Although I still wanted to stay a couple of days
more in Fethiye, I have to be back in Istanbul as a colleague has arrived there
together with his family and I have to tour them around the city, I got no
choice but to cut short my travel and fly back to the big city.
With three little kids for three full days, it’s
gonna be a tough itinerary, the usual historical highlights of the city will
not fit the bill. What? I’ll tug them
strolling around Sultanahmet and incessantly yammer about the fifty different
lotus designs of the blue and red Iznik tiles that adorns the interior of the
Blue Mosque? Or get them engrossed about
how the two heads of medusa ended up at the Basilica Cistern? Or take a chance
describing the architectural properties of the Hagia Sophia?
Haaaah! The pressure of entertaining kids in a
historically-ridden city! I was
preoccupied the whole time while taking the flight from Dalaman airport to the
busy Ataturk airport in Istanbul. It’s a
good thing, the internet is working excellent at the apartment, so even before
I met with the family, I already have got at least an itinerary for the day.
Turkuazoo
I met with my colleague and his family at Sultanahmet, it’s my first
day of taking them out for a tour. The
kids are just adorable although quite honestly my affection with infants and toddlers
can range from quick sweetness to just passing amusement. I’m not one of you who were gifted with protracted
patience when it comes to cute little kids. I like them for a couple of minutes but my fondness
dwindles once they begin to annoy me with the earsplitting bawling and running
around and arguing about who gets to sit on the one and only baby stroller.
We took the tram from Sultanahmet station and got off at Yusufpasa which
is just after Aksaray, walked up the pedestrian bridge on to the Metro train station in Aksaray. Five tram stop and we reached the Kartaltepe-Kocatepe
station where the Forum Istanbul Shopping Mall is located, Turkuazoo is inside
the mall. We should have taken a taxi,
huge mistake on my part, it’s hard enough to tow little people and harder
enough on a full packed tramvay.
Turkuazoo is actually an aquatic zoo, it is Turkey's version of
Singapore's world's largest oceanarium at the Sentosa Island. Opened to the public in 2009, it houses
thousands of marine creatures in several aquariums in various sizes and theme
in an area of more than 8,000sqm. The highlight is the 80-meter long underwater
tunnel with escalating walkway where one can watch all sorts of fish, stingrays
and sharks moving through the clear glass directly overhead.
Watch the staff feeding the stingrays, or experience swimming inside the huge aquarium and get close encounter with the tiger sharks. There's a rainforest theme area too.
Watch the staff feeding the stingrays, or experience swimming inside the huge aquarium and get close encounter with the tiger sharks. There's a rainforest theme area too.
It’s a weekend so the place is packed with families and screaming kids,
my worst nightmare! Marketing people for
snack companies were roaming around along with their mascots giving away free
biscuits and nibbles to children.
It was fun for the kids, and adults as well, I enjoyed it, are you
kidding me?
Opening times: 7 days a week from 10:00am until 6:00pm
during weekdays and 10:00am until 8:00pm during weekends.
Tickets: TL28 for Adults, TL21 for students, teachers and
children upto 16 y/o, senior citizen and disabled. Free for 2 y/o and below. Families are discounted. We paid TL112 for 3
adults, 2 children and the 2 y/o is free.
Address: Forum Istanbul Shopping Mall, Bayrampasa,
Istanbul
Directions: Beside IKEA and one tram station before the
Buyuk Otogar (Grand Bus Terminal).
Website: http://www.turkuazoo.com/en/
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