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"Chicken kebab, chicken kebab, chicken kebaaaaaaaaaaaabb!!!!" This could be heard all over Turkey near any eating place |
Istanbul was the city of...
- baklava (Yum! I think I may have put on an extra kilo in a week because of baklava)
- smells (both delicious and disgusting)
- feral animals (there are dogs, cats and birds everywhere)
- bad pop music covers (think of Savage Garden, Vanessa Carlton and Bill Withers...)
- crazy drivers (they seem to specialise in tight squeezes down extremely narrow alleyways)
and last but certainly not least...
- apple tea.
20th April - Leaving London with long lines
I left my house very early on Wednesday morning, to depart to Istanbul. Despite leaving a large window of time to be able to catch my flight AND checking in online to save time... due to the longest line in Heathrow airport (ever) known to a person (slight exaggeration maybe), I ended up rushing to the gate to board my plane. In addition to that, 'long airport lines' seemed to be a recurring theme for the entire trip.
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| Waiting, waiting, waiting at London Heathrow airport |
Once arriving in Turkey, I waited a looooong time to pass through customs, along with the hundreds of others waiting to do the same... but again I was thankful for having ties to Finland. It turns out that Turkey and Finland have an 'agreement' so I was not required to have a VISA to enter the country for the tour (yay!) which saved me yet another long-line wait.
The metro and tram transport system was a simple process but it took a little getting used to (for me, anyway!) as I couldn't understand any of the language. It seemed rather simple once I understood it. Buy a token, put it in a slot... get on the train (it didn't matter how far you went!) And it was with that simple train of thought (pardon the pun) that I made my solo journey from the Atatürk airport into town to find my accommodation. Our hostel was about a two minute walk from the Blue Mosque.
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| Sunset over the Blue Mosque on my first night in Istanbul |
I met Mia late afternoon at our hostel. Mia and I actually went to high school together and now after almost eight years, met up on the other side of the world and ended touring Turkey together!! We walked west down the main road of Istanbul and came across store after store of extravagantly presented baklava. It was too tempting to resist. We dived in to the store and bought a piece of Cevizli Baklava (walnut - which ended up being my favourite.)
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Baklava!
Reflections of me and Mia |
After that, we turned around and walked north-east towards the port.
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| Port down on the Bosphorus river |
Mia braved trying some Kestane (smoked chestnuts) from one of the road carts. She managed to convince me to try some too... which I instantly regretted. I knew there was a reason I didn't want to try them in the first place! They tasted like 'mushy nothing' but with a semi-smokey flavour.
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Kestane
Mia |
Though I fixed the bad taste in my mouth by getting some dinner - meat kebabs and apple tea!!! It was only when I was walking home that I realised I had ordered a 'meat' kebab... I'm not too sure what that vague title implies and I didn't let my mind wander too far on that thought!
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Apple tea at dinner
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Mia and I just had to have a sweet fix, so we stopped by a local cafe and bought some more baklava where we were promptly told by a middle-aged Turkish man "Don't eat too much baklava - you'll get fat!!" Quite frankly... I was prepared to take the risk.
21st April - Exploring Istanbul
We awoke to a gorgeous (yet very cold and windy) day in the city. At the beginning of our explorations, we got a little lost (what's new with me??!) in the backstreets trying to find the Little Ayasofya.
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| Lost in the backstreets of Istanbul |
When we found the Little Ayasofya, it was completely worth it. It was a small mosque that seemed to be used in regular meetings. It was the first experience I have ever had with the Islam religion that closely. All decor, interior and structures are just completely different to what I have been exposed to in Australia.
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Graveyard at the Little Ayasofya
Mia |
After seeing this, Mia and I went in search of the New Mosque which was maybe a couple of miles away. However, the next part of our walk was not as tranquil as what we had just experienced at the Little Ayasofya. They say things come in threes and the next five minutes proved it...
We were walking along the old ruins of the wall that used to surround the city of Constantinople. I was admiring the small archway openings that were built into the base of the wall. Just as I went to take a photo, I heard some distant yelling making Mia immediately grab my arm and yank me away from the archways! It turned out that a man had been standing under there, had seen us and had begun to chase after us!!
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Mad man archways
Things come in three - No. 1 |
Just when we thought we were in the clear, we came across a pack of feral dogs not more than a few steps away from the mad man. Mia and I inched past the dogs all the while they followed us with their eyes. Aaah! Once we got passed them I realised they were fairly harmless... really lazy in fact. The third thing became the road. Somehow we ended up being on the wrong side of the road whilst walking to the city centre. The pathway was really narrow and becoming more narrow with each step that we took. So when we found a pedestrian crossing, we went to cross the road but it was not that simple. Turks do not seem to value those little white lines across the road in the same way that drivers in Australia or England do. The traffic sped past us until we caught a break and ran halfway across the double lane highway. Mia and I then teetered on the 30cm wide part of the road that separated the traffic lanes for about 60 seconds while we waited for the traffic to pass.
It was a stressful five minutes...
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Dogs and narrow highway partitions
Things come in threes - No. 2 and 3 |
So after all that... we found the New Mosque. Which was much bigger than the Little Ayasofya and so much more detailed. I was beginning to feel a little more comfortable removing my shoes and covering my head now as there were more tourists around us than at the Little Ayasofya.
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| Inside the New Mosque |
The Spice Market, which has been around since the 17th century, was the place that amongst amazing spices, loads apple tea and real Saffron. It was also where I received two 'marriage' proposals... hmmm... I think I'd rather have the Saffron, thanks!!
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| The Spice Market |
Up the hill, Mia and I admired the gardens on our way to the Topkapi Palace. There were some amazing jewels in there, including the Kaşıkçı diamond (teardrop shape) which was 86 carats!
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| Topkapi Palace |
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| View from the top of the palace |
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The empty palace pool
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We stopped for lunch and had some apple tea at the Gülhane Sur Cafe (affectionately known as the Cat Cafe) which was amazing. It was on a steep slope just outside the gates of the Topkapi Palace and it had the best apple tea that we could find in Istanbul.
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Gülhane Sur Cafe
Turkish man serving our apple tea |
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Gülhane Sur Cafe
Me and Mia |
After stopping by a local store to eat some more Cevizli baklava, Mia and I joined some other people from our hostel for a traditional Turkish bath. We went down underground where the walls and floors were all made of marble. I had a sauna and then the Turkish woman scrubbed me down with so much rigour and soap that I felt like a raw-skinned bubble bath on legs!! She then proceeded to give me a nice massage - the result leaving me feeling ever so clean and relaxed.
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| Gedikpaşa Hamami - Traditional Turkish Bath |
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| A very clean me |
That second night in Istanbul, Mia and I were waiting to meet up with Greg and Luke who were on their way over from Greece. We found shelter from the cold wind in an underground cafe called Edebiyat Kiraathanesi. It was where I tried my first (and last) Turkish coffee. It was probably the first coffee of my life that I have bought and have not taken more than two sips! It was far too strong and 'thick'.
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Errr... Turkish coffee that left me desiring something a little more tasteful
Edebiyat Kiraathanesi
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22nd - Istanbul (New & Old)
The new day began with a team of four exploring the city... but not before another dodgy walk beside the narrow highway! We caught the metro across the Bosphorus river to Taksim which had many commercial stores and looked a lot like Western Europe.
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Taksim Mall
Mia, Like and Greg |
And we had our first experience with 'Aladdin' ice cream. The Aladdin guys have to keep mixing it so that it will not freeze over. They also have a lot of fun playing around with tricks while handing over the ice cream cone (I've put a video towards the end of this blog if you want to see what I mean.)
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Ice cream from Aladdin: chocolate, mixer, chocolate, pistachio
People (L to R): Luke, Mia, Greg and me |
After returning back over the Bosphorus we found the best mosque of our trip - the Süleymaniye Mosque. It was a bit tricky to find (up some massive hills, through the backstreets and past some scary dogs again) but completely worth it.
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| Following the bends in the roads and the inconspicuous street signs to the mosque |
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| Looking down the steep streets on our way up the hill to the Süleymaniye Mosque |
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| The mosque stands amongst regular buildings |
And thankfully, after all that climbing, there was a man outside the mosque that gave us a cup of cherry juice which was greatly refreshing.
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Cherry juice
Greg, Cherry Juice Man, Luke |
This mosque was apparently voted the best mosque by the Turks and I could see why they did.
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| Looking across the floor of the mosque |
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Looking up towards the dome
Me (in a headscarf) |
Later that afternoon, we returned to the Gülhane Sur Cafe to drink some (more) apple tea and take in the atmosphere of the city.
23rd April - Istanbul 'On The Go' tour
The day began by meeting up with Phyllis (our Turkish tour guide from On The Go). On our way, she gave us a little bit of history of the city... and I learnt that the wall ruins are what used to surround Constantinople; there are over 15 million people in Istanbul and over 97% of them are Muslim; and therefore, it's not surprising that there are over 2000 mosques just in Istanbul.
Once we arrived in the city we went straight to the Hippodrome, used for chariot races.
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| The Hippodrome pole |
After that, we went to the Blue Mosque, which in Turkey is referred to as the Sultanahmet Mosque (as it was built in the time of Sultan Ahmed in the 1600s). It is the second most important mosque (after Mecca). It is known as the Blue Mosque because of the blue tiles that are used throughout.
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The Blue Mosque
Mia, Greg, Luke and me |
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| Inside the Blue Mosque |
The Underground Cistern was one of my highlights of Istanbul. I descended 52 steps to the underground palace that dates back to the sixth century. Each of the 336 pillars that rise out of the water to support the cistern are nine metres high and five metres apart from each other.
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| The Underground Cistern |
The pillars have different styles, most are plain but some have a Corinthian influence. One pillar however, absorbs the humidity.
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| Pole to absorb the humidity |
The Greek goddess Medusa is used to protect the cistern from unwanted bad omens because she would turn them to stone. However, both her head's are upside down to protect people from turning to stone. This cistern is actually in a scene from the James Bond movie - From Russia with love.
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| Upside down Medusa head |
I found the Hagia Sophia church an significant place as two dominant religions met in one building. Originally being a church in Istanbul, it was later taken over to be a mosque. Minarets were then added from different sultans. Some Christian mosaics were destroyed during the iconostic period because Muslims are forbidden to worship with pictures or statues. Thus, during the time when the church was used by Muslims for worship, the Christian mosaics were covered over with plaster. Future mosaics were then influenced by the Islam religion.
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| An Islam disc representing a word in their religion |
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| Christian mosaics in the Hagia Sophia |
Getting lost in the Grand Bazaar was probably one of the more fun times I've been lost in my life - it really is quite grand and I'm sure we didn't even see much of it at all. Though, I think walking many different ways to trying to find each other and the way out helped us to see more of it. I've never seen so many pathways to take in one mall and for all the stores to look so similar no matter which way you go!!
Also, I did not get my father's gene of being able to bargain or haggle - I felt so bad and kind of sick when they wouldn't do it for me... so I left the haggling to Mia. She helped me get some awesome prices on a genuine pashmina scarf and some Turkish tea cups and plates. Our reward for finally finding a way out of the Grand Bazaar for some baklava. Again, it tasted so wonderful that we went back for more... and again we were warned by the Turkish man, "Be careful don't eat too much!"
We went on a Bosphorus cruise (the river that separates the European from Asian side of Istanbul.) It was interesting but nothing to rave about in particular. As a side note, there are no photos of much of this afternoon as by this time my camera battery was perishing and I had forgotten to pack my camera charger (a combination of a rookie error and last minute packing haste). I had decided to keep what little battery life I had left for Gallipoli. Thankfully however, my housemate Sofia arrived in Istanbul that afternoon to do the same Gallipoli tour and had brought my charger with her. Thanks, Sofia!
After the cruise, we left the tour group to do then do our own thing. We found the Stork Mall, which on the second floor had the remains of a women's prison. It was tiny and cold but so cool that that such a prestigious shopping mall had kept such a historical part of the building.
As this was our last official evening in Istanbul we found a restaurant for a traditional Turkish meal. We found 'Home Made Turkish' for our dining experience. There was a lady at the front who made pancakes fresh on the dome like pan for our entree. The restaurant was very hospitable (which I found all Turks to be generally). Also by this time, Sofia had messaged me to say that she had brought my charger so I began to go a little snappy happy again!
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| Making pancakes |
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| Apple tea |
For dessert, we called upon the Aladdin ice cream man again (a different one this time) and as we did, we could hear the call to prayer all around us. There would have been at least three mosques surrounding us with the overwhelming sounds. We stopped by the Blue Mosque on our way home to listen to the call.
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| Fountain and Blue Mosque by night |
24th and 25th April - Gallipoli
Click here to read my blog called Their name liveth for evermore
26th April - Back to Istanbul
We had a brief last day in Istanbul to have a quick morning walk and then head off to the airport. We said goodbye to Mia after brekkie and then we were straight off to the Spice Market, where I had a second crack at haggling. Finally, I had the courage to get four apple tea tins from 32TL to 25TL (yay! a little success!)
And to bid farewell to Turkey, we had one last 'Aladdin' ice-cream with the most entertaining ice cream experience life could bring. It's so much fun. Check out this video below...
Istanbul was nothing short of a brilliant holiday!
But until next time... Cheers!
More photos of my trip to Tur-Turkey-key on Facebook at:
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