On this day, we went to the Gurney Plaza. It’s a rather big mall with very fancy stores, and a huge amount of eateries. After the toy shop, which was quite big, but I’ve been in bigger, we also went to the bookshop. It used to be my favourite place before I got my Kindle. I still like to browse, but don’t buy anymore. It was interesting to note that they had a large section for female readers, self-help, but a tiny fraction for sci-fi and fantasy. I guess partly because most people I know who read those actually did go over to ebooks, as they are generally very geeky. They also mostly had books in English there, very few in the local language. The kids’ section, however, was comparatively massive. Lots of books by age group, interest, even some author. I guess that market is still very much alive in paper form, unlike the novel market.
We had lunch at Din Thai Fung. Sadly, they only had room under the AC, so it was pretty cold. I don’t really get why people get rooms so cold in the summer. I guess some people dress up more, but most people are in very little clothing. We ordered to share steamed vegetable and pork dumplings, Pork XiaoLongBao, pork chop fried rice, and to drink, roselle sparkling, which I’ve never had, but was very good. I wouldn’t be able to tell you what it tasted like though. Maybe some sort of red berry would be the best estimate. I also loved the fried rice, it had very good flavours. We asked a bit later for some steamed rice, and they were rather late in delivering that. However, the food was very good.
In the afternoon I didn’t do anything to write about here, but in the evening, we went to an Indian restaurant that didn’t look like much. However, the food was very good. It's called Sri Ananda Bahwan Garden Cafe. And interesting thing we noted was that just after us a group of Indian people came in, and they got the menu right away. We got it after we asked for it. Not good hospitality. We had two types of korma, which I loved, some curry chicken and naans. The naans were perhaps a bit greasier than I would have liked. We didn’t spend a lot of time there, but the atmosphere was like Indian market, though I’ve never been to India.
It wasn’t easy getting up, but I managed and did my morning workout. I was proud of myself for having done that and after a shower had a nice breakfast. I wanted to do a video of breakfast, but there were many people around, so I just decided not to. Most of them seemed the business type. On my way back to the room, I did pick up a fig to eat.
Afterwards I got ready for work. That took up most of the day. However, one of the partners took us to lunch at this very nice restaurant. I visited it last June as well. It looks very unassuming, you wouldn’t think it’s anything special. However, the food is delicious. It’s called Madalyalı Koru Tesisleri and I wrote a review.
Madalyalı is a more traditional Turkish restaurant. It’s located in an area that is a mixture of industrial and residential. Definitely not the place where you see many tourists roaming around.
I’ve eaten twice in this restaurant, both times invited by partners who work near there. We ate in the shady more open area. There is small inner garden in there, with a pond that has frogs and turtles, though I would suggest adding fish. There is a cute waterfall. However, the waterfall does have a lot of limescale, which could use a clean-up. There did seem to be something going on with the little garden, so I hope that it’s what I suggested.
Both times I had a Turkish salad, which was very nice. I asked for a version without walnuts, as I’m allergic. If you have the same problem, then note that by default it does have walnuts. We also got some mushrooms with cheese, which looked very nice, though again, I can’t eat mushrooms. For main, I had a nice piece of meat with rice and lentils. They also brought some thin Turkish bread, which was nice. I do love the rice and lentils combo, and that’s something I’ll want to do at home.
I do recommend this restaurant. The flavours are good and simple. The atmosphere is comfortable, and even on a hot day very cool. It’s an oasis in a busy environment. For more on Istanbul, please visit my channel on YouTube, Izzy’s Travel Diaries.
After some more work, we headed back to the hotel, pretty tired. I had some free time, and the sun was shinning onto the balcony. I picked up that rolling desk-chair, a put it out onto the balcony. I had no bikini, so I rolled up my skirt and put on a workout bra. I first tried to work on my laptop, but the light was so strong. I opted for my Kindle instead. I stayed outside in spite of the loud street until I could get some sun.
I wasn’t very hungry, so we just had a light dinner at Mado. I had a lentil soup. I really love the traditional lentil soup in Turkey. I try to eat it more than once. They spiced it up a bit by adding some small mozzarella balls and crotons. The Mado near the hotel was very nice. They even shot down the fan when I asked. The air was moving fine on its own anyway. The waiter was a really attentive and fast-moving guy. I liked him a lot.
After dinner, I decided not to hit the sack yet and went down to do some video and buy a few things at the shop. My mum has a major sweet tooth, so I always try to take her some local chocolate. It was nice walking around at night. There were a lot of people about, also a couple of dogs. They seemed a lot livelier than during the day, when they mostly just lie about.
The morning went on the usual way. I thought of going to the gym, then barely scraped myself together for breakfast. I tried to get some pancakes, they ran out. There were less tourist-type people about, more business people. Otherwise, I watched YouTube videos while having breakfast.
I had some work to do, interpreted some. I’m afraid I won’t be able to go into more details on that, my dear readers. However, I did realise something that just never really struck me before. Turkish people use “too much” instead of “a lot” when speaking in English. This can lead to misunderstandings. In fact, for the rest of my trip I looked out for this, and this turned out to be a common thing, and not only in Konya, but Istanbul as well. Now I don’t know enough Turkish to be able to tell if this is a first language error - an error made by a speaker because of their native language -, or maybe it’s some sort of a language teaching error. However, it is very strange, and I continually had to correct them in my head while translating to Hungarian. Didn’t make my job very easy.
Then we went on to the Kyoto Japanese park.
On the way to the park, I reflected on the city planning in Konya. There is a central old town, but the city spreads out in a wide area. You think that you left the city proper, and then come onto another district, with mostly new houses. In such a district was the park we were going to.
The park is in Konya, because the sister city of Konya in Japan is Kyoto. It's located in one of the many brand new districts. The style of the park is conceptional. It feels more like something that wants to mimic your stereotypes of a Japanese garden, than being an actual one. In fact, one of the ponds was filthy, which I doubt would happen in an actual park in Japan. It just made me want my actual trip to Japan to be here as soon as possible. I did have fun making the video, but the whole thing just felt out of place.
We went on to have lunch at a kind of Turkish family restaurant (Cemo Etliekmek - Selçuklu, also have a look at my Tripadvisor review). It was in an unremarkable building, in an unremarkable part of town. I had okra soup first. It was fine, though I'm not a fan. Then we had an assortment of meats. It was all delicious, and I knew I wouldn't have dinner that night. Turkish people are great at meat dishes. There was some dessert, but as it was sprinkled with walnuts, I only scraped a little from the side.
After lunch we returned to the hotel, and I went into the city by myself. I walked past the big cemetery that’s not far from the hotel. It took a while to get to the city proper, but I soldiered on. Online I saw a covered market that I wanted to check out. On the way, I passed some very not tourist-ready shops. Kind of run-down, only Turkish around, staring at my blonde hair. I laughed a little in my head, because I noticed a small tea shop. Turkish people love their tea. They basically constantly drink it, and near businesses you always spot a small tea shop. They have servers who run around with a tray that hangs on metal wires, and is usually filled with their small tea cups. Turkish tea is very strong an I love it, but those glass tea cups baffle me. They become very hot, very quickly, and burn your fingers when you try to touch them. I usually take a napkin, wrap it around the cup, and pick it up that way.
I did reach the covered market, and made a little video there. It was filled with produce. Lots of onions from the really small ones to big ones. The outer rim of the market mostly has cheese shops. They all carried this extremely mouldy cheese - check my video -. I did see it at breakfast too, but I was too scared for my stomach to try it. Must take care of all your penicillin needs though. Also on the market people kept calling out to me. I have no idea what they were saying, because my Turkish is very limited for now. So I mostly just ignored them. I left the market without actually buying anything, but this is when I wish we used Airbnb. Then I would have a kitchen and try out some of the ingredients there.
I just started randomly walking down the street, though I did have a general direction in mind. I wanted to explore the bazaar section of the city more. I saw it the day before, and I was intrigued by the two-storey buildings there. When I got there, it reminded me even more of the bazaar. There were sections for different things. You got a whole square of bed linen, then lots of clothes, gold, shoes, anything you could think of. The white buildings with brown trim looked old, but modern at the same time with the clean lines.
I did get some weird looks, but I couldn’t decide if it was my blonde, uncovered hair, or the camera. I also took some pictures of the Kapu Cami. It’s a pretty big mosque, but kind of tucked away among the buildings. There are even shops for men’s clothing in the underside of the building. I thought of going in, but I wasn’t sure how to go about it, and just decided against it. Didn’t want to get into a situation. While walking, I noticed an old-fashioned shoe repairman. He was very old and sat in a very dirty shop. I thought of taking a picture of him, but didn’t feel that it was appropriate. He’s a human, not a spectacle.
I kept on walking, and took a picture or video of everything I found interesting. I reached the end of the bazaar, and just wandered around more. I knew that on the other side of the Alaadin hill there was a more modern part of town. Among the interesting things that I saw were a little mosque, a Christian church, and topsy-turvy buildings. By the time I got to the more modern part of town, the sun was going down. All the young people were hanging out there, talking, having tea. It looked like any other Western city, with young people enjoying the evening. The muezzin sang, and no one made a move to pray. I found it a bit amusing. I was getting very tired at that point, but my favourite Turkish clothing brand, LC Waikiki had a store right there, so I went to have a look around.
After I exited the store, I wished I could take the tram to the hotel. There was a stop right next to the hotel, but I haven’t figured out how to use the public transport in the city, so I forced myself to walk off the rest of my lunch, and headed back on foot. I climbed up the hill to use it was a shortcut. I’m not sure if it actually was though. I passed the Mevlana museum, and took a few pictures of the very pretty night lighting. As I was filming it, a young man came up to me. He was about 20, had a stone in one ear, cigarette in the hand. I told him I don’t speak Turkish. He then switched over to English and said “money, money”. I was kind of outraged. He was clearly not poor, not even sure where he got his money then, but I generally don’t give to beggars. I’m not going to go into details why not now. So I kind of told him to go away in English, and he wandered off. Besides, he was very young, strong. I’m sure if he wanted a job, he could get one.
I went away a bit, just to make sure that he wouldn’t return or follow me. Made my final video, and hurried back to the hotel. The surrounding area of the hotel can be very dark, and as I tried to make a shortcut, I stepped into something sticky. I was very annoyed, but so glad to get back. I was still glad I went and explored Konya more.
The day started early, as the flight was in the morning, though thankfully not at dawn. When my alarm went off I could hear rain. Typical, as I often have rain on the day of my flight back to Hungary. As if the weather itself knew how much I like living there and tried to discourage me from going back. I quickly packed together my things, checked the drawers for any leftovers, and went down for breakfast. So far, the room had always been quite full when I went down, and therefore I hadn’t had the chance to make the breakfast video. Now I was determined and as there were only few people, I did finally succeed.
We didn’t get to leave the hotel at the time when we were supposed to, as the receptionist had a problem making out the bill! She had to call someone. She was probably very new, and very green. I’m not sure why we couldn’t do it the night before, but the receptionist then said she could only do it in the morning. When I was a receptionist I could, so either they don’t have a very good software, or just don’t know how to.
The rain was still pouring, but we quickly got to the airport in Bergamo. The Italian obsession with signs came in handy as it was very clear all the way how to get to where we needed to leave the car.
Checking in the luggage went smoothly. Also, security went very fast. There were lots of people, so I was afraid that it would take long, but they kept us moving. There was a stag and hen party as well, with the groom in blindfolds. He probably was going to be surprised as to where he went.
I got some water and a quick espresso, which I ordered in Italian. The woman said the amount I had to pay in English, which was welcomed as I’m still not doing well with numbers in Italian. I’ve been trying to practise, but for some reason I have this problem with every language. Sometimes even in Hungarian. I’m fine if I see it written down, but spoken…
By the time I had my coffee it was time to get in line for boarding. I looked out, and the plane was nowhere to be seen. It’s quite common on these budget airlines like Ryanair, that they start the boarding process before the plane arrives, and everyone stands in line for at least half an hour, occasionally two hours, without any place to go to. Since you also have to go to these planes on foot, you often stand outside for a long time, even in the rain. So always come prepared for outside weather, and clear your bladder before standing in the line to board. We did 30 minutes in the staircase to go outside this time.
I had an aisle seat, so that wasn’t so bad. The guy next to me had to have both his elbows on the armrest, so I kept nudging him. He only realised halfway to Budapest that his elbow was in my arm. I saw that he was looking at some guidebooks to Budapest, so I asked him if he spoke English, and if I can give him some local information. We ended up talking about Italy and Hungary for the rest of the trip.
In Budapest, of course, it was freezing and raining. As per usual.
Once home, I wrote my reviews for the hotel and restaurant, and also did the video.
This hotel is located in an office district, technically between Agrate Brianza and Monza. It’s mostly for business people, who come for meetings. It’s also not far from Milan, so if you rent a car, this can be a convenient hotel for you, if that’s where you want to see things.
The hotel is very modern, like all Ibis hotels. Inside the rooms though you can see some of the ware and tare, so it has obviously been around a bit. The lobby is nice, you have the tea / coffee there and a small bar. The receptionists were for the most part okay, but Francesca was great. She was often in the afternoon shift and spoke English really well. Travellers should note that if you need an invoice, it has to be done in the morning of check-out. I’m not sure why, because the program I used could do an invoice at any time.
The room that I had in the hotel was accessible. Reserved this, because it’s a bit cheaper than the normal kind. This had a few good and bad sides. Good, because it’s a bit bigger, with more room to move around, also bigger bathroom. I do also like a higher toilet and the railings, as I have some problems with my knees. The shower was okay, though the water did spray out a lot. The drawback was that the room was right next to the elevators, and all hours of the day I could hear them going up and down.
In general, the room had some storage, though not too much, but that was fine. The desk only had one plug. There was also a plug on either side of the bed. The bed was very comfortable, though only two pillows. The TV was fixed to the wall, not smart, but the language could be adjusted to the programming, and also had such information as weather. The wifi was not strong in the room. In other places in the hotel it was a lot stronger, so I don’t know if it’s due to the location of the room, or the 5th floor. The bathroom had lots of towels, a hairdryer, but soap fixed to the wall in both the shower and the basin. Don’t even dream about a magnifying mirror, but there was some extra lighting. There was very little storage space around the basin. Not sure if it’s because of the accessible room, or that’s normal for the hotel. What was weird was that there was no soap by the bidet. The most annoying thing about the room was a constant mechanical sound. I’m thinking it’s the vents, but I’m very sensitive to constant sounds, and the low lever humming was really disturbing.
Breakfast was nice. It’s an Ibis Styles hotel, so there was more on offer than the regular Ibis. It was pretty good, and I had no complaints. Maybe the only thing that I missed was that there were no vegetables most of the time, other than fried tomatoes. It could be an Italian thing. Anyway, you can see more about it in my video.
There’s also a small gym. Most of the time it was empty, so that was pretty good. The problem that I saw there was that there were no dumbbells under 4 kg. That’s very male centred. I did switch over to the big machine, but I had to take some time to figure it out.
The hotel also has a restaurant, but that wasn’t open on a Friday night. I guess most of their guests come on weekdays, but I wish that would have been more obvious. The hotel is in the middle of nowhere practically. There was a nice little pizzeria on the opposite side of the road in the building with a few shops, so at least we didn’t have to drive into town. My review of the hotel’s restaurant is separate.
Overall, a comfortable hotel, but I wish that the vents didn’t hum in the background. It does need some cosmetic refurb in the rooms, because I did see some rust here and there. Not a bad choice though in the area.
This restaurant is part of the Ibis Styles hotel in Agrate Brianza. It’s mostly aimed at the surrounding offices. The prices are moderate and they also offer a lunch and dinner menu. For me, the portions were a bit large, but that was fine.
The inside of the restaurant is modern, and relaxed. The service is efficient. I saw some reviews complain about English, and it was limited, but the menu does have everything in English as well. If you don’t speak Italian, use Google translate or just point. There is strong wifi.
The food was great. I ate there four nights, so I got to taste a few things. Spaghetti was very nice. The fish in salt was worth the wait. It was delicate. Though frankly, maybe a bit too simple for me, I generally eat more spicy foods. I loved the steak, though the eggplant was a bit weird with it, but I rolled with it. The veal liver was fabulous! It was on the dinner menu, and I loved it so much. Could eat it every week. Wouldn’t mind the recipe. 😉 They also had a nice Italian beer on tap, and the house wine was good as well.
Overall, very nice little restaurant. Not overly complicated. It’s the kind of place where you go and be comfortable with your friends, or even go alone and eat with your laptop. However, it wasn’t open on Friday, probably because it’s mainly for the office crowds. I was sad I couldn’t eat there on my last night.
I had a terribly early flight to Pisa. I’m not a fan of flying at dawn, because I’m not a morning person. If I get up before 6am, I always feel strange all day. An interesting fact, my cousin has a chemical imbalance. She can’t wake up very early, because she can have seizure like symptoms due to a chemical imbalance in her brain while sleeping. I just feel like I’m half sleeping. I also wasn’t happy about the early flight because I had a little cold. For some reason, I keep getting sick just before I go to Italy. I’ve been ill the previous two times as well, but the minute my feet hit Italian soil, I’m cured. Hoped for that this time around as well.
So, I got my customary Costa coffee after checking in. During the security check, they did some chemical swipe on and in my bag. They’ve never done that before, but it all cleared.
To get onto the plane, we had to go outside to this container thing. It’s a real drag with budget flights, because they make you go there for boarding, and then you may have to wait for up to an hour in a container that has no toilets, not enough seating, no heating, no cooling. Then you have to walk to the plane. Then there are also those people who don’t pay attention to the directions as to which door they need to take. They get on at the front, and then push their way through all the way to the back. Got a window seat at least. Can’t stand sitting in the middle. Believe me, after all that, even a Ryanair seat feels like heaven, when actually, it’s the lowest end of budget flying.
The flight was uneventful. The weather was quite clear, and I enjoyed taking lots of pictures and videos. However, at one point there was an interesting reflection on the clouds. I think it came from the plane. It was as if the reflection of the plane was surrounded by a rainbow. I tried to capture it, and I hope I succeeded.
After landing we got the car. We had to take a small bus to the pick-up site, but luckily it arrived quickly. The sun was shining quite warmly, and I took the opportunity to catch some sun.
Once we had the little Fiat, we were on our way. We had to cross through the whole peninsula, so even though we had an early flight, it was quite late by the time we got to the hotel. The journey there was fun though. It’s been a while since I’ve actually used one of those car maps to navigate,
but if I managed to do it at 8, I can sure do it at 35. We stopped a few times on the way. Once for coffee, and also picked up a few food items. Food is so much more expensive here! We also stopped at a small supermarket, and they had the loveliest grapes.
The hotel check-in went uneventful. I made a video of the hotel. I quite liked the room. It had a fridge, which is not as widespread as you’d hope. However, the real bonus feature of the room was the view. The hotel itself is on top of a hill. Pretty much middle of nowhere. However, when you step out to the balcony, Italian countryside at your feet.
As the sun was setting, it was getting colder in the room. There was some extra blanket, but I was still getting cold, which really didn’t do much for me already having a cold. So I decided to be the troublesome guest, and go down to ask for a heater. There was a radiator in the room, but of course at the end of September they didn’t switch it on centrally. Sadly, they said that they didn’t have one. I asked them politely, that it would be so nice if they could get me one, because I was afraid that my cold would get worse. Since there was no electric kettle in the room, I couldn’t even make myself a hot tea. In the end, they did get a small heater from somewhere, and I was ever so grateful. I made good use of it right away.
This is a lovely hotel high up on a hill. The views are incredible of the sea and the valley below. However, because of this, in bad weather it can be hard to get to.
The rooms are a bit Spartan. The TV is pretty small, and the channels are in Italian. It's a common problem in Italy. The bed is comfortable. The double bed was two singles pushed together and not locked. I know this can bother some people. There is no tea service, and this is also common in Italy. The bathroom had a shower, and also a bidet. However, airing it out was solved by the window not closing properly, which in the cold could be a problem. Toiletries were bars of soap, shampoo and a cap.
Breakfast wasn't very big, and they weren't always on top of refill. The view from the breakfast room is beautiful though.
The receptionists were very helpful, though their English a bit spotty. I had a problem with the temperature being unusually low for September, and also suffering from a cold. They got me a space heater, which helped a lot. I also kept the bathroom door closed. Housekeeping was good, the only thing I would say to the hotel is to do what most hotels do, and only change the towels if they are left on the floor. More economic that way. Also, I kept hanging my towel next to the shower, and they kept putting them back under the sink. I so knew I would forget to hang it before I got in the shower.
The surrounding area is great for small hikes, but the terrain can be difficult, so best bring proper footwear. Getting a parking spot late in the evening can be difficult, and best done with a smaller car. Not to far by car there is an are with shops for food and the like.
Overall, nice hotel if you like to be in the middle of nowhere. I don’t know if they close for winter, but possible, since the steep hill must be hard for a lot of cars in the snow. I did enjoy my stay, and would return. Must be great for weddings as well.
