Istanbul for the Week

Day 19 - Travel Day to Istanbul

We had one last breakfast in Cirali and the family insisted on making us Turkish coffee as a treat before our departure. DD#2 couldn't drink hers so I had both of them. It isn't terrible but not my preferred coffee.

It was an uneventful and pretty drive back to Antalya that took about 90 minutes. We gassed up the car, returned it without incident, and found ourselves back at the Antalya airport. We had plenty of time to spare so we shared a snack, played a couple of games, and relaxed. We headed to our gate about 40 minutes before the flight and they were already posting "last call"! Geesh! They boarded the plane so early. We made it to Istanbul without any issues.

Next was a nearly hour long metro ride on the Asian side of the city. We had actually flown into a different Istanbul Airport that was more geared toward domestic flights. Again, this hour long flight took many more hours on each end to complete. We were a little culture shocked to check in to our new digs in Kadakoy, a very trendy neighborhood. The town was filled with people having a great Saturday night. We immediately loved the vibe. There were hardly any tourists and so many bars and restaurants. We found one of the hipster neighborhoods for sure. This would be our home for the week. Not a bad view either!

We rested a bit and then grabbed a drink on a busy street to watch people.

The funniest part of the day was our dinner. We stopped at a stuffed mussels place. This one was popular and so delicious. They handed us a big bowl of spicy mussels. They are stuffed with rice and with a little fresh lemon, so delicious. We literally couldn't stop eating them. It's normal for people to stop on their way to dinner or on the way home and have 6-10 mussels as a snack. We downed 60 mussels between the two of us! They count the shells at the end and charge you for each mussel consumed. The workers were laughing at us for eating such a big quantity. Needless to say, that accidentally became our dinner!

DD#2 tried her first Krispy Kreme donut in Istanbul. So weird!

We made one more stop for baklava just around the corner from our hotel. So sweet and yummy and the workers were extra friendly. One was studying abroad in Vancouver BC.

Day 20 - Shopping and Exploring our Neighborhood

I started the day with a nice run along the water. Such a pretty way to start the day and get my sweat on!

I stopped by a market on the way back and took a few pictures and bought fresh peaches. I'm so impressed with the beautiful olives!

DD#2 joined me for our complimentary hotel breakfast on the top terrace before we splurged on fancy coffee on an umbrella street. We found such a great place where we returned multiple times!

Next was another repeat destination. Amazing fresh juice! I had the best freshly-squeezed grapefruit juice of my life. It was around $1.50 and the sweetest older man made it for me nearly everyday of my week here in Istanbul.

We simply spent the day wandering around going in and out of stores, including a six story Starbucks! We didn't buy anything but had to check out every floor just for fun (and to use their bathroom).

We took a double decker city bus to an upscale part of town and did some shopping. We enjoyed the excursion but didn't buy anything except a quick lahmacun snack for lunch. I love these things!

We came back to our quirky little neighborhood of Kadakoy and found the best shopping of all. We were just starting to get acquainted with all the knock-off shoes that we would start purchasing throughout the week. Birkenstocks, Adidas, Nikes, oh my! They seemed to be really well made and less than $20 a pair. The Birks were less than $10.

Let's take another moment to discuss cats. They are simply everywhere and are the most friendly I've ever seen. They plop down literally everywhere and people walk over them, pet them, feed them and care for them. It's probably my favorite thing about the city.

We stopped for a couple more snacks including this garlicky pesto roll thingy filled with ricotta that DD#2 went nuts for! She also had some super sweet concoction from one of the many bakeries.

We ended our day with Thai food while we anxiously awaited the arrival of DD#1!

She finally made it around 10:30pm. She had a long long journey from Oregon.

Day 21 - And Now There are Three Taking on Istanbul!

It started off with some sister pictures and coffee at the same umbrella street place. So good!

First order of business today was getting across the Bosphorus on a public ferry. So fun! Istanbul really demonstrates public transport at its best.

After another tram ride, we made our way to the famous Blue Mosque. It was so beautiful and crowded. We loved it but were not a huge fan of the crowds in this part of Istanbul.

Lots of posing for pics.

We took more pictures along the historic Hippodrome in Istanbul. There isn't really much left from this historic space except a couple of obelisks and a part of a serpent column from the 5th Century BC. The Hippodrome was a sporting and social center in Constantinople.

We took pictures in front of the Hagia Sofia, the most famous mosque in the city. The giant building has been a mosque, church, and museum during different periods and empires. Unfortunately, they recently went from being a free place to visit to costing nearly $30 a person. We skipped the interior due to the cost and the crowds.

We walked toward the Grand Bazaar and finally found a more authentic area with good durum. This place was delicious and not completely a tourist trap like most things in this area.

The Grand Bazaar was gigantic! We were not there to shop but just to get a quick glimpse of the historical building that went on forever!

We had enough of this touristy area and headed back on the boat for a break in our hotel room. I researched dinner and found a busy and local seafood place. Unfortunately, we must have ordered wrong and got the ugliest fish dish! It tasted good but there honestly wasn't much meat on these sad looking fish. We supplemented our dinner with some random fried goodies from a bar. That's a wrap on day 21!

Day 22 - A Palace and a Fortress, Oh My!

We spoiled ourselves with good coffee once again. The coffee/tea culture here is so interesting. There are hundreds of coffee shops all over the place and they are virtually empty in the mornings. In fact, many do not even open until 10am. We were often the only morning customers. However, the action is in the evenings! The coffee shops and filled to the brim all evening long with people drinking coffee until incredibly late. I don't know how they sleep after all the caffeine! While there are lots of bars as well, I am guessing that since many Muslims do not drink alcohol, they enjoy evening coffee and tea instead.

Your typical empty morning coffee shop

Today's destinations were way up north on the Asian side of Istanbul. We took a nearly hour long bus ride to Kucuksu Pavillion, which was a small summer palace used for Ottoman sultans. The exterior was so pretty with its setting right along the Bosphorus.

Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed inside. The stunning chandeliers were my favorite. I found a couple interior photos online.

What a beautiful place for a wedding!

We walked a short distance to the Anadolu Fortress. It's the oldest fortress on the water and is positioned at the narrowest part of the Bosphorus. It was built in 1395 and is also known as an Ottoman Castle. I love exploring these kind of structures when you're free to climb stairs and check out the views It wasn't huge but very impressive.

The Turkish flag flies everywhere especially along the Bosphorus. The government wants there to be no question that despite the Bosphorus being international waters, the land on each side is decidedly Turkish. We saw NATO warships along with Russian oil tankers on the waters.

We found ice cream nearby before taking a couple buses to a large mall. I am hanging out with two teenagers who craved a little shopping. The mall looked a lot like any mall. We had an average mall food court lunch and spent a couple hours looking around. The girls both got a couple things but nothing too exciting.

I was eager to get back to our fun neighborhood (Kadayoy) to do some more shopping and find happy hour!

I was missing playing piano so much by this point of the trip. Our hotel staff told me that the nearby Hilton had a piano in the lobby. I tracked it town and they agreed to let me play. It was a terrible Yamaha electric grand that had been seriously damaged. Some keys didn't even work and many had this clunky clicky sound that was just awful. I struggled through three songs and decided it just wasn't fun or sounding very good. It's clear that piano is just a piece of furniture. I'm sure no one has played it in ages. Too bad.

The three of us met up for dinner and came across an Asian noodle place for dinner. A nice change of pace!

A pretty sunset from our room to end the day.

Day 23 - Another Palace, Cute Neighborhood, Manicures, Massage and Hammam!

Some parts of our days were repeats of the previous ones. Hotel breakfast, supplement with better quality coffee elsewhere, pop in and out of little shops to buy super cheap jewelry, and use public transport to find a new part of town. Today was no exception.

We eventually made our way to another palace, Beylerbeyli Palace, also on the Asian side of the city. After tolerating the crowds for just one day in the touristy part of town, we decided to visit lesser-known attractions that were still incredible but cheaper and less crowded. This palace was very impressive!

There were beautiful views from this palace and many people come to admire it, including this group of Muslim women.

Again, we were not permitted to take interior pictures so here are a few from online. It was even more ornate and impressive than the last one.

We took a short bus ride to a very charming street called Kuzguncuk. There were more colorful houses, amazing pastries, cute cats, and a little market where we easily spent an hour. I had the best coconut macaroon of my life! DD#2 found a "J" pendant that she loves.

At this point, we were on a mission to make it to some much-awaited afternoon appointments. The girls both had fancy manicures while I spoiled myself with a traditional Hammam and massage. My experience was amazing with a wonderful massage, steam and sauna rooms, full-body clay mask, and finally the Hammam bath. I laid on a warm marble slab and was scrubbed with an incredible amount of bubbles. Obviously, there were no pictures but I found a couple similar ones online. I felt so clean and pampered. It was just over $60 for this two hour spa experience. I absolutely loved it!

This is random, but it has been interesting seeing how Istanbul groups merchandise together. For example, there's one street that is full of wedding dress shops. Like dozens of them. We saw a street with lighting and lamp stores. There was a motorcycle supply and repair area. I suppose that makes it easy to do one stop shopping instead of having to go all over town to compare and find what you want.

We ended our day with a typical pub style dinner. Real healthy!

Day 24 - DD#2's Last Day. Lots of Shopping!

We started at our favorite coffee place. I finally tried affogato. Espresso with ice cream! It was so yummy!

DD#2 got to choose the events of the day so we did a bunch of last-minute shopping. More shoes and jewelry! Then we took a bus to a nearby beach where we swam in new waters - the Sea of Marmara. It was colder than the Mediterranean and not as pristine but still refreshing. The highlight was having the sweetest orange cat join us on our beach lounger.

The day got away from us somehow and all we managed was another stop for stuffed mussels and a typical Turkish dinner. DD#2 was ready to get home and start her high school soccer season. She had a fabulous flight home and managed to get upgraded to premium economy class. Lucky kid!

Day 25 - Last Day in Turkey! Another Sunset Cruise

I awoke at 4am to help DD#2 get to the airport. It was four hour adventure! The Istanbul Airport is very far from the city. We took a fifty minute taxi ride, spent over an hour in line getting her checked in, and then I saved money by taking public transportation back to the hotel. I used a metro and two buses to get across the city. But I figured it out! Somehow, I made it back to the hotel and crashed asleep again for a couple of hours.

DD#1 and I treated ourselves to a fancy brunch. My hazelnut stuffed croissant was more like dessert than breakfast, but so good! She loved her fancy French toast.

We went for a nice walk along the water stopping at Moda Pier. It's actually a library and a super peaceful space. We took some pictures and marveled at Istanbul's modern skyline.

After a little more shopping, we took the public ferry back to Europe to explore the area around Galata Tower. We found happy hour and a yummy last Turkish dinner.

And another cute cat.

We saved the best part of the day for last. I decided to treat DD#1 to the same sunset cruise that I had taken with DD#2 back in July. It was so relaxing to be out on the water and see Istanbul for the last time.

I don't know when it will happen, but I will return to Turkey. It was a fabulous 25 days! Now on to Bulgaria.