Hello Pete,
I have just come back from the Istanbul city break and it was fantastic. The whirling dervish optional tour is the only one i wasnt keen on. We'd had a long day on the city tour with a lunch included, arriving back at our hotel at 5.30. We were out again at 6.30 so we had no time to eat. The show itself is something you do once. You sit in an auditorium and you are not allowed to speak, clap or take photo's and they literally whirl for a full hour. It is a religious experience and I don't think that it is for everyone.
We also had problems on the first night when going out for our evening meal. The restaurants are all trying to get your business and promise you everyting to get you in there and when you are in you need to keep your wits about you. They will bring you bread and water and then later charge you which you don't expect. They also bring around a tray of raw fish to tempt you not realising that it is sold by weight. We all otpted for the fish and I had the biggest seabass I have ever seen. When we left our final bill was £40.00 sterling each per person for just one meal with the water and bread,
The next evening out we went to the hotel Zurich over the road from the hotel where we got excellent servive. We asked for no service charge to be added and we still had bread and water supplied and our meal cost £10.00 sterling each - a big difference.
You also need to check before you start your meal if they accept sterling as not all restaurants do even though we were told that they all do.
Hope this all helps have a great time
Julie
