| Turkish (Istanbul) Grand Prix |
Welcome, race fans, to my Formula 1 page. This page chronicles my Turkish (Istanbul) Grand Prix trip. I hope you find it informative and interesting. You might also want to check out my other automotive pages: Montreal Grand Prix, Shanghai Grand Prix, United States Grand Prix, Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) and Honda S2000 pages. Background A while back I read this article about a British fellow who, after having made a decent chunk of change off stocks, took a year off and went to every Formula 1 race of the season. Unfortunately I'm not too good with money, and so I can only do one or two races a year. Last year was Montreal and Shanghai. So what's it going to be this year? Monza, and its history? The glamour of Monaco? Or maybe Suzuka before the venue is moved in 2007. Since I just got back from a month long trip in Europe, Monza (Italy) didn't sound too enticing. Monaco in May is too early since I just started a new job. But Suzuka (Japan) is all the way in October, too long to wait. Having read the Historian last year, Istanbul started to pique my interest. Great history with the Byzantine Empire and what not. Would be pretty exotic compared to, say, France in July. The Road to Istanbul There's no direct flight from San Francisco to Istanbul; I will have to connnect in New York. Never sure when it's a good time to buy the tickets, but with oil prices at record highs, I figure I better buy now. Lodging I booked 6 nights at the Bahaus Guesthouse Hostel. They got really good ratings on hostelworld.com. Can't beat $20/night. Review: The location is very good, right next to the Blue Mosque. There's a small market 100 feet away, which can be very handy for snacks and drinks. Each room has a fan, which is a must in the hot and humid summers. The restrooms are relatively spacious for a hostel, but lacks ventilation, so it becomes very steamy when the weather is hot and humid. They'll do your laundry for 4 TYL. The common room has 4 computers with Internet access. There are lockers available for securing your luggage. This place gets very high marks from hostelworld.com and it's not bad, but I don't know if it deserves THAT high of ratings. Big Apple across the street looks pretty decent too. Itinerary Don't really have an itinerary, like to just wander around, but finally did get around to studying up a little on Istanbul. Looks like Istanbul has four main areas: Sultanahmet, Seraglio Point, the Bazaar Quarter and Beyoglu. Will also do a trip along the Boshphorus, as well as to the area up the Bosphorus where the Dolmabahce Palace is. This map shows a good overview of Istanbul: 
Arrival Upon landing you'll need to purchase a visa for $20 USD. Once you pass immigration/customs you have several options for getting to Istanbul. A taxi will cost you about 45 YTL. Not sure much the Havas bus will cost, maybe 5 YTL. The metro is the cheapest, 2.6 YTL. Right outside the terminal go downstairs and take the metro to Aksaray (the airport is at the end of the line, so you just have one direction to go). At Aksaray get off and exit. Now comes the tricky part. You have to go under the busy street via a underground walkwalk. Then you keep walking pass some shops onto another busy street. There is an overpass and you take that overpass. At the middle of the overpass is the entrance for the second metro you'll need to take to get to Sultanahmet. Exit Sultanahmet and you're at the Blue Mosque / Hagia Sophia. The Track You can take a bus to the track from either Taksim or Sultanahmet for 4 YTL (each way). I didn't go to Friday practice, but for Saturday and Sunday I think the buses start the first departure at 9 AM and leave every 30 minutes or so. I took the bus from Sultanahmet, since that's where my hostel was. They meet in front of the Hagia Sophia. Without traffic it takes about hour, but budget a good 2 hours. Our bus driver got lost on the way to the track! He had to stop a couple of times to ask for directions. I heard from others the same happened to them. It took one group almost 3 hours to get to the track, so budget plenty of time. It'll be very hot at the track, very little natural shade. The good news is there is a shuttle that goes around the track, so unlike Montreal or Shanghai you don't have to walk for miles to get to your seats. I ended up just getting general admissions. General admissions is just dirt, unlike other tracks that have grass areas. So if you're going to do general admissions bring towerls/chairs to sit on. And bring an umbrella, it's blistering hot, so you'll need shade. I stationed myself between grandstands 2 and grandstands 3. If you bring binoculars you'll be able to see the TV screens from some areas of the general admissions. Istanbul Istanbul is HOT and HUMID. Ok, to be fair, this year's heat and humidity was record breaking, so maybe next year's GP's weather will be better, and I was just unlucky. But do plan for the brutal heat. It made my visit to Istanbul not as enjoyable. You start to sweat so much and you'll need to rest more often. The intense sun at the track is even worse, so be prepare. Actually, after Saturday's qualifying, I felt it was too hot for me to enjoy Sunday's race. So I ended up just watching it at the hotel's bar. You may be less/more sensitive to the heat/humidity, so plan accordingly. |
