Istanbul; the only city in the world spanning over two continents!

Welcome to Turkey, everyone!

We made it across the border all right in a bit over an hour. 

We had scouted a place to park in the first bigger city behind the border, Tekirdag. Little did we know that, it being the aforementioned public holiday, the area around this car park had morphed into a giant outdoor playground for young and old with a fair like atmosphere and the roller coasters and food stalls to match.

After a little searching we found a spot and my human went off to check out the place and get a first feel for "our" new country. 

Truth be told, after spending a few weeks in one country, moving into the next one always feels a bit weird. You got used to how things run in one place, learned a few phrases, became familiar with the customs and then - bang - all is different!

A living wall

Considering the noisy area, we didn`t stay for the night. Instead we moved on to a surprisingly quiet highway rest stop.

And then it was time to make a move on Istanbul, a city built on seven hills, just like Rome, Prague and Lisbon. It is officially home to 17 million people. You can add a few million to that official number.

I was parked at a long-term airport car park and my human then took the metro into the city, where she had booked a hostel for three nights.
From the closest campground, it takes around 1,5h to get to the city, so this was a more efficient way to make the most of our time in Istanbul.

After checking in, she headed into the old city center to meet the tour guide of the free walking tour she had signed up for.
For the next three hours, Oskan showed her and some15 others around the historic heart of Istanbul.

Views from the Galata Bridge

Looking back towards Galata

The German fountain; constructed in Germany to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of German Emerpor Wilhelm II`s visit to Istanbul in 1898 and then shipped here in pieces to be assembled.

Monuments along the former Hippodrome of Constantinople

Hagia Sofia, former church turned into a mosque; one of the landmarks of the city

Lokum or Turkish Delight

Baklava and other delicacies

A street food staple, sheep intestines grilled on a spit, served in a bun

A chef preparing Manti, tiny little dumplings typically filled with ground beef or lamb and served with garlicy joghurt

Deutsche Orientbank, founded in 1906 to build the railways in the Ottman Empire. You might recognize the building from the opening scene in "Sky Fall".

After this highly informative tour, she visited the scrumptious Spice Bazaar and the Blue Mosque, which isn`t all that blue, but pretty impressive nevertheless.

She kept walking through small alleys and wider streets, being chatted up from all sides at all times in all sorts of languages. I guess that is something we will have to get used to, at least in the touristy areas.

Awesome!

The Blue Mosque

After reading the above, you must wonder how it is that the female prayer room is a tiny space behind the shoe racks...

After crossing back over the bridge, she headed up to see the Galata Tower and, quite by accident, found a very nice sunset spot. Not that this place is a secret, judging be the 100 or so people already sitting there. 

After a rather noisy and sleepless night, she went out to check out Taksim Square, the heart of modern Istanbul and the place you do not want to be when demonstrations are going on.

Several major roads converge here, as do a few metro lines. The square is flanked by some of the fanciest hotels in the city and, to be honest, did do absolutely nothing to spike my human`s interest.

Taksim Square

False advertising if there ever was one; never seen anything less like a pub than this, a Kebab, Fish, Steak and Pizza place!

Quick as she could, she headed back over into the old part of the city and took a tram that runs all along the Golden Horn.
She got off at Eyüp, from where you can jump on a short cable car ride that gets you up to a pretty viewpoint.
From there she walked back down and along the waterfront through a luscious park stretching along the Golden Horn for a couple of kilometers. 

Traffic on the Golden Horn

A visit to the Old Bazaar is mandatory. It is a proper maze of covered and open air markets, selling everything imaginable from fruit and veg, teas and spices, to towels, carpets, nail clippers and literally anything else you might or might not need.

The bakeries here are unreal

For a bit more peace and quiet, she had a look inside the Süleymaniye Mosque, commissioned by Suleiman the  Magnificent and founded in 1550.
She had learned from the free walking tour, that, if a mosque has two minarets, it was built with money donated by ordinary believers.
If it has four minarets, it was built by family members of the current leader of the country.
When you are looking at six or more minarets, it was built by the leader himself.

Mosques are quite different from churches in the way they appear to be used. During prayer times, they are obviously that, places to worship. But any other time, they seem to dub as children`s playgrounds, places to have a nap or hang out with friends. There isn`t much of a somber or devotional atmosphere.

Next to the Top Kapi Palace, from the mid 15th to the mid 19th Century the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire and main residence of it`s Sultans, you find yourself in the serene Tulip Garden of the palace, Gülhane. My human came to this beautifully green and peaceful place every day she spent in the city.

The omnipresent Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

After dinner, she headed back up to the Galata district for another pretty sunset. The area around the tower is really stylish and hip, with plenty of interesting small shops and pricey restaurants.

In general, she was rather surprised by the price level of almost everything in the city. A sit-down kebab will cost you 10€, 11€, a small piece of Baklava 3€, a proper meal easily 20€.

Entry fees for all the famous sights are between 30€ (Hagia Sofia, for example) and 50€ (Top Kapi)!

Needless to say, that is the reason you only see pictures from the outside of those places here.

Also omnipresent: cats

On her last day, she took the ferry to head over to the Asian side of the city. Only three percent of Turkey are on the European continent, the other 97% are in Asia.

Over there you can find the largest mosque in the country, Camlica Mosque, which was completed in 2019.
It was designed by two female architects who aimed for a "female friendly" space and holds up to 63.000 worshippers (600 for females), making it the 17th largest mosque in the world.

If you don`t come to see the mosque, come to see the view!

Camlica TRT Television Tower; 369 meters high, 18 of those under ground

After walking around the most happening quarter on this side of the Bosporus, Kadiköy, my human went on a little cruise up and down this important waterway, connecting the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. 31km long and only 700m wide, it is the world´s narrowest straight used for international navigation. 

View down the Bosporus in the morning...

...and in the afternoon.

Camlica Mosque from afar

I could go on and on, but as I see, I have already over-reached my self imposed limit of 1000 words per week, sorry for that. If you want to know more, you know how to reach us.

One of the two hostel cats had four kittens the last night my human was there