SJ3 - Arriving in Istanbul

Well we made it to Istanbul! Our first leg of the journey was successful. We landed in Istanbul with no problems and eagerly set out to find a taxi and get to the lovely Hotel Dapnhe. Upon arriving,  I paid the taxi driver and he immediately whisked away.

Once inside the hotel we  found that they had no record of our reservation. This would be no problem except that it was prepaid and they currently had no rooms we could move into. No problem, we are only in Istanbul!!! Well at least we weren't stuck in ancient Constantinople or somewhere like that . . . wait. .. . that's exactly what it was like.

After a couple calls to the states to re-confrm our reservation and an email or two - about 30 minutes into this exercise in circle running, they "found our reservation." the desk clerk quickly promised to put us up in a hotel just a few hundred yards away for tonight and get  us into the Daphne tomorrow. All's well that ends well, or so they say. . . and we learned that when in Istanbul you sometimes need to be able to withstand some bull.

Undaunted by our slight delay, we headed out to explore the area.  We found a wonderful little cafe where we enjoyed a delightful Kabab dinner. After eating we strolled around and found the Blue Mosque, the German Fountain and several other interesting sites we look forward to fully exploring in the daylight tomorrow.  Stay tuned, the adventure is only beginning...