Sunday 5 October 2014

Istanbul 2014



My second trip to Istanbul was in September 2014. Even better as I'm no longer travelling solo, as I'm meeting up with my girlfriend Pinky from Hong Kong!
We are spending 3 nights in Istanbul, and then flying to Cappadocia, before returning to Istanbul for a further 3 nights.



I had a good flight with Turkish airlines, and arrived in Istanbul at 17.00. I was quickly through immigration with my new electronic Visa which I arranged before my trip (cost 20$)





 The next stage was a bit more of a struggle. Heavy rain began  to fall as I caught the Havatas bus from Ataturk International  airport to Taksim  square (cost 11TL). The traffic was  horrendous, a combination of rush hour traffic, and the rain  caused major congestion on the roads. The journey took over  an hour and half to reach Taksim.

 There was still torrential rain as I walked from Taksim down  Istiklal caddessi, to Beyoglu, the area which my apartment is  in.

 I got soaked and so did most of my luggage! I was glad to  finally arrive to meet Ayadin the owner of the apartment. It's in  the same building as last year, in an excellent location.  Although this year I've taken a bigger place.

 The apartment is like home from home. Its a fabulous place to  stay and gives you the opportunity to live like a local. Its  furnished with a mixture of Turkish antiques and has a small  balcony over looking the back yard.





I showered and dried off and waited in a local bar for the arrival of Pinky! She arrived late by taxi without her luggage! Aeroflot had managed to leave her suitcase behind in Moscow on her connecting flight, but it was just good to be back together. Fortunately she was reunited with her luggage the following night, thanks to the help of Ayadin and his wife. 


We went out at 10.00 am to exchange some money and get breakfast at a restaurant called Otantik Anadolu Yemekleri. It was a traditional Turkish restaurant with a woman rolling out some dough in the window. We ordered a traditional Turkish breakfast, which was heavy on Cheese and bread! We had a savoury spinach pancake to accompany it. washed down with a cup of Cay. It definitely was filling, and I think bread and cheese will feature quite heavily over the next 9 days!















We had a wander down Istiklal Caddessi, taking in the atmosphere of the busy pedestrianised street (apart from the vintage nostalgic tram). The sweet foods that were in the shop windows looked amazing, and  beautifully presented.

We went to a shop that sells Turkish delights and traditional Turkish tea and coffee, and enjoyed a cup as a free sample!




We have arranged with the Manager of our second Istanbul apartment in Tophane, close by to Beyoglu to rent a Pocket Wifi device for the next 7 days. The router allows you unlimited wifi data and you can connect up to 10 devices to it. It costs 26 Euros for up to 10 days to hire.







We found the apartment okay, and after a few problems to start with, we were fully connected within a couple of hours. It worked well, and provided good coverage for both Istanbul and Cappadocia. 

I then bought an Istanbul kart  for us to share. (cost 6TL plus 20TL credit). It allows you discounted travel on the network of trams, buses and ferries throughout Istanbul.

We caught the tram from Tophane across the Galata Bridge to Sultanahmet, to where the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia are located.






The buildings around here were as stunning as I remember them to be last year. Beautiful looking domes and minarets.

 It's Pinky's first time in Turkey so I'm quite enjoying my time as her personal guide!















 We went to the sights I visited last year, but it  was good to have some special company this  year to share it with.

 Hagia Sophia really is a  truly beautiful building  and well worth a second visit















  We went onto the Grand Bazaar for some retail  therapy. I've caught the shopping bug off Pinky  and made  a few purchases myself.

 It was late in  the  afternoon, so it wasn't too crowded and  quite  easy to get around, although just as easy  to get  lost!

 We stopped off at one of the cafes inside for a  tea and coffee, for a spot of people watching.

 It was raining quite heavily outside now as we  made our way out of one of the many exits, so we walked under the covers of the awnings that lined the streets. We headed down the hill back towards Eminonu, the area near Galata bridge. We spotted a small cafe selling spicy chicken snacks on the way, so stopped to share some wings, drumsticks and rice before carrying on in the rain.





We reached the open space by the New mosque and took refuge inside the beautiful building. The New Mosque is not actually that new as it was completed in 1665, and in my opinion is a close rival to the bigger Blue Mosque, but without the crowds. We were able to walk straight in there to admire the detailed work on its interior and to watch the men pray in its peaceful surroundings.







Next to the entrance of the New mosque is the Spice Bazaar, which sells a variety of spices, Turkish delights and other traditional Turkish goods.








We had covered a lot of ground, and although the weather hadn't been great we had made the most of the day. We took the tram back to Tophane and walked back up the hill to our apartment in Beyoglu.  We were both pretty tired, but we had a couple of glasses of wine at a bar next to the apartment, and planned our next day whilst waiting to be reunited with pinky's missing luggage!

  The following day we were up and out by 10.30  in search of breakfast. We found a great locals  place on Istiklal Caddessi. We ordered a couple  of savoury meat filled pastries and a sweet  pastry square that was chopped up into small  pieces for us. It tasted amazing, one of our best  meals so far, and cheap too. 12TL for 2  including tea and coffee.



After breakfast we carried on down Istiklal Caddessi towards the Gallata tower. This area is great to explore and spot the brilliant street art around the buildings. 

















The Gallata area is full of funky gift shops and small cafes, very hip and one of my favourite areas on the European side of Istanbul.














We finally reached Karikoy at the bottom of the hill and then took the tram back to Sultanahmet. We visited the magnificent Basilica Cistern under the streets of Istanbul.




By the time we reached the surface the grey clouds had lifted and at last we saw a bit of blue! 












We got back to our apartment at about 18.30 and freshened up before going out for a meal. We found the same restaurant I dined at last year down the busy Nevizade Sovak and sat on the rooftop terrace. We were initially served by a friendly waiter who showed us a tray of Mezzes that we could order to start with. We chose some spicy rice patties and some yoghurt salad. 

The service afterwards went rapidly downhill, as the most miserable and rude waiter took over. He was that bad it was comical as he plonked the food down, whilst mumbling away to himself. He was definately in the wrong job! A Shame really  beacuse the Mezzes and the Mixed Grill we had, tasted good.




We had a drink at a bar high up in one of the buildings on Istiklal Caddessi and then a couple more in a good bar down by our apartment. The road next to our appartment called Cezayir Sovak is a great street full of bars and restaurants in a great setting. There was live music playing and the atmosphere was good.

The next day we packed and checked out. We left our bags with Ayadin, so we could make the most of our time before we needed to get to the airport for our flight to Cappadocia, later in the evening. We checked out the local cafes and antique shops in the quiet chilled out area, around Beyogolu and Galatasaray. We chose a selection of sweets and pastries for breakfast, which tasted very good with a coffee. 















After breakfast we wandered down Defterdar Yokusu back towards Tophane tram stop. There were some good view points along the way towards Galata tower and the mosques across the Golden Horn.







We took the tram from Tophane to Eminonu and took in the atmosphere of the street food cafes on the waterfront. It was nice to see this area under blue skies and sun, rather than the previous days clouds and rain. We walked back across the bridge to Kalikoy to have walk around the market next to the ferry port. There were plenty of stalls selling cooked fresh fish, so we had a delicious portion of Calamari and salad to keep us going.

























After a coffee near to our apartment it was time to collect our luggage and walk towards Taksim Square to catch our bus to the airport.










We arrived in plenty of time at Sabiha Glokcen airport to catch our Pegasus flight to Cappadocia - the next part of our travels was about to begin .................



Cappadocia blog here



We arrived back after 10.00pm and caught the Havatas bus back to Taksim. It was a 25 minute walk to our new appartment in Tophane, via a Kebap stall on the perimeter of Taksim Square. 


We found the appartment okay and finally hit the bed at about 02.00. This apartment is in a good location near to Tophane tram stop, so is ideally situated to get around Istanbul. Its a lot more modern than our previous place, but not as charming. It was still clean and comfortable though and good value at 50 euros a night. 


We slept quite well, and were out and about looking for breakfast by 10.00. We wandered down a street across the road from the Tophane tram stop and found a Turkish canteen serving sweets and pastries and tea. We had two dishes, one with cheese and one with meat, both equally disgusting! Our first bad meal of our stay, but it only came to 18 TL, so no major damage done. 






After breakfast we carried on walking through Tophane and onto Karikoy. We have planned to take the ferry across the Bosphorus to the Asian side of Istanbul to an area called Kadikoy. The ferries run from Karikoy every 20 minutes and you can use your Istanbulkart as payment. It took about 30 minutes to cross the Bosphorus to reach Kadikoy.





Kadikoy is a vibrant area of Asian Istanbul, full of life. There are lots of cafes, restaurants, bars and shops to keep you busy for a day. Its a place i'd choose to live in, if I was to have an apartment in Istanbul. A great place with a great atmosphere.








  The market was full of fresh vegetables and fish, and some of the shops sold great street food.  The Mucver below was great and only cost  1.5TL.




We carried on walking around taking in all the sights. There is some great street art dotted around the side roads. We ended up in a bar called Bilardo cafe. I had a couple of large glasses of efes beer and Pinky had a Gin and Tonic. The worlds strongest G&T! I think it was 3/4 Gin to 1/4 Tonic.

We made the mistake of hitting the shops after our drinks, and got carried away buying Turkish delights, Turkish Tea, Turkish Tea spoons, several evil eyes and I bought two Turkish towels - Hammam style! All cheap and good fun though.





















We started to feel hungry and spotted a street cafe that was full, in the centre of the market. We grabbed a couple of seats and ordered a famous Turkish dish called Lamacun. This is a thin crispy pizza type dish, served with tomatos and minced lamb. You squeeze lemon juice on to it, add some fresh Parsley and then roll it up like a wrap. Delicious. 2 spicy soups and 2 Lamacuns only came to 10 TL. Fantastic local food and great value.




We bought some roast chicken and some beers  from a local shop, to bring back to our apartment for supper, and then headed back to Kadikoy ferry port to catch the ferry.





The ferry passed the magnificent and now defunct Istanbul railway station, and then crossed the Bosphorus back to Europe as the sunset lit up the sky. It had been a great day, and  Kadikoy was definitely one of our favourite areas of Istanbul.














Our last full day had arrived, and we were out by 10.00 and caught the tram from Tophane to Eminonu. we are going on a DIY boat tour along the Bosphorus. Something I had wanted to do last year, but the May Day riots prevented that!

The public ferry (15TL one way or 25TL return) left Eminonu and set off down the Bosphorus, heading towards the Black sea. we decided to go one way on the ferry and then catch the coastal bus back.








We passed some great buildings along the way, and went under the two big suspension bridges that cross the Bosphorus. The ferry took about 2 hours to reach the port we had decided to get off at.






We had arrived at Sariyer, a small town on the European side of the Bosphorus, not quite the last stop of the ferry, but not far from the Black Sea. It seemed to be a nice quiet fishing town, with some nice restaurants and cafes.














We settled for a cafe, that served some excellent pastries and snacks, to chillout for a while with a coffee. The mosques wail was our soundtrack to our brunch.










We caught the 25E bus out of Sariyer. The route was scenic along the banks of the Bosphorus passing through several villages along the way.

We got off the bus at a Marina in a town called Emirgan. We had a walk around, and bought a coffee and beer to have sitting on the harbour wall. Good chillout times.











Next stop on the bus was to Rumeli Hisan. This is a fortress situated on a hill next to the Bosphorus. It was build by Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II between 1451 and 1452. It has been well preserved, but it was a pity you are not allowed to climb the fortress walls and castle towers to take in the full view.










We caught the 40 bus back from Rumeli Hisan back to Taksim passing through the Besiktas quater. This looked a good area to explore if we had more time.

We arrived back at Taksim Square and walked back down Istiklal Caddessi stopping off to pick up a takeaway selection of meats and rices and some wine to have back at our appartment.

We had another good day out, and another time I might do a similar tour coming back along the Asian side by bus.




Our time in Istanbul was now over, another great trip, and our time together in Cappadocia had been fantastic. Our next meeting is scheduled for November in Malaysia - blog to follow!

My other travel blogs........Please Click on links below!

Taj Mahal Blog

India by Rail. South India

India by Rail. North India

Central Euro Rail

Cappadocia

Baltic States

Thailand

Hong Kong

Croatia

#Microadventure

Nimes

London




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