Throw in a language barrier, and we (hesitantly) opted for the more conservative route with a much more touristy hamam.  Lame, I know, but there were a few very graphic TripAdvisor reviews that we had no intention of encountering for ourselves – the most memorable review described, “he try to put his thing in my mouth while washing.” Ehh, we’re all for new cultural experiences but this was where we drew the line.

The one we ended up choosing, Süleymaniye Hamam, was nonetheless an old, authentic building that had been a bath since the 15th century. The Sultan himself had bathed there on numerous occasions and, thankfully, the hamam had plenty of great reviews.

We arrived and were given small garments to wear (mine were similar to a very skimpy, mesh bikini) and shown to wooden stalls to change.

The lobby/changing area at the Süleymaniye Hamam

Reception Area

From there, were were led to a huge sauna/steam room for about 40 minutes. Because the building is so old, it looks nothing like a typical sauna we’ve visited in the states – it’s a large room made entirely of marble with a huge, round slab in the middle where you can sit or lie down.

One of the marble sauna rooms at Süleymaniye Hamam

After sweating out all the impurities in your body (and living out what felt like the longest 40 minutes of my life), they finally came in to greet us and lead us to an alcove off the main sauna room. Two young men entered and scrubbed our entire bodies and then washed us. The very best part was when they dumped ice cold water on us because it was beginning to feel like I hadn’t seen water in 40 years instead of 40 minutes.

Our hamam visit was quite invigorating and, more importantly, gave us a small perspective of the times past where the hamam was not only a place to get clean but also a central meeting place for socializing. Although it was still pretty awkward at times (with strange, 18-year-old men caressing my body), I was thankful many times that Jeffrey was right near me, because I would have felt super uncomfortable if I’d be all by myself.

Here we are fresh from our baths – wrapped in many towels and donning very small wooden shoes!

The post Trying Out a real Turkish Bath – Istanbul, Turkey first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

After walking around the newer area, we headed to Dolmabahçe Palace, Turkey’s largest palace, which is located right on the Bosphorus River and was used as the center of the Ottoman Empire between 1856 – 1922.

It was ordered to be built by the sultan, Abdulmecid I, as his current residence, the medieval Topkapı Palace, wasn’t modern or luxurious enough when compared to European palaces. The palace was home to Turkey’s last six sultans. Although Topkapı Palace is located in the old part of town (where we were staying), Dolmabahçe is in the newer part of Istanbul. The last sultan lost power in 1923 (he chose the wrong side in WWII because he was buddies with Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany), and Ataturk became the Republic of Turkey’s first president. Ataturk lived at Dolmabahçe until his death in 1938, then the palace became a museum.

When we arrived, the entrance line snaked all around the front. It was 40 TL/each for a guided tour of both Selamlik and the Harem. Interestingly, everything is half off for Turkish residents, and all students with an ISIC card pay only 5 TL – impressive savings.

The gardens surrounding the palace are pretty extraordinary and, in fact, that’s what Dolmabahçe translates to in Turkish: “filled-in garden.”

By: JohnPickenPhoto – CC BY 2.0

Given its history, all the furniture looks just like it did in 1930. The palace was pretty similar to most European palaces I’ve visited– larger than life decor in gigantic rooms. Jeffrey suggested that one of the sultans visited Versailles and copied it, with ornate furniture, HUGE crystal chandeliers (the 2nd largest in Europe is housed at Dolmabahçe) and fancy ceilings.

By: borshop – CC BY 2.0

The coolest thing I saw was a gift from Saudi Arabia in the main stairwell: two huge elephant tusks (I didn’t even think elephants were that big) made into candlestick holders. The very fanciest room was the Grand Ceremonial Room, and women weren’t even allowed inside (they could only look through the windows from the top story. Not my idea of fun.

By: JohnPickenPhoto – CC BY 2.0

By: borshop – CC BY 2.0

Visiting Dolmabahçe during our time in Istanbul was one of the best things we while there because it gave us some insight into Turkish culture from years past — and, who doesn’t love googling at humungous chandeliers and over the top elephant tusks?

The post Tour of Dolmabahçe Palace – Istanbul, Turkey first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

By: Jenny – CC BY 2.0

By: Jorge Dalmau – CC BY 2.0

The Blue Mosque (also known as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque) was built between 1609 and 1616, and made bigger and higher than its across-the-street neighbor, Hagia Sophia (then a church, currently a mosque), in an effort to show Islam’s dominance over Christianity. The Blue Mosque’s facade is relatively plain-looking, with the type of architecture we’ve come to expect in a mosque: a huge dome with a number of minarets and spires surrounding it. The inside, though, is why it’s known as the Blue Mosque: because the drawings and designs are mostly blue. It was really pretty– I especially loved the attention to detail inside all of the buildings (covering the ceiling and dome). There are more than 20,000 ceramic tiles on the ceiling.

This was both Jeffrey’s and my first time visiting a mosque. The floor plan is a large, open, carpeted area covering most of the interior, with a small, fenced-in area along the back for women and non-Muslim visitors. Because the Blue Mosque is a little different than less-touristy/less famous mosques, the area open to visitors was much larger and the guards weren’t quite as strict on appropriate attire: many women tourists did not have their hair covered and, though signs told us it was very much required, those women weren’t harassed until they covered up.

The Blue Mosque is one of Istanbul’s most visited sites and is definitely worth a visit if you find yourself in the beautiful, historic city.

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I’ve never seen a more beautiful assortment of tea for sale

‘Mısır Çarşısı’ — the Egyptian Spice Bazaar — is a covered market selling anything and everything for locals and tourists alike. The biggest item they offer (which is likely exclusively for tourists) is spices, which is sort of what the place is known for (obviously). We didn’t buy any spices — not sure how they’d fare in US Customs — but it was magical just to walk through and smell the fresh spices. The bright colors of each spice were gorgeous — it’s hard to imagine having these spices at your fingertips while cooking.

Bright, colorful spices at the Egyptian Spice Market in Istanbul

More edibles for sale in the Egyptian Spice Market

Just next door is the Grand Bazaar–one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world (over 60+ covered streets in the place and more than 4,000 shops!). It turned out (as we both expected) to be my dream-come-true: rows and rows of painted ceramics, jewelry, leather goods and hand-woven carpets (incidentally, this is Jeffrey’s worst nightmare). The bazaar is truly a complete sensory overload — tons of things for sale and plenty of people everywhere. After a few turns, you literally can’t even figure out which way is up.

About to head into the mazes of the Grand Bazaar… couldn’t be more excited!!

Inside the Grand Bazaar

I knew my time was short in the Grand Bazaar since Jeffrey is not very patient when it comes to shopping, so I had my eyes peeled for just one thing: a set of hand-painted plates (my number 1 souvenir I wanted to bring home). Jeffrey loves to haggle (and he was really eager to leave the swarms of people), so he jumped right in and helped me search for the plate. We went around to a few stores and looked at very similar sizes/color and everyone was quoting around 45 TL/plate, we got one guy to agree to about 35 TL if we got all 4. When I countered at 25 TL he sort of laughed as we walked away… OK, so know we know their limit. Same deal with the next guy. Started at 45 TL, but only came down to 37.5 TL each for 4, reluctantly he dropped it to 35 TL which I told him his buddy up the road said he would do, too. On the way out he said, OK, what is your maximum? 30 TL. No, no, no, he said, what is your MAXIMUM. Yeah, dude, my MAXIMUM is 30 TL. No, what is your highest price? Ughh (trying to figure out the disconnect….) my highest price is 30 TL each (maybe he was expecting me to meet in the middle?). He let out an annoyed sigh and said FINE, pick the ones you want! Haha, easy there dude–you just made a sale. When the time came to pay, he owed us some change but I just told him to keep it …to which he sort of rolled his eyes–Jeffrey just loves to haggle.

Shopping in the Grand Bazaar

More for sale in the Grand Bazaar

Hand painted ceramics for sale inside the Grand Bazaar

The Egyptian Spice Market and the Grand Bazaar are must sees in Istanbul and, just like the city itself, perfectly blend modern day with old world charm. Pop in to examine the beautiful, old architecture and imagine the bustling rows of artisans selling hundreds of years ago– then, pick up a few gifts for people at home!

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The Deal

You can participate in Turkish Airlines’ “TourIstanbul” for free by meeting the following requirements (can be a paid or award ticket):

1. You’re flying Turkish Airlines into and out of Istanbul
2. You’re just passing through Turkey, your origin and destination is international
3. Your layover is between 6 hours and 24 hours
4. Must be able to fit into one of the 3 following tour schedules:
   • Whole day, 9am to 6pm tour: arrive IST before 8am and connecting flight must be after 7:30pm
   • Half day, 9am to 3pm tour: arrive IST before 8am and connecting flight must be after 4:30pm
   • Half day, 12pm to 6pm tour: arrive IST before 11am and connecting flight must be after 7:30pm

How to Get It

Compared to the free hotel, the free Istanbul city tour has a lot fewer strings attached. Since the only requirement is to have a minimum of 6 hours connection time on your international Turkish Airlines transfer, there aren’t too many technicalities that might exclude you.

If you have time for the full day tour, here’s a sample of what you’ll be able to see:

You must be an international transit passenger of Turkish Airlines.

Your connection should not be longer than 24 hours.

Our scheduled tours are everyday from 09:00 to 18:00, from 09:00 to 15:00 and from 12:00 to 18:00. Thus, your departure and arrival time of your flight should be compatible with our scheduled tours.

a – For 09:00 /18:00 Tour
Arrival time must be 08:00 or earlier than 08:00
Departure time must be 19:30 or later than 19:30

b – For 09:00/15:00 Tour
Your Arrival time must be 08:00 or earlier than 08:00
Departure time must be 16:30 or later than 16:30

c – For 12:00/18:00 Tour
Your Arrival time must be 11:00 or earlier
Departure time must be 19:30 or later than 19:30

Your arrival time should be enough to be ready at the Hotel Desk half hour before the tour starts. For instance for our 09:00 tour, we kindly ask you to be ready in front of Hotel Desk at 08:30 am. For the 12:00 tour, this is 11:30am.

Secondly, we expect our passengers to be ready for boarding and pass the passport and custom control minimum 1 hour before their scheduled departure time. For instance if we assume that your departure is at 18:30pm, we may only suggest tours ending at 15:00.

Where to Go

When you get to Istanbul, you’ll have to clear customs and immigration (and, if you’re a US citizen, pay $20 US in cash for a visa). Once out of customs, you’ll be on the Arrivals floor; turn right and walk to the end and you’ll find the Turkish Airlines Hotel Desk/TourIstanbul Meeting Point right next to Starbucks.

Source: Mr. Roboto

Source: Mr. Roboto

Details:

• Free food! “Will we pay for the meals in the touri̇stanbul programme? — No, you are our guest. The food service is for free. We will introduce you with Ottoman cuisine and Turkish hospitality.”
• Check out the full details here: http://www.istanbulinhours.com/
• The tour itineraries vary slightly based upon day of the week due to the operating hours of some attractions
• You must be able to obtain a Turkish visa to leave the airport when transiting internationally.
• You cannot have both the free night and the tour during the same layover; however, you could schedule your flights so that on the inbound you participate in the free tour and on the return you make use of the free hotel
• This is available for both paid and award bookings or don’t forget that Turkish Airlines is a Star Alliance member so you can use United miles for this trick, as well.
• Contact info for the Hotel Desk is +90 212 463 63 63 / ext. 12426-15532 or touristanbul@thy.com and hoteldesk@thy.com.

BOTTOM LINE: Have a long layover in Istanbul? Turkish Airlines, the country’s national airline, wants to show you a good time and promote tourism to the region all while (hopefully) keeping you as a more satisfied customer by taking you on a free tour of the city.

Featured image source: by lonjemoko on pichost.me

The post Secret Travel Trick: Free Istanbul City Tour During Turkish Airlines Layover first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

Trying to figure out how to get there, we had a few options:  either a standard passenger ferry or a tourist boat. We didn’t necessarily have to take the full-on tourist-only tour of the Bosphorus and, after a bit of research, figured that our best bet was just to take the ferry that the locals take across the famous strait. For some reference, here’s one of the less expensive tour options, operated by the main ferry company:

The “Full Bosphorus Cruise” lasts appx 8 hours and costs 25 TL (~$11.64) roundtrip, the “Short Circle Cruise” takes 2 hours and costs just 10 TL (~$4.66)

Put this head-to-head against the do-it-yourself option of just taking a ferry with the locals for 3 TL (~$1.40) one-way and it’s quite a tempting option. Plus, if you take the “Short Circle Cruise,” it never actually drops you off on the Asian side to explore, it’s mainly just a 2 hour boat ride. You can use Şehir Hatları, the Istanbul ferry company’s direct website for the most current information: http://sehirhatlari.com.tr/en.

In addition to the official ferry company, there are many other tours that you could take ranging in price from ~$58 USD for a 3 hours morning cruise (Bosphorus Tour) to ~$454 USD for a private yacht rental that accommodates up to 12 (Zoe Yacht). You might be able to see why we were all over the ~$1.40 option.

We hopped the tram a few stops down to the pier where the ferries depart for all regions of Istanbul. Our destination was just across the Bosphorus, called Kadıköy. Since we knew we wanted to check out the restaurant, we figured that a quick hop over from the Eminönü terminal to the Kadikoy terminal (nearest to the restaurant) made the most sense. The short 15 min ride landed us in Asia for the first time on our trip. There is only one bridge for cars between the Asian and European sides of Istanbul, but it is pretty far north in the city so passenger ferries (and a few car ferries, too) make up the difference.

Eminönü to Kadikoy

We were staying in Sultanahmet-Old City, so the walk to Eminönü terminal was quite an easy one, as it is very close to all of the major sites.

You can easily buy a ferry ticket at the stations

After a quick ~15 minute ride across the Bosphorus, we made it to Kadıköy.

Our immediate impression of the eastern bank was that there were far less obvious tourists walking around. Both good and bad; it just means we stick out a little more (and by “we” I mean just me since McCown had already been asked if she is from Turkey and I’ve been accused of being German at least once).

Getting tired of all the seemingly same restaurants in the touristy area, we wanted to hunt down some good, fresh local cuisine.

Çiya Sofrası Restaurant

Just like the diversity of people, the food is a clash between Mediterranean, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. For example:  lamb soup with mint leaves and dumplings. But the predominant cooking style is definitely more Mediterranean than anything–hummus, stuffed grape leaves and a kind of taziki yogurt sauce are offered at nearly all restaurants.

They’re set up with a salad bar of sorts that is a pay-by-weight system, we didn’t waste any time and dove right in.

A few of the dishes had a cayenne pepper-fueled kick to them

Lots of fresh Mediterranean options

The rest of the menu is a la carte; this is where you’ll order the hot dishes. We starting ordering away and were not disappointed.

SIS BEREK (NIZIP (G. ANTEP): 12 TL, Dough, ground beef, walnut, chickpeas, mint, strained yogurt. They called it a ravioli but it’s more like a soupy dish with dumplings. With a great mint flavor and great broth, I’d say it’s more of the eastern European dumpling meets Mediterranean flavors of mint, chickpeas, etc.

STUFFED VEGETABLES (NIZIP): 12 TL, Eggplant, pepper, ground beef, rice, onion, garlic, pepper, spices and mint. Basically, eggplant and pepper stuffed with ground beef, rice, etc. There was plenty of flavor in the rice/meat stuffing and overall it was good, albeit a little cold.

KEREBIC (DOGU AKDENIZ): 4 TL, Flour, coven root, pistachio, semolina. A pretty dry pastry made with hard, densely packed pistachio in middle and served atop a light cream. This was right up my alley, not too sweet but still considered a dessert.

SOBIYET (G.ANTEP): 8 TL, A kind of pistachio-style baklava. Super fresh compared to the traditional style. It was not as flaky but still super sweet with the thick sugary syrup all over it. Washed it down with Oregano tea. I didn’t know you’d ever want to steep oregano? The tea tastes like you’d imagine: a little bitter.

The people have all been exceedingly friendly here, similar to what we experienced in the small island town on Mykonos (Greek isle). For example, when we couldn’t find this restaurant, we stopped to ask for directions in a small B&B style hotel and the owner sent the bell boy to lead us down the street for a few minutes to the front door of the place–not bad for hospitality!

Ferry Haydarpaşa Gari to Eminönü

The return trip was a bit longer. Not wanting to double back to the Kadıköy station, we explored a bit to the north and took the return ferry from Haydarpaşa:

After making it back to Europe, we set off immediately for the ‘Mısır Çarşısı’ — the Egyptian Spice Bazaar. It’s a covered market selling anything and everything for locals and tourists alike. The biggest item they offer (which is likely exclusively for tourists) is spices, which is sort of what the place is known for. Although we didn’t purchase anything, it was well worth the trip– the spice market is one of the must-sees in Istanbul because not too much has changed from the old days.

BOTTOM LINE: No trip to Istanbul is complete without taking the iconic “ferry to Asia.” In our opinion your best bet is using the official passenger ferry company, Şehir Hatları which will give you a 2 hour cruise with amazing view of the city for under $5.

The post Istanbul: Taking a Ferry to Asia! / Ciya Sofrasi Restaurant Review first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

The Deal

Turkish Airlines will provide free lodging if you meet the following requirements (can be a paid or award ticket):

1. You’re flying Turkish Airlines into and out of Istanbul
2. You’re just passing through Turkey, your origin and destination is international
3. Your layover is 10+ hours for economy or 7+ hours for business
4. The 10+ hour or 7+ hour layover is forced based upon Turkish Air’s flight schedule, i.e. you don’t have the option of taking an earlier flight if you want to

How to Get It

The list above might have seemed strict but there are plenty of instances that would qualify for this deal. For example, if you booked the following flight from Washington, D.C.-IAD to Bordeaux, France-BOD, you would qualify:

You’ll be “stuck” with a 18 hour layover in Istanbul which might typically dissuade you from booking, but, knowing that you’ll get a free night in Istanbul might actually encourage you to book this routing. This works because there is only 1 flight per day to Bordeaux.

Let’s take a look at this flight from Washington-IAD to Athens-ATH:

On the surface, it appears that it would qualify:  you’ve got a 15 hour layover in Istanbul-IST which is well within the limits of the 10 hour minimum but, upon closer examination, I found that there was actually a connecting flight to Athens-ATH that would have worked:

Because the flight gets into Istanbul at 4:40pm and there’s a doable connection to Athens at 7:20pm, I wouldn’t be able to get the free hotel layover in Istanbul on this itinerary, even if I booked the longer layover that leaves at 7:40am the next day.

Terms and conditions: A complimentary hotel accommodation (maximum 2 nights) will be provided to our valuable passengers when there are more than 10 hours (for economy cabin passengers) and 7 or more hours (for business cabin passengers) waiting during their international connecting flights due to Turkish Airlines’ schedule structure. This service is not applicable when there is a shorter connection available within the time frame mentioned above. The first and the connecting flights must be with Turkish Airlines. All passengers must hold a confirmed reservation for the first and the connecting flights. Complimentary accommodation will be arranged with Turkish Airlines’ corporate partners and will be provided through the “Hotel Desk” located after the customs’ check point at the arrival. Passengers must check for any visa requirements when entering Turkey. In the event where a visa is not granted, Turkish Airlines assumes no responsibility for providing complimentary hotel accommodation. For further information, please call +90 212 4440849.

Beware, though:  you could get stuck without a room if Turkish Air adds flights to their schedule between the time of booking and date of travel. To comply with the “this service is not applicable when there is a shorter connection available within the time frame mentioned above” rule, this is checked by an attendant at the Turkish Airlines Hotels desk by simply checking the current flight schedule. If there’s a flight to your destination within the 10 hour/7 hour window, then you’re out of luck.

If you want to confirm if you qualify, you’ll want to check the Turkish Airlines flight schedule. For future flights, the easiest way to do this is to search Google Flights. To confirm closer to your departure date that Turkish Airlines hasn’t added any new routes, I suggest searching the route on FlightAware.com:

The direct flights are shown at the top

Types of hotels to expect:

Here are some of the reported hotels that Turkish Air might put you in– as you can see, it’s a pretty mixed bag (although most are international, Western-style chains).

• Marriott Renaissance Polat Istanbul Hotel (72% TripAdvisor–most common)
• Akgün Istanbul Hotel (44% TripAdvisor–common–far from the airport)
• Wow Airport Hotel (56% TripAdvisor–common)
• DoubleTree
• Wyndham İstanbul Petek (92% TripAdvisor)
• Radisson Blu Conference & Airport Hotel (53% TripAdvisor)
• Hilton Garden Inn
• Courtyard by Marriott Istanbul International Airport
• Gonen Hotel Istanbul

Where to Go

When you get to Istanbul, you’ll have to clear customs and immigration (and, if you’re a US citizen, pay $20 US in cash for a visa). Once out of customs, you’ll be on the Arrivals floor, turn right and walk to the end and you’ll find the Turkish Airlines Hotel Desk right next to Starbucks.

Source: Mr. Roboto

Source: Mr. Roboto

The staff will present you with a hotel voucher; this voucher should include breakfast if your stay includes that time window. Additionally, transport to/from the hotel is included.

Details:

• This is available for both paid and award bookings.
• You could get stuck without a room if Turkish Airlines adds a flight between the time of booking and travel, they check the rule on the day you show up asking for a room.
• Unfortunately, you cannot pre-book the hotel. You have to be physically present at the Hotel Desk.
• Contact info for the Hotel Desk is +90 212 463 63 63 / ext. 12426-15532 or touristanbul@thy.com and hoteldesk@thy.com.
• If you get really creative, you could possibly stay for 2 nights on both the outbound and return flights for a total of 4 nights in 1 roundtrip flight.

BOTTOM LINE: Want a free night in Istanbul, maybe even 2? Carefully book your transit to connect through Istanbul and stay within the connection windows and you’ll extend your trip by up to 2 nights for free! Don’t forget that Turkish Airlines is a Star Alliance member so you can use United miles for this trick, as well.

Featured image source: http://lslconsultancy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Istanbul.jpg

The post Secret Travel Trick: Free Hotel Layover in Istanbul with Turkish Airlines first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

If you’re in the market for a rug, good:  there’s no shortage of men trying to cat call you into their shop just to sell you a very expensive rug. Turns out, I didn’t have the #fancy budget for a rug, can you believe it? So, I focused on more attainable souvenirs – and what I could actually pack in my suitcase.

Without further ado, here are my top areas for shopping in Istanbul:

1)  First up:  the Grand Bazaar.

You just have to start here in this chaotic, overwhelming wind-storm of colors. Set up a bit like an open-air market (but covered), the Grand Bazaar has been is one of the oldest, most well known — and largest — covered markets in the world. With 61 covered stalls + between 230,000 – 400,000 visitors DAILY, the thing is a maze.

McCown’s highest hopes, meet Jeffrey’s worst nightmare. (Opposites attract?!?)

We explored the many hallways within the Grand Bazaar and went from booth to booth looking for something to take home. Turkey has been famous for its colored tilework since the 16th Century, so I finally settled on four hand-painted ceramic plates. After Jeffrey swooped in to bargain with the booth owner, we ended up getting the four plates for $68.

2) The Egyptian Spice Market near Galata Bridge is similar to the Grand Bazaar (although much smaller), but sells spices and food items.

Although I wasn’t in the market to take any food items home, it was fun to walk through and window shop. I’ve never seen such abundance of spices –and, in such vibrant colors. No wonder the food here is so delicious…  Looking for apple tea here? There’s about a million and one stalls here that are trying to sell it to you.

3) For a bit more modern experience, head to Istiklal Caddesi. 

In Taksim, this very busy street (arguably Istanbul’s busiest street) is a zoo in and of itself. But, nestled among the crowds are passageways that are easy to miss if you’re not looking. Just popping down any of these passageways will probably find you some great little hidden gems but, if not, surely a fun place to explore. Here, you’ll find the likes of Mango and Bershka but also second-hand vintage shops and restaurants, clubs, kabob street food…you name it, this street has got it.

For jewelry, turn into a tiny alley way (you have to be looking for it or you’ll miss it!) named Passage Hazzopulo located at İstiklal Caddesi No. 116.

Here, you’ll find a cute restaurant with a sprawling courtyard where your male counterpart can happily wait while you shop in the jewelry shop next door called Chris Kami. This guy makes his jewelry by hand and I can’t tell you how many compliments I’ve gotten on the jewelry I purchased here.

The post Best Areas to Shop in Istanbul, Turkey first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

The new route is scheduled to be flown 4x per week: Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Why do you care? Because this route opens up more possibilities for booking Star Alliance awards, namely United Mileage Plus awards. And, as with most new routes, the award availability is excellent with 2+ economy seats still open on nearly every single flight going 9 months out:

Visiting Bordeaux? Here are some related posts:

• SNCF Train: Paris CDG to Bordeaux
• Walking Tour of Bordeaux, France

Visiting Istanbul? Here are some related posts:

• Top 5 Things to Do in Istanbul
• Hagia Sophia / Ayasofya Review – Istanbul, Turkey
• Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarnici) – Istanbul, Turkey Review and Photo Gallery
• Exploring Istanbul: A Tour of Turkish Food
• Galata Tower Review – Istanbul, Turkey
• Souvenirs: Turkey
  

Sample award booking:

Sept 1: New York-NYC –> London-LHR
Sept 8: Bordeaux-BOD –> Istanbul-IST
Sept 11: Istanbul-IST –> New York-NYC

This would price out at 60,000 United MileagePlus miles per passenger.

BOTTOM LINE: The more choices/city pairs for award bookings, the better! And, we always love new routes because it generally means plentiful award inventory since the masses don’t know about it yet.

The post New Route for United Awards: Bordeaux, France to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

After lunch at another outdoor cafe (…because Charleston has exactly 0 fun outdoor streetside cafes), we walked over the Golden Horn to the more modern side of Istanbul. Trying to get our tourism on, we headed to a must-see site: the Galata Tower.

View of the Galata Tower from across the water

In the context of Istanbul, the Galata Tower is brand spanking new at 650+ years old. This is especially evident in the context of the Hagia Sofia, built in 537, whereas the Galata Tower was completed in 1348. Further revealing the age of the ancient Tower, it was once the tallest building in all of the city at a sky-scraping 219 ft (67 meters).

The Tower was built to replace its predecessor, known as the Great Tower, which was used to control sea traffic and closed the Golden Horn. Beginning in the 18th century, the Ottomans used the Tower to look out for fires in the city.

The nine-story tower has a restaurant on its top floor, but visitors can climb to the top without having to eat there. There is a balcony all along the top and, when we were there, we were jam-packed and passing fellow picture-takers was rather difficult. We did end up getting the coveted panoramic shot of Istanbul, complete with the Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosque. And, we even scored a photo of the two of us up top.

BOTTOM LINE:  Although the newer part of Istanbul isn’t my favorite, climbing to the top of the Galata Tower should be high on your list of things to do. The view is second-to-none, and, hopefully, the crowds won’t be too bad so you can get a group picture with a background that’s guaranteed to get you plenty of Instagram Likes.

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