Istanbul, Turkey - Day Zero & Day One

So, things didn't quite turned out as we planned. Plans to head to Croatia for some summer sun were replaced by a late summer trip to Istanbul. I certainly wasn't disappointed!

The Blue Mosque by night

We had a total of four days in Istanbul after finding some bargain flights online with Turkish Airlines (£120 pp return from Gatwick). It turned out that this amount of time was probably about right for us. We perhaps could've had one more day to visit the beautiful Princes' Islands but alas, it wasn't to be.

Day Zero - I'm calling this Day Zero since we only got to the hotel at around 10PM so didn't have much in mind aside from finding somewhere to watch the Liverpool vs Man Utd game! I say 'we', I mean 'me' with my girlfriend Gabi dragged along.

After walking (well, more like jogging) around multiple bars in the Sultanahmet area we eventually found an Irish pub adjoined to the Amisos Hotel which is right next to Gülhane tram stop. This place had all the Premier League matches on so if you find yourself in Istanbul and are looking for somewhere to watch the football I'd recommend it. The only shame is the price of the drinks which were extortionate by Istanbul standards. This visit, we ordered a couple of Diet Cokes which came in at 19TL for the pair. £3 for a can of Coke irked me a bit and this was compounded by a 79TL bottle of wine in another visit later in the week. An Aussie woman at the bar paid just shy of 40TL for a couple of beers so be warned - it's not cheap!

After the match had finished, we wandered back up to the Hotel for a good night's rest before beginning our first proper venture out the next day.

A little on the hotel; we were staying in the excellent Hotel Niles which is located five minutes walk from Beyazit Mosque and the Grand Bazaar, see my TripAdvisor Review of the hotel. Suffice to say, the hotel is lovely with well-appointed rooms in a cracking location. The windows are very close to being sound-proofed so the local calls to prayer at ungodly hours (pardon the ironic blasphemy) didn't affect us like it has in past visits to Muslim nations (Morocco, Egypt and Jordan are the ones that spring to mind as regular early morning wake-up calls). The roof terrace is beautiful with views across the Sea of Marmara.

Hotel Niles

Day One - Perhaps this should be known as "Mosque Day" since we ticked off the four big ones in Istanbul in one day!

The day began with a nice breakfast on the terrace at Hotel Niles. One thing I was really looking forward to on this trip was the food. I didn't expect to be eating some of it for breakfast though! When we visit out local Turkish restaurant, Turkish Delight, in Chorlton, Manchester, we love the meze dishes and usually have about eight of them between us. One of the dished we love are the boreks, which are a kind of spring roll but stuffed with various fillings; cheese, spinach, mincemeat, vegetables, - you name it. I found myself eating Sigara Boreks filled with goat's cheese. Not the usual breakfast fayre for my English pallet but delicious nonetheless. On the side I had some nice chunks of sausage (sucuk, I guessed) in a tomato sauce. A few of these bad boys and I was set for the morning!

When we headed out there was only one destination - the main square with the Hagia Sofia mosque/museum and the opulent six minaret Blue Mosque.

Hagia Sofia (or Aya Sofya as it is known in Turkish) 

Coming down the hill from the hotel Hagia Sofia was the first building we sighted and what a sight it was. I'd read a little about the history of this building and it was brilliant to be able to see it with my own eyes. Directly opposite the Hagia Sofia is the beautiful Blue Mosque. We headed over to here first.

The Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque is a stunner, it completely takes your breath away and apparently is second in splendour to the Grand Mosque in Mecca. I might be wrong but I believe that these are the only two mosques with six minarets.

We wandered over the the Blue Mosque's main courtyard and took in the atmosphere. What we didn't enjoy the look of was the queue to get in which had snaked around the courtyard and I estimated would take nigh on half an hour to navigate. Let's move on, we thought, and so wandered down to see the hustle and bustle of Eminonou ferry station after stopping at the Red River Café and Restaurant for a delicious kofte (meatball) sandwich.

Eminonou is mental. Like, seriously mental. There must be about ten different destinations you can head to from any one of the ferries (and we used a few of them later on in our trip!) but the dominating presence over the harbour is the so-called New Mosque. At this point, it's probably worth clarifying that only in Istanbul can a building that was completed in 1665 be considered 'new'. Anyways, we wandered up the steps of the mosque and went in. What struck us was how quiet and peaceful the mosque was. There's a massive area for Muslim men to pray, a small section at the back for the ladies (more on this later) and a section between the two for non-believing heathens like us to stand/sit and take in the atmosphere.

New Mosque

I really enjoyed sitting, relaxing and taking the time to sample the atmosphere in the mosque.

Upon leaving the building we noticed a hulking presence in the distance - Suleymaniye Mosque sitting on a hill overlooking the city. We tightened our shoe laces and set off on a quest to find it.

On the way we stumbled across the Spice Bazaar and picked up some Iranian saffron (saffron rice- delicious with a curry), sweet paprika (a gift for somebody) and some cinnamon sticks (home-made mulled wine at Christmas, baby!)

Eventually, after wandering through a busy shopping district (and picking up a knock-off Galatasaray shirt) we reached the Mosque. Again, I took copious snaps of the exterior and interior and we took some time to chill out and soak up the atmosphere indoors whilst perusing Lonely Planet and deciding where to go next. I'd probably say that this was my favourite of the four we visited this day.

Suleymaniye Mosque

A little tip - it seems that every Mosque in Istanbul has toilet facilities available for a small fee. If you're caught short and have got to go (it happens to all of us!) then the nearest mosque is probably your best bet.

We wandered back towards the hubbub of Sultanahmet and bought a couple of tickets to see the Basilica Cistern. This is an underwater cavern which was used to house fresh water for the Basilica on the surface. It was covered up and forgotten about for years until it was "rediscovered", renovated and opened to the public.

Cistern

It's a stunning place, the ceiling is supported by over 300 columns and is eerily lit - adding to the atmosphere. Well worth the 10TL admission fee. 

Our final visit for the day was Hagia Sofia. After paying the expensive entrance fee (I think it worked out at about £8 pp) we had a wander around the interior (both levels) and I snapped a few shots, some of which turned out very well.

Hagia Sofia

It's an impressive building, without doubt, but I think we were a little underwhelmed with the interior of the Hagia Sofia given;

a. The entrance fee;

b. The comparison to Suleymaniye Mosque and New Mosque which were both free and;

c. The fact that half of the interior was covered in scaffolding for restoration.

I suppose I can't blame anyone for the third of the points given that if these places aren't regularly looked after then they will crumble but still, it was a shame.

We headed back up to the surface and began trekking back to the hotel, our feet well and truly aching at this point.

After a shower and a change, we jumped on the tram and headed off to the Beyoglu district which was supposed to be a nice area for a meal and a few drinks afterwards. We wandered around trying to find a restaurant I'd heard good things about - Babel Cafe but, despite our best efforts we just couldn't find it. Shame really as, from the reviews, it looks like a great place. Instead we found a bar/restaurant that sold kebabs which was absolutely heaving. Following the logic that a place this busy must serve good food we found ourselves a table and I ordered a mixed kebab whilst Gabi had a lamb one. Both were absolutely excellent and a good indicator for the standard of food we were going to experience for the rest of the holiday. Sadly, despite scouring Google Maps and TripAdvisor I can't seem to find the name of the place.

After the meal, we walked over to the coast and shared a bottle of wine at a bar called Unter. The place was nicely decorated and the Turkish wine we had was delicious. I think it cost around 80TL.

We caught a tram back to the hotel and went to bed, exhausted from the day's exploring. Tomorrow would be a new day and we were planning on catching a ferry to Kadikoy.