Lol the title is not an original pun, it actually is the name of the official Istanbul tourist site thank you very much!
My second day in Istanbul was fixing up to be just as busy as the first, so I made sure to overdo it on the free breakfast buffet and coffee at my hostel (pictured). My first stop of the day was the Blue Mosque because I wasn’t able to enter the previous day due to it being closed when I visited for Friday prayer times. As it turns out, it was all under construction so there was actually nothing to see! Luckily it was free to walk inside, but I only stayed for about 30 seconds when I realized. The real view is the mosque from the courtyard, so I snapped some more photos there.
I then made my way over to the Grand Bazaar, which I think is the biggest closed market in the world! It was grand alright, full of Turkish souvenirs: beautiful glass lanterns and Pashmina scarves, Turkish candies, teas, and coffees, rugs, and all the knock off designer brand clothes, too! I didn’t buy anything but I did spend an hour navigating the many indoor alley ways and taking in the chaos. The Turkish also love their black tea! So I felt right at home because they have their tea as strong as me, and they pour endless cups of it! So I stopped for a couple cups of chay in the market (mostly to rest my feet again).
Personally, I felt a lot safer from pickpockets/petty theft in this market than I would feel in Mexico! So once again, I think people are having misconceptions about “danger” in Turkey and other countries. I do carry my lime green, Quiksilver dry bag as my everyday backpack, which is awesome because a) it carries my wetsuit when I’m home and b) it is a theft-proof bag when I’m traveling!
I meandered over to the port of Eminonu, the closest boat dock to my area. On the way I did buy a nice silken scarf for myself because I wanted it to be the quintessential wanderlust travel girl. For just 8 liras (1 dollar) I bought my ticket to ASIA aka Kadikoy, a different peninsula just a 20 minute boat ride away. This route is so frequented by tourists and commuting locals that I think boats leave every 5 minutes! The views are pretty spectacular and soon enough I stepped foot into the Asian continent for the first time.
It was so much calmer in Kadikoy, surprising because it is all the same city just a few kilometers apart. My friend from school is the only Turkish I know so she recommended I check out the neighborhood Moda, which I totally loved. It’s very green and I had a few more cups of tea along the water, and then found my way to a park to soak up the sun for a bit. At this point it was 75 degrees with a light breeze. Heaven to my California soul. This part of town reminded me a lot of Chicago’s lakeside in summertime, with super similar vibes and scenery!
I then walked back through (neighborhood towards boat) which was super lively and fun, but again still calmer and cleaner in comparison to the European side. I intended to go all the way back to Eminonu on the ferry, but it first made a stop on the other side of the Galata Bridge in Karakoy, which I had enjoyed the previous day, so I decided to hop off there.
I walked up to the most famous/touristy street in the city and got sucked into the consumerism nooooooo. I just bought a #fastfashion maxi dress and a few little journals to keep my thoughts. The main part of the street was touristy just like Union Square back home in SF— shops, higher prices, people, you know it. What I really enjoyed though was the walk back down the hill through the most cutesy little neighborhood that REALLY made me feel like I was in SF. I was just so overcome at this hour of the day, around 4pm, just seeing how much Istanbul has to offer and that led me to think of all there is to see in the world and my mind and body were just so drained so I started the long slog back to my place.
I had to cross two or three neighborhoods, then the Galata bridge, then back through the spice market, past Suleiman’s mausoleum and the university. But I say this because I was quite INSPIRED by my geographical mastery in just two days in Istanbul. If you just know your cardinal directions, you can easily just walk in the general direction until you get somewhere familiar, then no need to look like a tourist on Google Maps!
I had the best dinner ever with two pieces of cheese pita for just 1 dollar and a Turkish beer back on my hotel to close it off. Now that I had accomplished much of what I read online, I didn’t know what to do for the following day, my last day in Istanbul! But I was in the mood to actually chill for a bit, so I did just that. I slept in, got my free breakfast, went back to Sultanahmet Square for more pics with the famous buildings, and stopped by some tourist shops. I went on a wild goose chase looking for a shop my friend recommended to me, and ended up finding someone with a mutual connection! I stopped at some cute cafes in the area, including one with a rooftop view of the Blue Mosque! I ate some baklava and ---very out of character for me--- I even went to the Istanbul Archaeology Museum (that’s how you know I’m really out of things to do lol). The museum was fine but I feel so bad that I do not appreciate things as much as I should….
I bought some rose Turkish delight (the BEST flavor) from a Moroccan man that was excited I wore an Africa shaped necklace haha. I stumbled upon the main park in the city, Gulhane Park, which is incredible because there’s really only one entrance and exit, meaning it is very tranquil and secluded. I loved that there were no cars, not even bikes, just calm green trees and lawns and people enjoying each other’s company on a Sunday afternoon. I also realized that my primary hobby as a solo traveller has become people watching, but so be it.
At around 4 PM, I miraculously realized that my flight for the following day out of Turkey was at a different airport than I arrived! I flew into IST and was flying out of SAW, and they were on opposite sides of the city! This meant I quickly scrambled to figure out how to get my COVID test, where to stay that evening, and how I would get to this farther airport. The whole mix up kinda scrambled me up so I left myself have a mellow evening on my last night in Turkey. One more walk back to Sultanahmet to see how the sights look at sunset, found a fast COVID test in a tourist stall, got my Turkish ice cream with a delightful performance, and tried to spend nearly every lira I had left!
I am now en route to London Heathrow Airport, then Lisbon, Portugal! My first flight today is me and ONE other passenger. On a 250 passenger airplane. I would just like to apologize to humanity right now for my carbon footprint. I’m truly ashamed. I wasn’t able to get out of Turkey today without one uncomfortable altercation with a Turkish man, who happened to be my 5 AM taxi driver. Anyways. Now we are okay. On an airplane all to myself. Sometimes it do be like that. Thank you Istanbul, see you again sometime!
*PS. Everything was not fine after leaving 2 passenger flight. The reason for this empty flight was Turkey is a red list country according to the UK (who woulda thought?!) and thus I got off in a red list terminal where all the fellow travellers were going to quarantine in London for 2 weeks for $2000. I had a bit of a meltdown in the airport thinking I would get stuck in the airport, either in the UK or Portugal. A few days later, I am okay now and it worked out, but I apologize to all the people that tried to console the hysterical gal at London Heathrow.
