istanbul

There are three affiliated architectural museums in the city which have in their combined possession objects representing nearly every type of every civilization in world history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbu...logical_Museum

And I hope you have a great trip. I really, REALLY want to hear what you think about it. I've read several books on the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire, and I definitely want to visit Istanbul.

(and no, I'm not bitter about you going, Mr. "I'm going on a free trip to Istanbul and is there anything, like, interesting there to see"?)

:banghead:


:)