Whenever I go away, UK or somewhere more exotic, I write up notes in journal. I never can shake off the awkwardness of looking back at old diaries and cringing at your musings, but I feel writing up my travels will help me remember later in life and as you're generally doing lots of activities, your FEELINGS aren't really at the fore.
I thought I would start putting these notes on here, probably not in full, we'll see. Some might be quite post-dated but last week I returned from Istanbul so I shall start there.
My and my boyfriend can be pretty shocking at time keeping, so managed to arrive at T5 allowing us 45 minutes to drop off bags, collect currency, go through security before our flight left, mmm stressful. We actually did a similar thing on the way back as well, you think we'd learn.
We arrived into Sultanahmet around 6pm and managed to find our hotel relatively easily. After a quick unpacking on my part (I always unpack, regardless of how short the stay), we headed out to dinner. We found a nice route around the back of Aya Sofya through Gulhane Park - we tended to go this way for the rest of our trip, the park was always nice and relaxed plus generally full of locals hanging out with their families which is always pleasant to see.
Our first stop was Galata Bridge as we thought it would look pretty special at sunset although as it was cloudy, we didn't get that desired photo moment. However, it's still a great place to people watch from the bobbing boats selling fish sandwiches, the carts hawking hot corn and chestnuts to the countless locals fishing from the bridge. We could see Galata Tower in the distance and the shores of the Asian side of Istanbul.
We had dinner at Hamdi Restaurant near the New Mosque, its signage clear from several feet away. Hamdi has some history, the owner started out with just a cart in the 60s and expanded it to the 5 storey restaurant where we ate our meal that night. The food (mainly kepabs) was good, and after dinner we walked back another way, taking us through İbni Kemal Caddesi which was bustling with restaurants. We detoured to the Blue Mosque before hitting our hotel, there was many people sitting on the benches outside taking a moment and talking with friends. Our hotel backed on to Akbiyik Caddesi which again was heaving, but was much more touristy and we spotted the first of many stray cats.
The next morning we awoke to rain and thunderstorms so we decided to switch our itinerary around and do indoor things instead (I had wanted to space out our numerous boat trips but oh well). Breakfast was lovely, they had honey that looked straight form the hive and tasted amazing, coming from someone who doesn't like honey.
We had prebooked tickets for Aya Sofya (you didn't have to date your ticket which was a great help), so the queue was much shorter to get in. We wandered through the Imperial Door into the central dome, there was some construction work (apparently there always is, but then it was built in 537). The dome was still a spectacular sight and I loved the chandeliers - the glass almost looked like bell jars - and the calligraphic roundels. We didn't stop to stick our fingers in the weeping column (there was a queue), and headed to the upper gallery to check out the mosaics.
After a couple of hours, we left and headed to the Basilica Cistern which was built around the time of the Aya and was the Istanbullis way of bringing water into the city. It was very calming underground, with lots of carp swimming in the water and quite beautiful too. We checked out the Medusa statues before walking over to the Grand Bazaar area for some falafel and my first aryan yoghurt drink. I felt the Bazaar's interior was a lot better than the actual wares on sale - these tended to be repetitive and leaning towards tat in places, however, I did keep on spotting lovely ceramic bowls. We left the Grand Bazaar via the Old Book Bazaar which had a charming courtyard and walked alongside the University before roughly meeting the Spice Bazaar. A man called 'Hi ginger' at mine, but generally I felt the sellers in Istanbul weren't very pushy - which was a refreshing change. After some lovely teas and spices, we started recognising things from the Grand Bazaar stalls so poked our heads outside when we heard the New Mosque's Call to the Prayer resounding in the sun.
We took the train from Cankurtan to Servici not realising it just went 1 stop and then terminated. So we walked over the Galata Bridge and into the Tunel funicular. From there, we strolled up Istikal Cad to Taksim Square just before it started to get dark. There was lots of people around, not just at the camp, kids were selling swimming goggles and painting masks. We didn't think it was appropriate to go into the camp so after taking it all in we headed down the strip to dinner. On the way down, lots of locals were heading in the opposite direction chanting and cheering. We meandered around side streets, before coming across Sofyali 9 - I had chicken shish with some lovely meze. We'd missed the last funicular so walked down the steep route by Galata Tower before jumping on a tram. After noticing a lot of sea gulls circling the blue mosque, we got onto what makes albatrosses so special, apparently they are so big, i'm unconvinced there is not more to them.
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