Two Continents; One Great City

by Johnny

Have you recovered yet from that atom bomb of knowledge Anna dropped on your dome in the last post? Good. We arrived to Istanbul on an overnight bus from Göreme, and with only four nights left before the Europe leg of our travels came to an end, we decided to spoil ourselves a little bit. We upgraded our room at our B&B to one with a terrace view of the Blue Mosque and the Sea of Marmara, we saw nearly every site we wanted, we bought a couple souvenirs, and we ate baklava after every meal (breakfast, lunch and dinner).

We based ourselves in the area of Istanbul known as Sultanahmet, which is within easy walking distance of the city’s “big three” tourist sights: Aya Sofya, Topkapi Palace and the Blue Mosque. I could write pages on the amazing history of these buildings, but I’ll just tell you a couple things we liked about each of them. In the Aya Sofya, we loved the enormous domed ceiling and beautiful mosaics. We liked nearly everything about Topkapi Palace (except the crowds), but we were especially amazed by the Harem, where the sultan and the rest of the imperial family lived. It was a maze of decadently decorated rooms and tiled courtyards. Topkapi Palace also had some of the best views in Istanbul looking out towards the Bosphorus strait, which separates the European and Asian continents. The Blue Mosque is beautiful in its simplicity…and you get to take your shoes off when you go inside.

View of the Blue Mosque from our terrace


Sunset on our terrace	Enjoying a couple Efes on our terrace

Our B&B, Ahmet Efendi Evi, at night

Aya Sofya

Inside Aya Sofya


Domed ceiling of Aya Sofya	Baby Jesus being presented with Aya Sofia and Istanbul


Inside the Harem at Topkapi Palace	Fireplace in the Harem


Mother of Pearl furniture in the Harem	Thumbs down on the circumcision room


Courtyard of Topkapi Palace	View of the Bosphorus from Topkapi Palace

The Blue Mosque

Inside the Blue Mosque


Gotta go barefoot in the Blue Mosque	Washing off those feet outside the Blue Mosque

A little post-Blue Mosque çay

One of the highlights of our time in Istanbul was a night out with some local lads. Our friend (and future Thailand travel companion) Hillary introduced us via email to her good friend Fer, who is back in his home city of Istanbul after living in Los Angeles for seven years (four of them at USC). We met Fer for lunch and made plans to meet at “The Studio” later that night. Uh-oh. Was this Istanbul’s hottest nightclub? Anna and I were a little worried because we left our clubbing outfits at home…in 2002. We showered up, motivated ourselves and headed back out to meet Fer. He met us at a street corner, walked us down a dark alley and…wow…awesome! “The Studio” was an actual music recording studio. It turns out that Fer is a ripping drummer and plays in the band for a singer that just won a best new artist award in Turkey. For the next few hours, Anna and I and a few others watched Fer and his buddies have an all out jam session. We even got to see the world premier of their new music video that’s scheduled to air on MTV in Turkey soon. Afterwards we all headed out to a group of bars that were overflowing with young Turks and good music. Anna and I were pretty proud of ourselves that we made it until 3:30am before having to call it quits. It was a great night…all of Fer’s friends, like all Turkish people, were super friendly and welcoming, and it was a side of Istanbul we would not have seen otherwise. We made plans to meet up for a traditional Turkish Sunday brunch the next day, but unfortunately I left my Zack Morris-sized travel phone in our room and we couldn’t connect. Next time. Thanks for everything, Fer!


Can Bonomo on the ukelele	Johnny and Fer

I had to mentally prepare myself for a visit to the Grand Bazaar. I was picturing being shouted at and grabbed by millions of merchants trying to sell me fake carpets and knock-off watches. I thought, “Let’s get in, take some pictures and get out.” Turns out, the Grand Bazaar was actually pretty awesome. It’s a labyrinth of unique walkways with over 2,000 tiny boutiques and workshops selling everything you can think of, but it wasn’t as chaotic as I thought. In addition to the shops, there are tea houses, cafes and even a mosque, all covered in a beautiful building. Anna loved it and could have gone back every day. However, one thing’s for sure, I am terrible at the art of bargaining. Anna bought some bracelets and got the guy down from TL40 to TL25. Nice! I saw a cool shirt I liked that was priced at TL25, so I asked the guy if he could do it for TL20. I ended up giving him TL50 and my pants, and Anna and I now have to name our first son Mehmet. We also visited the Spice Bazaar, a marketplace that sells all sorts of spices, dried fruits, nuts, Turkish Delight and other goodies. Sensory overload.


Lanterns in the Grand Bazaar	Jewelry in the Grand Bazaar


Trinkets in the Grand Bazaar	Carpets in the Grand Bazaar


Spice Bazaar	Spice Bazaar


Spice Bazaar	Outside the Spice Bazaar

With visits to the main tourist sights and markets checked off our list, we explored as many of Istanbul’s different neighborhoods as we could, by both land and sea. One day we took the public ferry to Kadiköy, which is on the Asian side of Istanbul. It had a happening food market, and we sampled some awesome mezes at Ciya Sofrasi, one of Istanbul’s best rated restaurants. We also explored the Beyoglu neighborhood a couple different times, and each time it was absolutely packed. The main street, Istiklal Caddesi, was a sea of people every time we saw it. Come to think of it, nearly every area of the city we went was packed with locals…Istanbul is crazy! Anyways, Beyoglu was the seedy part of town back in the ‘90s but is now home to hip new boutique stores, galleries and restaurants. Another day we took a cruise of the Bosphorus and got to see all the different sights and neighborhoods that dot the coast. The Istanbul skyline from the water, especially when Aya Sofia, Topkapi Palace and the Blue Mosque are all visible at the same time, is pretty amazing. Istanbul is such a big, historic, vibrant place with tons to see and do, and we could have easily spent a few more days there.


The Basilica Cistern stored water for the palace	Upside down Medusa head at Basilica Cistern

View of Topkapi Palace from the ferry


Kiz Kulesi island and tower from our cruise	Scenes from the Bosphorus cruise


Cruising the Bosphorus	Istanbul’s skyline from the Bosphorus


Bustling street in Kadiköy	Traditional Turkish coffee in Kadiköy

Sea of people on Istiklal Caddesi


View of the Galata Tower at night	We had wine near the Galata Tower at sunset

Walking across the Galata Bridge at night

Oh yea, and we (meaning me) ate a ton. I couldn’t get enough of the food in Turkey. Anna already mentioned our recent addiction to çay, and I loved me some Turkish coffee as well (Warning: When tasting Turkish coffee for the first time, you may want to wear a diaper). The spices, the veggies (eggplant!), the mezes, the bread…we loved it all. Check out some pics, including an epic fried dough ball sequence, below.