Istanbul, Turkey
Istanbul exceeded our expectations big time, the only disappointment was just spending 4 days there. We went into this location a bit apprehensive as other friends had warned us that the locals were a bit pushy and there has been civil unrest is recent years. However, we found the culture to be warm and welcoming. The open spaces were filled with beautiful parks and flowers. This time of year we saw Tulips every which way.
We arrived the first day after our 10 1/2 hour flight from Singapore and it was a bit cold, but there was plenty of Turkish apple tea and delights to warm us up. A Turkish delight is a gelatin with nuts including pistachio or macadamia nut. Hafzie Mustafa is a very well known historical Turkish treat store founded in 1864 and we ended up spending an hour drinking tea and trying a variety of their treats including Baklava.
Walking around there are lots of street food stands. Our favorite items we tried included the Turkish ice cream which has more of a gummy taste, corn and roasted chestnuts, Simit (bread covered in sesame seeds and filled with cheese, Turkish pizza, Turkish delights, orange juice and pomegranate juice, kebabs, and hummus. So basically everything we ate we enjoyed and we ate a lot.
Our days were packed with activity when we could bring our heads up from eating. Only about 2 blocks from where we stayed was the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque. We took a extensive tour of the Hagia Sophia, but unfortunately the Blue Mosque was closed for renovations till next month getting ready for the busy summer season. Of course we had to do our favorite activity in a new city, the hop-on hop-off bus tour. Tour started in the Old City visiting various attractions then we crossed the Bosporus Strait bridge connecting Europe to Asia and saw all of the sights from afar. The city is much larger than we had expected with 15 million people and nearly 55 miles across, so the bus was a perfect way to get around. When the tour brought us to the Asia side we got off and visited the city square and had traditional Turkish lunch with tea called Cai. We also stopped off at the Egyptian Spice Bazaar. This location seemed to attract more of the local crowds, with tons of spices in addition to meats, cheese, jewelry, soaps and ceramics.
The following day we decided to explore the underground Roman cisterns, two royal Ottoman Palaces and the Grand Bazaar. If you have read about Turkey you have probably read about the Grand Bazaar. It is supposed to be one of the largest indoor shopping markets in the world with over 5,000 shops. Going into we felt like it would be grand, but we found it to be a bit overwhelming as you could get lost very quickly and someone is always trying to lure you into their shop. Other locals warned us that shops inside the Bazaar sell cheap knock-offs from China instead of the quality authentic hand made items from Turkey that we were looking for. Although there was some beautiful rug and art stores, the majority of shops were selling basic souvenirs and knick-knacks.
Going into the city we had heard about the Turkish rugs, but we didn't realize how complex they were and the amount of time required to weave one. We visited the carpet museum to learn how they are made and saw some that were 1500 years old. Some of the smaller items made out of wool would take about 2 months, but the silk rugs could take years and to our surprise cost $6,500 for a bathmat size. After finding out our tastes seemed to be a more than our wallets could produce, but settled on two smaller wool rugs in our price range.
As one last fun fact, apparently it is common to get your hair transplant done in Istanbul. Walking around you could see many men with a bandage around their head and advertisements all over town including at the front desk of our hotel.
We arrived the first day after our 10 1/2 hour flight from Singapore and it was a bit cold, but there was plenty of Turkish apple tea and delights to warm us up. A Turkish delight is a gelatin with nuts including pistachio or macadamia nut. Hafzie Mustafa is a very well known historical Turkish treat store founded in 1864 and we ended up spending an hour drinking tea and trying a variety of their treats including Baklava.
Walking around there are lots of street food stands. Our favorite items we tried included the Turkish ice cream which has more of a gummy taste, corn and roasted chestnuts, Simit (bread covered in sesame seeds and filled with cheese, Turkish pizza, Turkish delights, orange juice and pomegranate juice, kebabs, and hummus. So basically everything we ate we enjoyed and we ate a lot.
Our days were packed with activity when we could bring our heads up from eating. Only about 2 blocks from where we stayed was the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque. We took a extensive tour of the Hagia Sophia, but unfortunately the Blue Mosque was closed for renovations till next month getting ready for the busy summer season. Of course we had to do our favorite activity in a new city, the hop-on hop-off bus tour. Tour started in the Old City visiting various attractions then we crossed the Bosporus Strait bridge connecting Europe to Asia and saw all of the sights from afar. The city is much larger than we had expected with 15 million people and nearly 55 miles across, so the bus was a perfect way to get around. When the tour brought us to the Asia side we got off and visited the city square and had traditional Turkish lunch with tea called Cai. We also stopped off at the Egyptian Spice Bazaar. This location seemed to attract more of the local crowds, with tons of spices in addition to meats, cheese, jewelry, soaps and ceramics.
The following day we decided to explore the underground Roman cisterns, two royal Ottoman Palaces and the Grand Bazaar. If you have read about Turkey you have probably read about the Grand Bazaar. It is supposed to be one of the largest indoor shopping markets in the world with over 5,000 shops. Going into we felt like it would be grand, but we found it to be a bit overwhelming as you could get lost very quickly and someone is always trying to lure you into their shop. Other locals warned us that shops inside the Bazaar sell cheap knock-offs from China instead of the quality authentic hand made items from Turkey that we were looking for. Although there was some beautiful rug and art stores, the majority of shops were selling basic souvenirs and knick-knacks.
Going into the city we had heard about the Turkish rugs, but we didn't realize how complex they were and the amount of time required to weave one. We visited the carpet museum to learn how they are made and saw some that were 1500 years old. Some of the smaller items made out of wool would take about 2 months, but the silk rugs could take years and to our surprise cost $6,500 for a bathmat size. After finding out our tastes seemed to be a more than our wallets could produce, but settled on two smaller wool rugs in our price range.
As one last fun fact, apparently it is common to get your hair transplant done in Istanbul. Walking around you could see many men with a bandage around their head and advertisements all over town including at the front desk of our hotel.
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