Turns out Istanbul is HUGE (as you might expect from a city that spans two continents), so there's really no way to really dig in in three and a half days. We covered as much ground as we could in the two most traveler-friendly districts, Fatih (the Old City) and Beyoglu. That's a little bit like going to New York and only spending time in Times Square and Soho (with a lot more history), but they are both so layered and expansive that it felt like just the right amount to take on for this trip. We did take a little ferry tour of the Bosphorus so we could get a better feel for the coastlines, but we didn't quite have time to set foot on the Asia side. We planned to do it our last morning, but it was International Workers Day (basically European Labor Day from what I gathered) and none of the public transportation was running. Next time! There will definitely have to be a next time.
The first thing we did on our second day in Istanbul was walk over to the Hagia Sophia, Aya Sofya if you're pretending to be Turkish like I am (this was a great way to get Matt to carry the backpack, camera, etc. "I can't carry that stuff, I'm trying to look Turkish." Worked every time. [Matt here. It didn't work, I'm just really nice])
Holy crap. Hagia Sophia. When I go to sites like this I try to picture the lushest, greenest part of the city and imagine the building surrounded by that in its prime—before smog and light-up bouncy ball salesmen. Just Emperor Justinian strolling the grounds and stroking his beloved mosaics. The crazy thing about the Hagia Sophia is I have to imagine two separate primes: the stronghold of the Byzantine empire prime, and the revamped prime that came with the takeover of the Ottoman Turks. A 1,500-year-old souvenir of humanity. It's so wild to see the larger-than-life Islamic shields right next to the uncovered depictions of Christ. It's a tumultuous story for sure, but one that's so central to our human history.
This lil guy kept his eyes closed tightly in the face of the rampant paparazzi.
Afterwards we ventured down to the Eminonu docks to catch a $5 ferry. (One of the best things about Turkey is that with the current conversion rate, 1 Turkish Lira is basically $0.50 USD. So a 4 TL lunch is just about 2 bucks and that is something I can celebrate.)
We toured the beautiful phosphorus Bosphorus (can anyone explain to me why I keep calling it that? Is that a thing or am I crazy? The google is failing me.), which just meant we zig zagged from shore to shore on both sides of the strait. Definitely worth it for the stunning views. It also rocked me into a few quick slumbers, but my narcolepsy shouldn't come as a surprise if you know me at all.
Hagia Sofia from the sea
Once back on land, we hit up another mosque or two (we basically stopped in the courtyard of every one we saw and I stopped trying to keep track of names) and crossed over the Golden Horn by bridge. We became great friends with the tramway, but not really great friends with the WCs that only offered squat toilets. We winded up a steep alleyway and found ourselves mysteriously transported into a long line of people waiting to go up into a tower, so we went up to the top of Galata Tower and jostled the other camera-toting sheep for some views before we spent the rest of the night wandering around Beyoglu under the streetlights.
We drank so much fresh-squeezed orange and pomegranate juice.
We were really into the ceiling on the ground floor of the tower.
Matt was thrilled that I camouflaged so well with the wall.
Wednesday we went to the archeological museum, which is undergoing a remodel and will likely be incredible once it's done. The rest of the morning is a bit of a blur due to extreme relaxation via Turkish bath (see here). That took up most of our afternoon and I wouldn't have it any other way. Afterward, we reluctantly joined the world of clothed humans and covered a lot of new ground on foot, wandering in and out of hilly neighborhoods and eating more and more kebaps. Matt and I were introduced to the döner kebap/kebab in Italy and Spain respectively, and we fear that we're too loyal to those versions to fully fall in love with the authentic ones that dominate the food scene in Istanbul. We will resume our hunt for the perfect Turkish kebap when we hopefully return someday.
We really liked Beyoglu. On Istikal Avenue it felt like we were out for an evening walk with every resident of the city. It was the night before a holiday, and the local crowds were spilling into all of the shops and cafés. It seemed like the mass of people only got bigger as it got later in the night. We stopped in stores to compare the squish of Turkish towels and run our fingers along the spines of old books. The ice cream vendors waved their ice cream around on sticks. Turkish ice cream is kind of like silly putty, in a good way, and they have these long metal sticks that they swing it around on. Kind of fascinating.
We popped in a gallery of a Polish poster designer's work. It was pretty great.
One of our favorite things about the city was that we almost never looked at a map, and somehow we would always stumble upon things we've always wanted to see. You can't turn a corner in this city without running into something that's older than you can even fathom. I love that. Before we took off to the airport, we made sure to get entirely lost and take some pictures of the beautiful handwoven kilims, etc. that won't fit in our backpacks or budgets.
Even though we only had time to explore a fraction of the city, it definitely kicked off this marathon backpacking trip in the best way. Thanks Turkey for making us feel so at home so far away from home. You're a real pal.
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