Day 7 - Leaving Sofia to Istanbul

It took a bit longer to to pack all things. We left Sofia around 2 PM. It was only 550 km to Istanbul and the roads were very good - mostly freeways. We arrived to the borders at Kapitan Andreevo around 5 PM. It was almost empty. The only visa we need to get to Turkey was for Agnieszka, it cost 10 Euro. Turkish customs were very friendly and did not check the car. I think it will be a bit funny to explain what do I need for the 140 l of old oil. From the borders there was a 200 km of a very good freeway all the way to Istanbul and it cost only 5.50 Euro. We had a short stop at the parking place before Istanbul. I cleaned the toilet and Agniszka made very good soup. We came to Istanbul around 8 pm. I could not imagine how it will be possible to drive in 16 million city (more people than the whole former Czechoslovakia) so I was a bit afraid of the traffic. I was very happy to find out that my new GPS software (Pocket Finder 6) has a detailed map of the city and that there was less traffic than in Prague and very good roads. We stopped at Taksim (the modern city center) and decided to look for some nice place to stay in Sultanahmet. We found a guarded parking lot right next to the Blue mosque - one of the most famous mosques in Istanbul. I managed to get connected to the electricity and felt it will be a safe place to stay. We took a walk in the neighborhood, stopped at a cafe and met there Sunay. Diana and Agnieszka were reading "Snow", a book by Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel price winner and they were very happy that he is coming from Kars where the story of the book takes pace. I felt Istanbul will be a very interesting place to explore. We went to bed around midnight.

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