Istanbul

Jose and I had been planning our trip to Istanbul for months, ever since we discovered the low cost airline, Pegasus, which has flights from Madrid. We flew out in the afternoon, arriving in the evening after a looooong four hour flight. Since the company we used was low cost we of course got inexpensive tickets but also had no in-flight entertainment which made the four hours drag. When we got to Istanbul we arrived to the Sabiha Gokcen airport which is about an hour outside of the city itself. We took a transfer to our hotel which was located in the old city center known as Sultanhamet. 

We went to check in only to find that we were taken away from the main hotel to a sketchy hostal-like set up complete with rickety staircase, stained pillow cases and disgusting floor. Seriously, Jose and I have stayed in some questionable places (youth hostels) in the past but they were at least clean. This place had been advertised as a hotel and was completely not what was shown online. We ended up switching hotels to the Best Western Antea Palace and were completely satisfied. I am so happy we changed to somewhere with great service and location. 

That night we finally got our hotel room organized and basically collapsed because it was already late and we had been traveling all day. The next morning we woke up early, had breakfast and headed out to start seeing the sights. Our first stop was the Sultan Ahmed Mosque or Blue Mosque as it is more popularly known, which opened just as we arrived. To enter any of the mosques in Istanbul you must first take off your shoes, and if you are a woman cover your head. I had brought a scarf for this reason so we were ready. For the people who aren't prepared there are scarves available. That day I was wearing leggings and was also asked to cover them which I thought was a bit odd but I wasn't about to argue. The Blue Mosque gets its name from the blue tiles that cover its interior. It was quite beautiful, especially the huge dome. 

Next we headed to the Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya in Turkish) which is located very close to the Blue Mosque. The Hagia Sophia is now a museum after having been a church then a mosque. Unfortunately, there is quite a bit of scaffolding up in the inside but that didn't distract from its beautiful mosaics. We also spent time visiting the tombs of the sultans and their families which are located in building outside of the main museum. The Hagia Sophia has so much history that it was an amazing experience to visit it.

Our next stop was the Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarayı  in Turkish) which is underground and was where the city stored its water during Roman times. The actual structure with its many arches and columns was much larger than I expected and though this site wasn't one that ranked high on my list of places-to-see before our visit, I would highly recommend it. There are two mysterious Medusa bases on two columns, one of which is upside-down. 

After the Cistern we went to the Gran Bazar which is the world's largest covered market. We wandered around the hundreds of stands which sell everything from spices to lamps to leather goods. It was a bit crazy with tons of people milling about, vendors talking loudly to attract customers and lots to see. We bought some things to bring back home and could definitely have spent more time and money if we wanted to. I think I enjoyed this experience more than Jose did. You also have to remember to haggle with the sellers. I liked the Gran Bazar.

After getting our fill of shopping at the Gran Bazar we had lunch and walked through the Spice Bazar which is much smaller and close to the Golden Horn. We crossed this strait walking on the Galata Bridge which was covered with men fishing. Then we headed to try some baklava and have a Turkish tea in a famous cafe. It was awesome!

We then walked up the hill to the Galata Tower which is a medieval tower originally built to help control where the Golden Horn meets the Bosphorus. This was the first place where we had to wait in line but it was worth it for the views from the top. You get quite a panorama of Istanbul from the 360 degrees offered by the Tower's outside balconies. We headed back down the hill towards the river and re-crossed to the other side. We went back to our hotel for a bit to rest before going to see this city's sights at night.

That evening we visited the Hippodrome which is like a big plaza where they once held horse races. In the Hippodrome there is a small part of the original wall that surrounded the track as well as three different columns (one made of bronze which was the oldest Greek monument in the city, another Egyptian obelisk and the last which was placed to help divide the race track during Roman times). After also checking out the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque at night and walking around a bit more we had dinner and went back to the hotel.

On our second day we woke up early again and went to the Topkapi Palace which was basically a city within the city of Istanbul created by the Sultans to be their residence during 400 years. There are many connected courtyards, palaces, kitchens, and other structures located within the larger area but for me the most interesting part of our visit was seeing the treasures of the Sultans. We didn't visit the separate harem which was where the Sultan's family and women would have lived in the past. Every guide and article we read said that the Topkapi Palace was a must-see in Istanbul. I was disappointed.

After the Palace we went to see the Suleymaniye Mosque which we had tried to visit our first day. When we arrived on day one there had just been one of the five daily calls to prayer so all visits had been suspended. On day two we made our way through the sketchy neighborhoods which surround the largest mosque in Istanbul. We also went to try to see the tomb of Suleymaniye who is considered to be one of the best sultans.

As the weather began to take a turn for the worst we took a ferry across the Bosphorus/Golden Horn to go see the Maiden's Tower in Uskudar. The tower is located on a small island and there is a legend that says it was constructed by an emperor who had a daughter that he wanted to protect from the prophesied snake bite which would kill her. She lived on the island for 18 years until her father brought her a basket of fruit to celebrate. In the basket was a snake which bit her and killed her, thus fulfilling the prophecy and giving the tower its name.

It was raining quite hard by now and we were pretty exhausted so we headed back to our hotel to relax and dry off. We had to get to the airport quite early the next morning so we called it a night and said goodbye to Istanbul. I had a great time on our short visit and loved the food we tried (a lot of it from street vendors). I was also glad to be able to cross another thing from my 30 before 30 list!