FuryFluffy

After a long time dreaming about Istanbul, finally I could go there.
I had tried not to have a concrete expectation of it, but the city was very, very different from my glimpse of thought. It charmed me by both its positive and negative faces (nothing too serious, just some funny stuffs that I'll tell later). I had 2.5 days full of gorgeous landscape, unexpected meetings, and, needless to say, kebab & baklava.

News said that tourism had declined in Istanbul in the current situation, and restaurants were indeed near empty when I was there. But you wouldn't see it at the airport: it took me 1h30 just for passport control! Plenty of Brits, and Southeast Asian passengers. After the airplane landed, I went straight to Immigration, but there were already huge queues, which were moving very slowly.

During the fleeting trip, I could see almost everything that I planned for, and even some things I didn't plan (Bosphorus Bay tour, hammam, tea drinking and more tea drinking). The people were one of the friendliest I have ever met. Foods were excellent, I stuffed myself whenever I could but still haven't tasted half of the dishes I want to try.

Day 1: arriving in the evening, wandering the streets, lured by sellers to buy 1 kg of turkish delight (and happy with it)
Day 2: Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Galata brigde
Day 3: Topkapi Palace, Bosphorus Bay tour, Spice Bazaar, Grand Bazaar (I had a busy day there), Hammam relaxing & royal massage
Day 4: Cistern Basilica, depart at noon, transit and wandering in Frankfurt city

I will write probably not in the chronological form, but by topics. Tons of photos, as usual. Even the Frankfurt part is pleasant, albeit very short.

WoinParis

Glad you liked it, Istanbul is one of my greatest cities. Going there in 2 weeks, but for work.

Keiracaitlyn

What flavors of Turkish Delight did you get? I wish I had bought more than one box.

What did you buy at the Grand Bazaar?

Which hamam did you go to?

I'm glad you got a varied experience of the city, in your short time there.

FuryFluffy

Wo: now I understand why people like Istanbul so much. But I hope you wouldn't have 1h30 of passport control like me^^

Keira: I got all of the Turkish Delight flavors I could afford 2 big boxes, one roll for each flavors. Other than the part I ate on spot, I brought home 1.5 kg of them! And then 1kg of spice from Spice Bazaar. Call me crazy.
If not for my restrained luggage (my flight ticket allows only carry-on luggage) I would have brought a whole suitcase of spice & sweets & tea.

I didn't buy anything at the Grand Bazaar because it's actually more expensive than street shops. But I took some cosplay photo in Turkish costume, at the price of 5E/photo, and now I have 3 beautiful one-thousand-and-one-nights-esque photos of mine as souvenirs.

For the hammam, I went to Cemberlitas Hamami, near the Grand Bazaar, because it had positive reviews. It was indeed excellent.

thursdaysd

Glad you had a good time, sounds like you covered the main sights.

Keiracaitlyn

FuryFluffy,

It took me 1 1/2 hours to get through passport control too.

Cosplay photos sound like fun - perhaps I will do that on my next visit.

KC

WoinParis

Landing at midnight - defintely hope not 1.30 h of queue !

FuryFluffy

thursdaysd: thank you ^^

Part 1 - Sunset in Istanbul

My photos:
https://moveablefeastofamess.wordpre...-1-the-sunset/

Some best spots to watch sunset in Istanbul: from Galata tower (I heard the view was magnificent, but the observation deck closed at 5pm, however you can dine at the restaurant on the tower at night to have a view), from Salacak on the Asian side (with view of the Maiden Tower, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi palace and many things else), or across the Galata bridge (the easiest, that’s what I did).

I went to Galata bridge twice but didn’t catch any intense sunset (seems like if the day is sunny and clear then the sunset would be dull, is it right?). The view across the water is still wonderful, with myriad of mosques and their minarets lining up the river bank.

For some reason, white gulls were gathering in large hordes near the shore. Street vendor selling grilled mackerel sandwich which perfumed the whole area and tasted very nice (grilled fish sandwich is often in the Must Eat list of Turkey).

Plenty of people fishing on the bridge, and there seemed to be lots of fishes in the river too. They caught often, some guy directly sold the fish he caught for grilling. When I walked under the bridge, the fishing lines were all over my head and sometimes a fish on a hook would fly at my forehead^^

FuryFluffy

Part 2: Where to eat and where not to

My photos and eateries reviews:
https://moveablefeastofamess.wordpre...-where-not-to/

My hostel is in the Sultanahmet district – the Old City, the most touristic district but also very beautiful. After checking in, I went out for diner and was immediately invited into this “Bistro chef”, just 100 meters away from Topkapi Palace. It happened to be a good restaurant, with reasonable price. I tried Adana Kebab, one of the dishes that you should taste in Turkey.

After the meal (25 tl – 6 euros), they offered me a free tea and I took my time. Then I left and wandered the streets; 1h later, I passed by that restaurant again and they offered me a 2nd free tea. I had to say no this time. That happened to me in every shop. Whether I bought things or not, they genuinely offered me tea ^^

However, I don’t recommend the “Topkapi” shop next to the restaurant, it looked fancy but it sold Turkish delights at the highest price in town. Also, when I asked to buy 1 gr of saffron, the guy packed 5 gr for me and insisted on me to buy it. You know how expensive saffron is. With my style of eating, it'll take me 50 years to use all that saffron.

Then, when I walked to the sea port, I randomly discovered this small eatery which turned out to be great. “Sirin Kofte” located in a small alley which posted “Shortcut to train station, the sea, Galata bridge and Everything”. I took that shortcut everyday and literally had to walk through the eatery. Inevitably, the patron made me promise to eat there once, I did, and got hooked (with the food, not the patron!). I took Turkish breakfast there, fried anchovies one day (18 tl – 4.5E) and cheese/egg the other (14tl – 3.5E).

While I was eating my fish, a kitty came and waited on me. How can you resist her hungry face? So I threw her an anchovy head.

The patron told me his name was Antonio Banderas. I told him my name was Catherine Zeta-Jones. “Sirin Kofte” is not far from Hagia Sophia either. I regret I didn’t know it the first day.

Under Galata bridge, there’re a dozen of restaurants, eateries at one side of the bridge and dancing/live music bars at the other side. A plate of fish/seafood there was 25 tl – 60 tl (6E – 15E), depending on what kind of fish. A little bit more pricey than others in town, but you pay for the magnificent view.

Fruit juice everywhere, cheap and fresh. Don’t buy it inside museums or palaces, it will be of 3x price than small shops on street.

Turkish icecream (dondurma) with the smiling icecream-batter man, it may sound like a tourism cliché but the icecream tastes good.

I tried another Turkish food, grilled pepper and feta+spinach flatbread, near Topkapi Palace. Ok quality but a little bit over-priced, as with all restaurants next to tourist attractions. If you must eat near Topkapi Palace, or Hagia Sophia, I recommend the “Bistro Chef” above, or "Sirin Kofte" a little further (but nothing more than 500 meters of pleasant walking).

There’re some quite good cafe+sweets shops near Topkapi Palace. “Efezade” is one of them, they have a sweet baking oven just next to the window that you can admire. Of all the baklava shops I tried in town, I prefer this one.

“Osmanlizadeler” confiserie shop nearby was very good too, it’s quite popular.

The area around the water bank is the best bet for seafood (a must in Istanbul). I heard the small restaurants along the bank in the Karakoy district, just across the Galata bridge were good and cheap too, but I haven’t tried them.

One fancy dish that I saw and told myself to try, but then I forgot: Cerra Kebab. They seal meats & vegetables in a flaming claypot and serve it to you sizzling hot. You can order it at both Bistro Chef or Sirin Kofte. Do not order it near Topkapi Palace: 3x price, as usual.

kappa1

Nice photos, especially I like the night shot from (under?) Galata Bridge, of the fishing rods and hanging lines.

geetika

DH & I absolutely loved Turkey and Istanbul and your pictures brought back happy memories of our trips there, thanks!

PegS

Lovely photos. Gosh I miss Istanbul.

FuryFluffy

Thank you, geetika and PegS. I'm happy that you like my photos. More pics to come.

kappa: Yes, it's from under Galata Bridge. I have to take dozen of shots before being able to capture the fishing rods, the lines, the water and the mosque in the same shot. Thank you ^^

Keiracaitlyn

Looking Forward to seeing more photos and hearing about your negative experiences mentioned, I'm very curious about that - unless it was about feeling forced to buy more saffron than you intended?

FuryFluffy

Keira: my negative experience was just, uhm, catcalling, lots of it. I'm glad you said it didn't happen to you in your thread. For me, I couldn't walk 100 meters on the street without a guy approaching and trying to make a weird conversation. Every shop that I pass by the door, the seller would call out to me like during 5 mins:
"Hello, baby. Hey, come in and take a look at my shop. Are you from China? Nigeria? South Africa? Heyyyy..."
"Excuse me, lady, you dropped something etc." (I didn't drop anything but had to stop to check.)

Then, if I came into a shop and buying thing for more than 5 mins, they started to give me their private phone number and ask for my phone number & my name. There were at least 3 bosses who introduced their waiters to me:
"Look, isn't he handsome? Do you want to take him?"

At that stage, it was still not bothering me much, and I didn't mind if they just want to talk/sell/even flirt. But god know what's on the mind of those guys. I found it out the awkward way.

There was this restaurant that I dined at for 2 days. The manager started talking with me and he seemed a decent guy. He asked me to go drinking something with him after the meal at the bar next to it. I would just have to shift a table so I thought why not. I went to the bar, paid for my drink, but then the conversation deteriorate very quick, and before 10 mins he already asked to, hmmm, get laid. I said no a hundred times but he kept repeating the request during the rest of the evening and then followed me to my hostel. Luckily I stayed in a mixed dormitory with 9 guys in my room so I didn't have to worry about a "Taken" (Liam Neeson) situation.

Then, the next day, before I knew it, there's another guy asking me to go have a drink...

Keiracaitlyn

Yikes! That sucks. That was exactly what I was concerned about most going there. I wonder how much having guides circumvented that for me. Or perhaps it was my age or looks that provided me different treatment. I definitely got chatted up when alone but never in a "hey baby" kind of way except once by another tourist looking for a hookup, and they took no for an answer quickly except the salesmen. Glad your hostel provided a safe haven.

FuryFluffy

Thanks Keiracaitlyn. The experience rather bemused me than annoyed me. In the end they do no harm.

Part 3: Hagia Sophia

Photos:
https://moveablefeastofamess.wordpre...-hagia-sophia/

Hagia Sophia is a fascinating architectural complex in Istanbul: first, it was an Orthodox church; then, it was converted to a Catholic basilica; next, to an Ottoman mosque. You can see the traces of all those conversions inside the complex. It is a representation of Istanbul’s rich and intervened history itself. Nowadays, it’s a museum and everybody can visit it. Even a cat.
There were several cats roaming leisurely inside the church, usualy around the light source because the interior could be cold otherwise. One cat literally put her face on the light bulb.

The interior has some great mosaics, which are left un-repaired. There's a huge marble jar in a corner, higher than a grown man, dated from BC, used to serve wine to everybody after the mass. I wish they had maintained that tradition. Fragments of the original church are still visible, and judging by it, the original one was exquisite too.

Hagia Sophia is under restoration at the moment, so I couldn’t see it in all of its glory, or take deserving photos. But at least the sun was shining bright that day, so I got some nice exterior shots. The interior was much colder than the temperature outside, even a large scarf couldn't warm me. So, remember to bring your (light) coat.

If you don’t like queue, come to the gate 5 mins before opening time. There will be 10 people at most before you (and that’s a weekend day). But if you arrive 1h after opening time, that might be a long queue. Buy a simit (turkish circle bread) or a grilled corn for breakfast from hundreds of food wagons around the attraction. Try to stuff all of it into your mouth when the gate opens and the ticket starts to sell. You’ll see, it’s hilarious.

kappa1

Love the photos, especially the first one with a cat. What is it looking down at? It found an ant ? Just this photo makes me want to visit Hagia Sophia ( have been to Istanbul 4 times and yet to go inside it..., probably will in September)

FuryFluffy

Thank you kappa. In fact the cat was just preparing to sit down at that moment, perhaps it looks attentive because it was thinking how to sit in a warmest way ^^

If you should visit Hagia Sophia, I hope they finish the restoration work by then, otherwise much of its interior was covered when I was there.

Keiracaitlyn

I too found that I could not take good photos of Hagia Sophia due to the restoration (and the darkness of the interior). I hope that when I return, more of it will be completed.