Somewhere ancient, with fab food, on the doorstep of Europe, and with a direct flight from Kilimanjaro, please! We didn't even consider anywhere else. Istanbul is a place I really felt needed to be done at least once in my life.
We had 2.5 days on our own before friends joined us, so we spent those first few days enjoying paved roads again, seeing more humans than animals and cleaning out all our crevices.
We weren't in hardcore tourist mode, so were happy to look rather than explore too deeply.
Galata Tower
Spice Bazaar
Kadikoy
Humble-brag ahead: we were on three continents in only two days!
Istanbul straddles both continents of Europe and Asia, separated by the Bosporus Strait. The majority of people and tourist attractions are on the European side, but the Asian neighborhood of Kadikoy is getting more hip and worthy of a visit. All that separates the two is an affordable and scenic commuter ferry ride across the Bosporus.
Where there's lots of places to eat, and places to buy things to eat.
And the most flagrant display of police/military muscle I've ever witnessed!
Let's rewind. A few short years ago there was a failed coup in Turkey, meaning the military tried to overthrow the government. The government that is super dodgy*. I never fully understood what happened and why, but I know there were guns and jets and marches in the streets and plenty of deaths (more than the few hundred reported, me thinks).
* I legit don't dare say more, and not just because I really don't know details
So when we came upon hundreds of police motorcycles in formation, blaring their horns in unison saluting a Turkish flag I thought it was happening again. And holy shit did it freak me out! My first reaction was to shove my camera and phone deep in my bag, out of sight. This was intuitive. I don't want to be pistol whipped or to wind up in a Turkish prison for recording something I shouldn't! My second reaction was to run in the other direction. My fight or flight response was so incredibly high in that moment and my ass chose flee.
But we did not. The motorcycles were leaving (still roaring away, sounding so ominous and creepy) but lots of people were pleasantly watching the action and taking photos/videos, so I unclenched. But it was a nerve wracking sight in the only country where, prior to my arrival, I've had to cleanse my email and chat history of anything that could even be perceived as critical of their government.
That - you've gotta admit - is fucked up. Later we asked a woman at our hotel what we'd seen, with video. She claimed she didn't know, which I don't believe for a hot second. I think she didn't want to say, especially to foreigners. That. Is. Fucked. Up! Free speech, please.
Apologies for the wall of text but I wanted to get that story out there, which means I probably can't ever go back.
And that's tragic if I can't return for the one reason I went in the first place. Food, glorious, food!
By now our Dutch friends Pieter and Erica joined us.
You might remember them from such trips as Barcelona a little over a year ago. They're good European travel companions, which is impressive as they've spent a lot of the past year living in our fine city of Brisbane!
Our hotel had a rooftop bar that was perfect for having a few brews and watching the sun go down over the minarets.
Despite being almost entirely Muslim booze is bountiful in Istanbul. Just the way I like it!
Blue Mosque
Built 400 years ago this is still a working mosque today and one of Istanbul's must see tourist attractions. Except everyone on TripAdvisor said that it was so deep under construction that it really wasn't worth paying to go into. So we didn't bother.
It's also a working mosque, so they close it to tourists at prayer times throughout the day, which was precisely when we were there. So we enjoyed the view from the outside and the musical call to prayer, and that was the end of that.
Hagia Sophia
I can't find an exact definition of the word "hagia" so I take it to mean a building that was once a church, but then turned into a mosque, and is now a museum, which is precisely what Hagia Sophia is.
When it made the jump from church to mosque JC did not vacate the premises entirely.
Basilica Cistern
This place was really nifty, and not just because it was dark and cool which makes for excellent respite from the Istanbul sun.
It's an underground reservoir that was used to store water...1,400 years ago! Constructed in the sixth century it's quite the engineering marvel for its time. It can hold 80,000 cubic meters (2.8 million cubic feet) of water which isn't as helpful as knowing how many liters/gallons it can hold, but I'd estimate the size of a football field. A ton of water!
Boat Trip
On our final day we were flying onward in the middle of the damn night, so we planned a long, slow day after a late checkout at our hotel. We killed a few hours cruising up and down the Bosporus Strait snapping photos along the way.
We cruised down to the Bosporus Bridge, which is the main bridge connecting the European and Asian sides, and back to the center of town.
Who knew they lived in such urban, busy water?
After the boat trip we tried to quickly zip through Topkopi Palace, the opulent former residence of sultans of the Ottoman empire and probably the ultimate must do in Istanbul...but it was closing just as we arrived. Piss poor planning! That's the second missed must do so far. But with a 2 a.m. flight, I must say the extra relaxation and 1 p.m. hotel checkout time were probably worth it. Maybe.
Istanbul Archaeological Museum
Luckily the archeology museum right next door had extended evening hours, so we had somewhere to bum around for a few hours to entertain ourselves with wonders of the ancient and modern world.
But wouldn't you know it, that was closed, too! Bazaars are 24/7 operations, we incorrectly thought. I was not expecting it to be closed for business at 7pm! For those keeping track:
Top 4 must do's of Istanbul
Hagia Sophia - accomplished
Hagia Sophia - accomplished
Blue Mosque - not accomplished on purpose
Topkopi Palace - not accomplished due to poor planning
Grand Bazaar - not accomplished due to poor planning
There's clearly a lot of blame here for not checking opening times and planning ourselves accordingly. However! I did not find Istanbul an easy place to visit in the slightest.
Maybe it's because we were staying in an "up and coming" neighborhood (Karakoy) where local fishermen and hardware shops are in far greater abundance than tourist attractions, so we had to travel to get to the action.
Something as simple as buying a tram ticket was very near impossible. As we experienced at Hagia Sophia: nobody in charge, massive queues and kiosks that barely work. Mix thousands of locals with thousands of tourists and it's a stressful place to navigate. So I'd recommend staying right in the center of the tourist attractions, which I normally don't like to do.
Finally I'd recommend actually planning ahead. Don't be like us! And if at all possible, fly out at a more reasonable time than the middle of the damn night!
