The Istanbul Tourist Trail

Iznik city! The Harem of Topaki Palace was covered in gorgeous tiles.

While Topkapı was pretty crowded and hard to push through, it had its moments. While they proved useful otherwise, the museum passes we had purchased ended up being kind of useless as far as cutting a line here was concerned, and we ended in the middle of a huge pack of people pushing to get to the security checkpoint. It wouldn't have been too bad if they would have provided a little shade while you were waiting. I perhaps wouldn't recommend visting in July or August. It must be brutal.

They had a good collection of luxe tunics and bejeweled weaponry on display.

It was a huge, sprawling palace, with many lovely views of the Bosporus and quiet courtyards, gardens and fountains to explore. I can't even fathom the sort of history that went on here.

We did have kind of a miserable experience, as the park around it were filled with giant plane trees that were pollinating and shedding these dreadful little spines along with the pollen. Misery city! We were all choking and snotting and itching as the little spines made their way into our clothes and throats. Everyone else around us was in the same boat as well, so you just heard coughing and wheezing every time the breeze kicked up.

It became really apparent to me that spending a week in Istanbul was far too little time. I mean, the food alone was worth the trip, and all these other amazing sites to see were just an added bonus. I had a lamb kebap with a smokey eggplant yogurt sauce that I will have to compare all other kebap to for the rest of my life. How depressing is that?

Ever since I first read about the wonders of the Hagia Sophia years ago, I had this insane desire to see it in person. I did not disappoint.

Back when Constantinople was the seat of the holy roman empire, and Rome was given up to barvarians, this was the church to top all other churches. It was built in 536, and was a church for the next thousand years before the Ottomans turned it into a Mosque, and finally it is now a museum.

It was beautiful and gilded and you will get a crick in your neck trying to take it all in.

I loved the floor. It was worn completely smooth with the countless years of footfalls.

This is the pillar where the chariot races used to pivot around:

While a great deal of it was under construction and closed off, it is still worth it to check out all the treasures on display at the Archaeological Museum.

Dolmabahçe Palace was huge and impressive, but you had to wait forever in the hot sun for a mandatory guided tour, in which you couldn't hear a thing the guide was saying and they zipped you through the palace with not time to stop and see the sights. It was huge and gorgeous, the Turkish Versailles, but spoiled by being herded through urgently. Skip it unless you are a glutton for punishment.

I know that since the protest and police brutality of Takism square has tainted the magic a bit, but Istanbul was amazing. I will be returning. It helped to have good friends to explore with and share all the delicious food with.

It was a fantastic adventure.

Cisterns

Deep beneath Sultanhamet, there is a curious site. Well below ground, the byzintine cisterns built by Emperor Justinia still exist. They had actually been forgotten about for ages and re-discovered. Locals who had houses would talk of using buckets on ropes to pull up fresh water from a hole in their basement, and sometimes even fish! They were re-discovered and opened as a tourist attraction, fish and all.

It was lovely, damp and dark down there. A good escape from the heat of midday.

There are two pillars with huge carved medusa visages.

They are mysterious in origin, which basically makes it an ideal tourist trap when you claim things like that. "We have no idea how these got here" and "it's a mystery who put these here and why". Sold!

An all sorts sort of day

A walk through the Edirnekapı neighborhood to get to the Chora church, which just happened to be perched upon a hill.

The neighborhood was pretty run down. I don't know if I'd be walking around here late at night, but it seemed to be quiet during the day.

We stumbled into a few small churches: St. Stephen's Bulgarian:

and a tiny church of St. Mary's. We had to ring a buzzer and have a guardian show us around St Marys, as I don't think they get a lot of visitors.

Both were tiny and kind of hard to find as they were behind high walls, but worth seeking out.

The whole walk up the hill and we didn't see too many tourist, but once we got to the Chora church, it was back to status quo.

The interior of the church is completely plastered with mosaics and frescos of bible scenes, most of which have been beautifully restored. It's fairly off the beaten track and worth seeking out. You will be a bit dizzy and sore from craning your neck skywards for such a long period of time. Or be clever and bring a mirror so you won't have to!

Afterwards, a really lovely lunch next door at a place that specialized in old ottoman recipes, and then a walk along the old city walls to the Golden Horn ferry. The area around the wall was pretty run-down, with people living in squats and abandoned lots. I didn't linger.

We headed back to Fatih to the Spice Bazaar. First, we couldn't resist stopping for a lovely meat-infused pide.

And then to stock up on what is reported to be the best Turkish delight in the city.

I'm not a huge fan of the candy to begin with, but I must admit that these were pretty good. They were very fresh-fruit tasting, where you could actually tell that something was strawberry or apricot, and not just food coloring and sugar water flavored.

We wandered the 17th century vaulted ceilings of the Spice Bazaar. Sensory overload! While a great many stalls are devoted to tchokies and designer knockoffs, there are still a great deal of food and spices being dealt. It's pretty inexpensive, so I used the opportunity to stock up on sumac, urfa pepper and nigella seeds.

And then off to Sultanahmet to see the enormous Blue Mosque up close. This is the kind of the cherry on the ice cream cake of mosques in this city. It's enormous, with redwood-tree sized pillars supporting the soaring domes.

We put it off to the next day, but the sublime Haya Sofia loomed close by... And then back to Beyoglu for kepabs with friends. I couldn't get enough kebaps while I was here. I never seem to tire of grilled meat, especially when you get a good variety of meze to kick things off.