Istanbul

Due to a flight delay I arrived in Istanbul Thursday night around midnight. A combination of the time, the exhaustion from traveling and my run-ins with airport security had me opting to go straight to bed once I got in, but in the morning I got up fairly early and met up with Lauren, another US BCGer that's been working in Stockholm the past year. Becky was arriving later that day, so we decided to pass the time doing a boat tour of the Bosphorous, the body of water (it's not a river, a strait maybe?) that runs through Istanbul dividing the European and Asian sides. We made our way to the old city, where we hopped on the boat and made the 1.5 hour journey up to the town of Anadolu Kavagi where the Bosphorous opens up into the Black Sea. The boat ride had a bunch of really cool views of the city as well as the mansions, palaces and other buildings lining the water. When we got to Anadolu Kavagi, which is a really tiny town - maybe less than a thousand people, we hiked up to the old fort/castle, which had a good view of the sea, and then back down to the town to get some fish for lunch. We were hoping to find some lokma, little balls of fried dough that are supposed to be traditional Turkish treats, but apparently they only sell them on the weekends (?). After about an hour there, we made the trip back to the city, and got some of the highly-recommended chocolate baklava and lemonade-and-mint at the Four Seasons while waiting for Becky to get in.

the North side of Istanbul from the water

View of the Black Sea from the castle

One of the little fishing villages North of Istanbul

Once Becky got in we regrouped and then went up to the Bebek area for dinner - but before going to dinner we made a stop at the Starbucks. We had heard from multiple people that this was "the most beautiful Starbucks in the world", and they may very well be right. It's right on the water with 3 levels and an outdoor patio extending out towards all the boats docked in the Bosphorous. The place we went to for dinner had a similarly awesome location, which made for a really cool setting for my first real meal in Istanbul. After dinner and some drinks we headed across the street to a hookah place (they call it nargile) to hang out for a while before heading back to the hotel.

The next day we got started early for a big day of sightseeing. We went to the old city and first saw the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. They were both really huge and both really intricate on the inside. The Blue Mosque is still a functioning mosque so we saw some people praying while we were walking around, but the Hagia Sophia is just a museum / tourist attraction now. It was amazing to think that such a large building was built 1500 years ago and that 1000 years later when they went to build the Blue Mosque to symbolize the strength of the Ottoman Empire they basically just made one that was the same size. They both also had some lighting inside that made the atmosphere really cool. After that and some lunch we walked through the city to the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market. The Grand Bazaar was, according to what someone said, the first indoor mall - it's basically an indoor souk or market with a bunch of small stalls selling jewelry, touristy trinkets, food, etc. Becky and I found a place inside to grab some Turkish coffee. It's basically an unfiltered espresso, and by unfiltered I mean the coffee grounds and sediment are a sludge in the bottom of the cup when you drink enough of it. It was a little weird at first, but I think it grew on both of us. The Spice Market was pretty similar to the Grand Bazaar actually, except that it was outside and it had more food being sold. We took the chance to buy some Turkish Delights, some lokma (which we finally found) and some other goodies before leaving. Then, since we had some time before dinner we decided to try out a Turkish bath. It was quite an interesting experience - the girls' and guys' baths were separate, and you essentially end up getting a sauna, a body wash, a massage (from a big old Turkish guy), an exfoliating scrub, and some tea when you're all done. It was a little strange at first, but after it was all done I was quite refreshed.

Blue Mosque

Prayer area inside

Hagia Sophia

Grand Bazaar

Spice Market

That night we went to Reina, which is like a cafe-restaurant-bar-club complex right on the Bosphorous. We had heard about this place from a few different people as well and it didn't disappoint. We had dinner at the restaurant on the water, and had a view of one of the bridges over the Bosphorous which was lit up with some pretty cool lights at night. Then, gradually, the place morphed into a club with tons of people coming in and, obviously, still the same cool surroundings.

Reina

The next day was our last day there, so we made a short trip into the city to get lunch, see the Topkapi Palace and then went to the airport. All in all, I think Istanbul was one of my favorite cities that I've been to and one of the few where I've felt like I didn't have enough time to see everything I wanted to in the time that I was there. Most cities I wouldn't mind spending more time there, but here I felt like there were chunks of the city that I didn't get to see or experience (also probably because Istanbul is pretty huge). Regardless it was a great weekend. At the airport it was on to Cairo, which I'll update on later!