We flew up to Istanbul after spending about a month in Fethiye, Turkey. This was one of the last stops before our year of traveling was up and the kids were kind of over traveling by this point. So while Chuck and I were amazed by the various sites around Istanbul, the kids, especially Beckett, weren’t very enamored with the city.
We still managed to have fun while taking in the big ticket sites like Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi, the Grand Bazaar, and the Basilica Cisterns.
We rented an apartment in the Sultanahmet District which is the old city and where the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi, etc. are located. This meant we were walking distance to all those sites and could even hear the Blue Mosque’s calls to prayer from our apartment. The apartment was a true find – 2 bedrooms, room to spread out, and a great location for an amazing price.
View from our apartment:
Walking around was an interesting experience. There were so many stray dogs and cats that we starting having a daily dog and cat count. I think one day we were up to 40 stray cats!
Streets in Sultanahmet:
Fresh squeezed orange juice carts were found all along the streets. Delicious!
A few times we strolled to the waterfront area. This was lined with restaurants and always had a ton of people. We’d also walk across the bridge to the other side. This was almost always lined with lots of fishermen.
Under the bridge is filled with restaurants which we ate at once or twice.
One of the days we went to the famous Spice Bazaar. It was a similar but different experience from the Grand Bazaar.
We spent most of our time in Sultanahmet which is on the European side, so one day we took the ferry over to the Asian side of Istanbul. It was fun to get out on the Bosphorus Strait and visit a different section of town. There was a big protest happening when we arrived, but it remained peaceful. We spent a few hours wandering around, eating pastries, and checking it out before we took the ferry back to Europe.
Straddling Europe and Asia!
Between Europe and Asia
We also caught up with Chuck’s friend Erman for dinner and drinks on this rooftop cafe that had amazing views.
We were lucky enough to catch some sunsets too.
Here are some other pictures from our time in Istanbul:
Chuck photobombing Mara in the Blue Mosque
Turkish Coffee
Dinner
The outside of the Basilica Cisterns