Istanbul, the city of two continents, the place where Europe and Asia are entwined. It’s grand, surprising, full of flavor and color.

It’s a must see destination for any serious traveler and it has anything and everything you’d want to see: old, new, art, trade masters, great food, amazing tea, jewelry that makes all women sigh and lights sparkles of desire in the corner of their eyes, parties, belly dancing, burial sites and holy places. Add two seas, great sunsets and quite a few towers to see the city from up top. It is mesmerizing and it crawls up your veins like a drug, turning into an addiction, making you always want to come back. Sure, the traffic is there to provide your everyday near-death experience, but that’s not a big thing, is it?

Photo credit.

As it happens, we rarely have enough time to explore a city. Sometimes we’ve planned a tour and we need to see the best of everything. And as Istanbul is a really accessible destination for a wide number of countries, many travelers may choose to dedicate a long weekend to it! As I have been to Istanbul three times already and it’s always been for a maximum of four days, I thought I’d share the tricks I learned with you. That is why I created a three day guide suggesting you how to mix tourist landmarks with places to eat so that you can see as much of Istanbul as possible.

This guide is not meant to tell you why you should see these marvels, as the Internet is full of such info and the local guide books that you can get, well, everywhere, will tell you the stories behind them! My goal is to help you turn into a happy and effective little tourist and experience as much of Istanbul as you can.

The first day is dedicated to the old city, with ancient palaces, mosques and tombs. The first thing you need to do is wake up early and never, ever skip breakfast! Turkish hotels are pretty good at arranging buffet. Make sure you try everything! The bread, cheese, meat, cookies, coffee and helva! They have really good honey as well. Now drag yourself out of the chair and the hotel, get a tourist map, they are cheap and will help you through the city, and head out to see the Topkapi Palace!

Topkapi is open almost everyday. Still, some queuing might be involved, so I recommend getting there a little before 9. Get your tickets for the palace, make sure you get tickets for the Harem section as well (you really don’t want to get to Istanbul and not see where the Sultans kept their armies of beautiful women!). You can get the walkie-talkie guides if you’d like, they are available in so many languages it makes your head spin, but having a Topkapi guide book is just as good and you get to take it home as a reminder of your trip!

Visiting the whole palace, Harem included, takes a long while. I suggest taking a break after the first couple of hours and have some cay (Turkish tea) in one of the museum’s cafes. Take your time, enjoy the sea view, then get on with your tour of the palace. You will be finished with everything just in time for lunch! And you definitely must try Kofte (a sort of grilled meatballs) with rice and salad!

But don’t be fooled by the many places selling kofte! Go to the most famous place, Sultanahmet Koftecisi, one of the most frequently copied restaurants in Istanbul. To get there, walk out of the Topkapi Palace through the main entrance, walk by the gift shops, turn right and walk toward the tram tracks, having Aya Sofya on your right and Sultanahmet (Blue Mosque) on your left. Once you get to the street with the tram track, turn left and walk along the tracks, on the right sidewalk. It’s less than 100 meters until the koftecisi and the photo I posted should help you. Don’t forget to get Ayran (a salty, yogurt based drink) too!

After lunch, (it should be a about 2 PM by now), it’s time for Hagia Sophia / Aya Sofya / St. Sophia (Yes, they all translate to Holly Wisdom or something like it). As it has stricter visiting hours, I advise you to visit it before the Blue Mosque.

Aya Sofya used to be a Christian church before being turned into a mosque and some traces of it’s Christian past are still preserved. Depending on when you visit, it might also hold religious-themed exhibitions and I advise you to check them out.

As the Blue Mosque is closed for a sermon until 5.15 pm, you might either be in luck and visit both mosques before 4.30 or have some time to spend in the park between them. If you do, look out for these guys:

They sell sherbet, a traditional drink. Even if you’re not tempted, they still make for a great photo subject! Then concentrate on Blue Mosque/ Sultanahmet!

As you can see, it can be rather crowded! Most mosques in Istanbul don’t charge you for visiting.  Blue Mosque is one of them. But they gladly take donations and I advise you to make one, as they do need the money to preserve them.

Go in, enjoy the beauty and the spirit of the mosque. There are some holy books in one of the corners. Unless you’re fluent in Arabic, you won’t understand a thing, but they are beautiful to look at, with artful covers and exquisite writing.

The next part of your day highly depends on when you see the Blue Mosque. If it’s after five, go to the Grand Bazaar first. If it’s before 4.30, save the Bazaar for last. Either way, don’t miss out on the Bazaar!

On your way from Blue Mosque to the Bazaar (a 15 minute walk), you will pass by some burial sites. Pashas and important personalities of Istanbul lay here. Take a moment to acknowledge their presence and to notice an interesting fact: there are a few coffee shops in between the graves.

Just before the Bazaar, you’ll be greeted by the Beyazit II Mosque and the Istanbul University. They are both grand, beautifully looking buildings, quite worth a little of your time and a few dozen photos

And now it’s time for some hard core negotiation, spotting beautiful items between thousands of competitors and just filling your lungs with the Turkish trading spirit. They are great salespersons! Even the best European and North American sales specialists admit it.

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Besides, everything they sell looks beautiful, from tea sets, to shawls and leather jackets. Speaking of leather jackets, if you negotiate enough, you can get great prices for them (as a Turkish bartender once explained it to me, leather clothes factories are close to Istanbul and surrounding areas, that is why buying them there is smart, unlike going to shop for leather in Antalya or other south-eastern seaside resorts).  The Bazaar closes at 7 PM. And if you have saved the other landmarks for after, make sure you get out through the same gate (Beyazit).

Warning: The Bazaar is closed on Sundays and all holidays. So if you’re there in the New Year period, it will be tricky to actually visit it.

Dinnertime! Just head back to the Sultanahmet Square and pick whatever restaurant you’d like. Lamb or chicken shish kebab would work! It usually comes with rice and grilled veggies. Again, I recommend ayran, and a well-deserved after mean cup of cay!

Now it’s time to head back to the hotel and rest. Or go to a local club…Whatever you do, remember: the next day you will have to once more wake up early!

P.S. I mentioned quite a lot of visiting hours and closing time. All of them refer to the local time.

3 Amazing Days in Istanbul – Part II
3 Amazing Days in Istanbul – Part III

Did you notice how a country-specific cuisine tasted differently in said country and abroad? Chinese food tasted differently in Germany than it does in China. Italian pizza you have at your local Italian restaurant is rarely the same as the one you have in Italy. Basically because foods and drinks are tailored to meed the specific preferences of each country. Just make a simple experiment on your next trip, try the Coca Cola drink in your country and the one they sell in the country you visit. You most likely will notice the difference!

Same with large fast-food chains! I love McDonald’s salads in Romania, I hated them in the US. I hated Burger King in Turkey, loved it in other countries. I used to go to Pizza Hut once a month, I went once in Toronto and I still regret it.

What does this have to do with travel? It’s simple, when you’re traveling, just because you know and like a brand in your home country, it really does not mean you will like it in another country you are visiting. It’s not a bad thing, but it’s wise to go there prepared, cause nothing makes a trip worse than a disappointment that could have easily been prevented!

Rosemont was my next stop in the US ever. I had come to the States for an industry event held near Chicago, in the Donald E. Stephens Convention and Conference Center, which is practically across the street from the hotel I stayed in: DoubleTree.

It was a heart warming welcome, as the young woman at the reception desk was born, yes, you guessed it, in Romania! Although she only spent a few years there, she still remembered a few words and we had a nice conversation. And they also gave us some nice, chocolate filled warm cookies that simply made us forget about the 16 or so hours that had passed since we left our homes in Bucharest.

DoubleTree is extremely close to the O’Hare airport and that’s both an advantage and disadvantage. We all know there’s nothing better than a cookie and a nice shower after a flight, especially a long one. But hearing airplanes taking off and landing all the time might have some impact on your sleep, especially if it’s helped by the jet lag.

Having breakfast there was a bliss. Although I am used to more types of cheese and vegetables for breakfast, it was my first time experiencing American bacon and waffles! And the restaurant staff was hilarious! Everything you needed for a good morning start.

As the whole Rosemont seems to be dedicated to business travelers, displaying convention centers and lots of hotels, most of them above 3 stars by European standards, DoubleTree is a wonderful choice for business events, conferences or business meetings. The only problem is if you come with European electronics, you won’t be able to plug them in and have them charged and the hotel won’t be able to help you. Your solution is going to the nearby mall and buy what you need. You’ll get a full package, allowing you to travel around the world and have no problem charging your laptop.

If you’re there as a tourist, beware: it takes quite a while to get to downtown Chicago and back. So if you’re hoping to mix some fun with the work assignments, don’t waste any free time on resting! Otherwise you won’t get to see anything!

Photos from the DoubleTree site.

I’ve spent three great days at Omni Shoreham in May, while attending an IT&C summit organized by a virtualization company. As the conference kept us for quite a while close to the hotel, I got well acquainted with what it had to offer. I thought I’d share my views with all of you traveling to Washington for business or pleasure and for those looking for a place to throw a party.

The hotel looks amazing and the rooms are placed in such a way that their overwhelming majority has a nice view to offer. The architect coming up with this hotel was really client oriented! The hotel might look like a little labyrinth at times, but there are enough signs to help you find your way.

The rooms are huge, the beds are extraordinary and their bathrooms are impeccable. Yet in the room I stayed there was no mini bar. There’s no vending machine on each floor either, so if you get really thirsty in the middle of the night, you have to get dressed and go downstairs. I think this is an aspect they should really work on, given their clear position of a luxury hotel.

The hotel restaurant looks extremely fancy. And if it’s warm outside, I strongly recommend eating on the terrace. There’s a lovely, relaxing view of the garden and its fountain to enjoy. The food was quite good, yet a very limited selection of dishes. Breakfast offered the most choices if you asked me.

I think if you pay attention to the menu selection, throwing a spring or autumn wedding reception at this hotel might be wonderful. If you’re traveling here on business, feel free to ask your business partners here to have lunch or dinner, they’ll appreciate the atmosphere. If they’re picky about what they eat, take them somewhere else though.

If there’s one area where Omni Shoreham is really outstanding, it must be the facilities it has to offer for seminars, conferences and other events. During my stay there, there were quite a few events taking place at the same time and there was enough room for everyone. Do keep the map offered to you by the organizers close by, otherwise that labyrinth feeling will kick in again.

To conclude, I’d like to say Omni Shoreham was one of the finest hotels I stayed in. But their staff should really learn how to give better advice. Their doormen know more than Concierge staff about transportation to airports, which is cheaper and which is faster. Being helpful is nice, actually helping someone make a smart move is even better.

Photos credit.

For most people coming outside US, baseball is this weird looking sport that they know nothing of. This is also true for Romanians, although their local Oina is thought to be the “ancestor” of baseball. If we start at the dawns of Oina, baseball is a really old sport. Oina was first mentioned around 1346, meaning it had been around for a long time before that.

Bun enough history lessons! Baseball is played on these huge stadiums and fans are wild and everything seems fascinating to a clueless outsider. But would you watch TV long enough to understand it, get to love it then join a fan club? I doubt it.

There are a few things you need to instantly fall in love with baseball. The first thing that would help is seeing your first game live. If you’re lucky enough, you’ll see it as I did, from a nice little VIP suite. Try to get decent seats. But after my experience, I don’t recommend the high class ones. You need to be at the heart of things to really feel the passion of this game. So concentrate on a good view and get mixed in the local cultural blend.

The next important thing is the right company. You need someone who knows baseball to explain the rules and everything. If you’re lucky, they’ll tell you a little about the history of the teams, trends and stadium costs. Yes, building one costs a huge fortune.

Don’t even try to understand why there’s a World Series! An almost exclusively US game (there’s one team in Canada) should not have a World Series. It sounds way to condescending for the rest of the countries who are not part of the game .

The third thing: food! You need the right food, bought from the right place. So take a stroll around the stadium and get yourself a hot dog or the spicier version, a chilly dog. And drink some coke or a Bud, or anything very, very American.

Team branded gifts! Yes, the all touristy activity is to buy Washington Nationals or Philadelphia Phillies t-shirts when it’s your first game and you have no idea who you support! But it’s a great part of a game, especially when you’re a rather short girl and want a t-shirts that at least tries to fit you.

So, on your next trip to the US, find out if there’s a baseball team near by, preferably major league, check the game schedule and get some tickets. You won’t regret it, not even for a second! Oh, and if you know a certain someone that can get you on the field, to run around like crazy, please, please give me his/her number!