Saturday 15th November 2014 - Breakfast on the top floor of building again. Pack our dirty stuff up and hit the road.
Bikes didn't disappear overnight thankfully!
Not too bad from here on into town. Back onto the motorway D100, across the second lake. Here there is a wide footpath we rode on for a bit. Then took a right and followed the coast round to Sultanahmet.
Go along the perimeter fence of Istanbul Atatürk airport. Watch the planes coming into land for a while, can nearly see the people in the windows they're that low, one every couple of minutes, crazy!
Pass a new massive hotel built along the water front, looking out at loads and loads of boats/ships anchored out on the water.
Through parks, past old city wall ruins, along old seafront promenade and past a fish market to the left turn off the road, under a bridge, up into the old town area.
Shops, hotels, restaurants, the tourist end of town. Push the bike up the short sharp cobble hill, turn down the street on the right and the blue mosque jumps out at us from the end of a row of shops. Wow!
I've just cycled from my house in Northern Ireland, to the edge of Europe!!!
Who would've guessed I'd make it here, having never planned or practiced this cycle touring thing before the day I rolled down my driveway!!
Few final destination photos, then round to the hostel. Loads on same street with bar/restaurant open fronts, onto the road.
Have lunch, check in. Leave clothes with a crazy cat lady to wash for 17lira.
Go for walk through streets and a small bazaar, see the square and the mosque all lit up at night, with colourful water fountains and lots of people wandering around. Pretty nice.
Kebab and beer for tea, while watching as the street steadily livens up, lots of people out and about in the evening.
Going to enjoy a good sleep tonight, as I splashed out on a room all to myself ... but really quite sad it's all over and I don't have anywhere to cycle to tomorrow :'-(
Day 78 - 15.11.14
Avcilar to Sultanahmet, Turkey
1h 57min cycling
27.6km
726 calories
285 metres asc
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