Istanbul - The clash of continents
Given a long time has drifted since the last update, its time to track back to the summer of 2019. An eagerly awaited point in the year as exams finished, work commitments were no longer handcuffs to life and everyone could look forward to totally unleashed time. Our primary destinations had been European and US since moving back from Asia as we focused forward to areas not explored. Our holidays have also change in structure as we've moved from planned travel to more unplanned exploration.
Our trip to Istanbul was to get back a little taste of the orient that we had been missing. The trip was part of a wider exploration plan over the summer. But driven by wanting a pool, heat and down time we headed to Istanbul. The trip was a made up of two segment - the first two days we lived slightly away from the city centre in a more "resorty" hotel and the second half we changed hotels to the city centre, right into the middle of a 24 hour central shopping street. We have never changed hotels while on a holiday but it was a relatively seamless experience apart from the packing/moving/unpacking which knocked a few hours out of a morning.
Istanbul is a really interesting city, a clash of cultures, modern hotels with modern locals living a western life contrasted with a more traditional Islamic areas and culture permeate Istanbul. My sense was that there was a 50/50 split in cultures and there was coexistence with made transiting from one experience to the other seamless and completely normal.
The tick box points of the city
All visits to Istanbul will cover the key sights of the Hagia Sophia Museum and Blue Mosque both situated in Sultan Ahmet and very close to each other and if you have limited time in Istanbul this is probably where you should focus. The areas around these two site are the primary tourist arteries of Istanbul with the other tourist sites close by. These two site together with the Grand Bazaar are the primary place to cover on any day trips to the city.
The Hagia Sophia museum tends to be the more interesting of the two places primarily due to its history over the ages and the various empires and culture was in the region. The picture below show what you can expect inside the Sophia Hagia and its surrounding areas. Not being a muslim, the call to prayers at various points during the day broadcast in the area are an interesting and gravitating listen. It primarily left me wondering how do you select the muezzin, is there a talent contest to it ?
The Blue Mosque is easy to navigate and slightly less awesome then I imagined but i may have possibly build up wild expectations. The queues for the various attraction can be long and in 2019 when we went there were a number of touts disguised as legitimate tourist guides who can provide queue jumping tickets. The primary means they use seems to be to arrive early and buy batches of tickets ahead of the tourist hoards. We did go for one of these guides and while the queue jump was a welcome break from the heat the guide's ability was reasonable. But its worth it based on the queue jump solely.
The picture below is of the Hagia Sophia taken from the square between it and the Blue Mosque.
The Grand Bazaar is very close the museum and mosque. The bazaar is a intricate building with a multitude of traders catering to the invading tourist armies. While you can shop to your heart's content, one of the more sedate experiences was to sit and drink tea in the market's cafes and try out the small dishes of food there while everyone rushes around you.
Topkapi Palace
The Topkapi Palace was the main seat of the Ottoman empire and contrasts well with the more western influenced Dolmabache Palace slightly further out along the Bosporus. The palace has a queuing system and is an extensive set of areas to visit. A thorough visit can take time, we spent a few hours at the palace as its was more extensive than the Blue Mosque. The maps and directions are clearly laid out and Islamic design influence is clear to see here. The museum primarily gives you a taste of the Ottoman empire. The photos below capture the grounds and what you can expect to see.
Expect to see interesting designs and gardens, the palace museum can get busy so be ready to negotiate crowds and especially heat at the height of summer.
Beyoglu - the throbbing heart
After spending the day at the palace we spent the evening at one the bars/restaurants in Beyoglu we went to Istanbul 360 for dinner. Safe to say the views are spectacular and the ambience is excellent. We timed it perfectly with the setting sun.
Beyoglu is filled with shops, ice cream booths, baklava cafe's and of course shisha lounges galore. The area has a 24 hour buzz about it being very close to Tahiri Square.
Dolmabache Palace and life in Istanbul
Dolmabache Palace is much more akin to the large building and palaces you see around the rest of Europe. Its located further along the Bosphorous so you'll need to take the train to see it. We saw the palace and combined it with a boat tour along the Bosphorous half way to the Black Sea.
Views from the Bosporus Cruise
There are various cruises along the Bosporus and this was bottom of our list of things to do but we did reach it. The answer to the question was it worth it is 50/50. Its a long couple of hours on the boat and there is not much to do as such you are riding along the water way that geographically separated Europe from Asia. The one thing that was fun was landing on the one of the side in Europe taking a short boat journey across and landing in Asia. The view are interesting and you may spot dolphins and some mega ships.
Galata
We spent our last morning in Galata, after breakfast we pretty much ran down the street catching various means of transport to the tower. The tower is worth a visit if you want view across the city.
Definitely a city worth doing, there are a few other places around Turkey worth doing. But we'll leave that to a future journey.
