After a short delay
we were on our fairly short flight to Istanbul, a destination that had been on
Mike's bucket list for some time.
One metro and a tram
later we were standing in front of the awe-inspiring Aya Sophia. Formerly an
Eastern Orthodox church, then a Mosque and now a museum it was very impressive
as was its neighbour, the Blue Mosque. Our hostel was tucked between the two
and we had a cracking view of Soph from our beds.
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| View from our room |
We started the next
day with a hostel breakfast of tomatoes, cucumber, olives, hard boiled eggs and
simit bread. We set off to see the Aya Sophia up close and personal on the
inside. She was gorgeous.
Up next, the Grand
Bazaar. This covered market houses hundreds of shops and is one of the oldest
markets in the world. Tempting as it was, we didn't buy anything but instead
spent our Lira on a Durum to share. This was a spiced beef mince situation
rolled in pita accompanied with parsley, charred chillies and gherkins to
titivate your roll as you please. Pretty tasty!
Time for lunch #2.
Through steep, narrow, winding streets we found a highly recommended Pide
joint. This is the Turkish version of a wood-fired pizza, rolled up at the
sides to form a little boat of braised meat and cheese. We tried an Ayran to
drink - something between thin yoghurt and buttermilk.
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| Pide |
Off to the Blue
Mosque where we were both lent cloth to cover our lower legs and in my case, my
hair.
After a look through this impressive Mosque, we made our way down to the
spice markets, over the Galata bridge and up to the Galata Tower. We were feeling
a little peckish so found a well known stand selling Içli Köfte. A bulgar wheat
shell housed ground meat, onions, parsley and spices. Delicious.
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| Galata Tower |
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| Galata Bridge |
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| Fishing from Galata bridge. |
We had an inside tip
from a Turkish couple from Istanbul that we met on our boat trip in Milos about
where to get the worlds best baklava. We made the pilgrimage to Karakoy
Gulluoglu and were not disappointed. The pistachio one was heavenly but the
walnut one was divine.
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| Falling in love with baklava... |
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| ...and this view from our hostel. |
By this point we
were starving, so it was on to the final restaurant for a hearty portion of
doner and ishkendar kebap.
Day 2 we made a
beeline for a ceramics shop near to our hostel. Frequented by the like of
Oprah, Bill Clinton (twice) and Russell Crowe we felt we were in good company
and purchased two small handmade bowls.
We then took a turn
around the palace and harem before finding a restaurant that specialised in
Fasulye - beans! Fava beans done really well.
Full of beans we
jumped on a Bosphorus cruise to see the sights from the water.
Last on our
agenda was a Hammam, a traditional Turkish bath where we soaked, sat in a sauna
and were scrubbed and lathered up till we were sparkling clean.
Our final meal in
Istanbul was another recommendation from the local couple and possibly Mike's
favourite. We shared zuchinni fritters, fava bean mash, red pepper and walnut
dip and mince dumplings with yoghurt.
Until next time Turkey!
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