Istanbul (not Constantinople)

Istanbul'a hos geldiniz! (Welcome to Istanbul)

In April we met Tara & Cody in Istanbul, Turkey to celebrate their 5yr wedding anniversary & Tara's 30th birthday! We were drawn to Istanbul after reading Dan Brown's Inferno which was a main setting in that exciting book (definitely worth a read if you haven't already!).  

One of my favorite things about Turkey was the food...I absolutely love Mediterranean food and had my fill of tabbouleh, dolmas, and all sorts of other yummy dishes.  Of course Lloyd's favorite food was the kebabs (not kebob),he had about 2 per meal and was a very happy man for the duration of the trip.  

Dolmas & tabbouleh salad

Another notable excursion was the trip to the Grand Bazaar, one of the largest markets in Istanbul, and one of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world boasting 400,000 visitors per day. Amazingly, the Grand Bazaar was originally constructed in 1455/56, shortly after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople.   Sutan Mehmet II had a large building constructed to facilitate the trading of textiles and today spans 61 streets and contains 3,000 stores.  

Lloyd photobomb in the market 

Fresh, aromatic teas at one stall 

One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to a restaurant near our apartments, recommended by the local owner.  We were the only Americans/British in the place and had to just point to what we wanted to eat on the menu and the food was cooked in front of us at a long, rectangular charcoal grill.  The kebabs were meaty & juicy, the salads were fresh and we even tried 'raki', grape brandy flavoured by anise (mom would call it 'rocket fuel!').  The meal was amazing, the locals warm and friendly and only a short walk back to our apartments.  

şerefe! 

Istanbul was such an interesting city, with a mix of Christian & Muslim architecture dotted around.  The mosques were really exotic-looking, and the craftsmanship of the mosaics & gold leaf work were really top notch. 

 In front of the Blue Mosque 

Still lovebirds after 5yrs

Istanbul at sunset

The bridges across the Bosphorous River were hubs of activity with lots of fishermen, seagulls, pedestrians, vendors selling fresh fish sandwiches, the atmosphere was electric and vibrant.  I was advised to avoid stepping in the puddles - rather than leave their poles to urinate, they would simply walk a few steps to the other side of the walkway and relieve themselves right there!!  So besides that the bridges were lovely, interesting places.  

The high street close to our apartment.  There were riots on this street the day after we left over the price of football tix!

One of the days of the trip we scheduled a bike tour.  Despite my friend's urging that no one rides bikes in Istanbul, we insisted that it was one of the best ways to see the city.  It turned out that the bike tour was one of the highlights of the trip!  We saw so many different parts of the city and even got to experience an Istanbul traffic jam.  

Part of our bike path along the sea, look at all the different types of fish on offer at the restaurant!

The Blue Mosque 

Bike tour crew in front of the Blue Mosque 

Best friends since the early days! :) 

Camera war

In front of Hagia Sofia mosque 

Amazing mosaic work on the ceilings 

One of our favourite excursions was a trip through Gulhane Park, a large expansive Urban Park dating back to the early 1800's located near the Topkapi Palace.  The gardens were lush and filled with flowers and we enjoyed strolling through and taking lots of pictures.   

One night of the trip we had a fancy dinner planned at a rooftop restaurant overlooking the Bosphorus and got to see a gorgeous sunset.  The views were the stunning and the food (and entertainment!) was great.

We spent one of the last days at the Hagia Sophia, A former Greek Orthodox patriarchal basillica, later an imperial mosque, and now a museum.  Constructed in 537 it was an Eastern Orthodox church until 1261 when it was converted to a Roman Cathedral under the Latin Empire.  Then it was a mosque for the next 500 years until it was secularised and reopened as a museum.  It was fascinating to see Christian art intermixed (or sometimes painted right over!) Muslim art & architecture.  

Gorgeous gold leaf work 

Another day of the trip we took a relaxing boat ride along the Bosphorus and along the coast of the city, in the Sea of Marmara.  The boat was pretty packed so we couldn't wander around and give up our seats, but it was a nice windy day and we enjoyed the rest as we were on our feet walking around the whole weekend!

We were sad to leave Istanbul and really enjoyed spending time with Tara & Cody...here's hoping it's not too long till  our next adventures together!