We started off in Istanbul. Here we of course visited the must-see sights of the Blue Mosque (although it took several attempts until we managed to time it right and actually be able to go inside), and the Hagia Sophia, both of which were stunning. The scale of the blue mosque is particularly impressive, while the history of the Hagia Sophia, which began life as a Christian basilica, before becoming a mosque and nowadays a museum, was very interesting.
Perhaps slightly less known is the Basilica Cistern, a cistern underneath the city dating from the sixth century, built as a water filtration system for the palace. It is surprisingly vast, and the way the colonnades are lit up from below means you get the eerie feeling of being in a sunken city.
We took a ferry across to the Eastern (or 'Asian') side of the city. The ferry provided us with fantastic views all around the city, and made us realise its vastness, and just how many mosques were dotted around the place. We were hunting for a market we'd read about but Trip Advisor led us astray and we never did find it, but it was nice to see a different (quieter) part of the city.
Other sites we visited included the Galata tower, which gave us nice views across the city. I don't think of myself as afraid of heights, but the unstable railing and thin and unstable stone viewing platform, which sloped distinctly away from the building, had me flattened against the tower itself and unable to move very far. Nice views, and not actually that high, but not recommended for those unsure of heights!
One of our first nights here, while walking around the centre of the city, in the Taksim square area, we stumbled across a huge parade of excitable football fans: the local Fenerbahçe team had won the Turkish league, and fans were out celebrating. I'm not sure if these things normally turn rowdy, but there was certainly a huge police presence, waiting and watching in full riot gear. There were even trucks with water cannons to the side, although we didn't see any of it used.
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| Fenerbahçe fans |
During our time in Istanbul we didn't have the best of weather, with quite a bit of rain, meaning we had to hole in up in a number of cafes from time to time. This was the perfect excuse to have yet another cup of Turkish tea or coffee. Tea was served strong and black in dainty class cups, and you were provided with several sugar cubes to add at your leisure. The coffee was also strong and served in small cups, with a distinctively grainy texture at the bottom which is a little difficult to avoid.
We also tried some great food. On our first evening here, we visited a great little restaurant right near our airbnb apartment. We were sat right next to the huge grill and enjoyed many delicious grilled meats and vegetables, and tasty bread.
Another night we sought out a fantastic little hole in the wall place Kylie had heard about on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations for a super tasty kebab. Other grilled meaty delights included kokoreç and cağ. We also tried a 'wet burger,' whose soggy buns don't look particularly appealing, but in reality, the tasty, saucy, garlicky, tomato-ey meatiness was just delectable.
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| cağ |
Traditional Turkish breakfasts are a lavish affair, with mountains of fresh bread, boiled eggs, olives, cucumber, tomatoes, creamy yoghurt, honey, and white cheeses. A great way to start the day.
All in all we had an enjoyable time in Istanbul, but I think I had heard such amazing things, that it would have been virtually impossible to live up to those expectations.
On we travelled, next stop Ephesus.
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