Istanbul, Turkey
Posted on October 27, 2023 • 27 minutes • 5569 words
There is so much to say about Istanbul, but overwhelming in every sense of the word is what comes to mind. Overall, it was totally an exhausting weekend and we were so done with the crowds, people pestering you to look in their shop, lack of places to walk safely (sidewalks were a joke) and worrying about losing a kid or having them hit by a car. The city seemed to go on forever and we didn’t even see that much! I told Dan, if we could do it again AND we had a lot more time in Turkey, we would have done 1 on 1 trips with the 2 older kids. The one-day Ben and I went out alone for an hour, solidified this idea. You could kinda walk holding one kid’s hand. I wasn’t always looking for a kid or asking Dan if he had “insert kid’s name" here. Sure it didn’t help that we were here on the 100th anniversary of Turkey being a republic, but I think the crowds were just as bad Monday after the holiday.
Even when you feel totally prepared, it’s just one train ride and only 2 pieces of luggage, travel days seem to get us in the end. We headed out in the morning with plenty of time, not knowing how long it would take to get a taxi, and were feeling good when we got to the train station 50 minutes before our train left. Some walking around and continually checking when we could go down to our platform, and the time flew by. Unlike any other train station we have been to yet on this trip, this one you had pass through security to enter the station, then you show ID to pass onto the platform for your pre-purchased train. Nice you don’t need to show the ticket, but it felt like one extra way the government could keep tabs.
We had a table for 4 of us and an extra seat across the aisle. We ended up having enough space, that we sat 3 in 2 chairs as Max and I colored and Dan read for the first bit, once we were done looking out the window as we left Ankara. It was a bit of a struggle, but Ben and Sam got some school work done. Probably not the best idea looking back with all the distractions of people and sights, but we tried.
A guy sitting across the aisle was so friendly and chatted with us for about 45 minutes. He teaches English, loves it he says, and was quite keen to chat with the kids too. When he got off, we ended up chatting with another super friendly guy. The kids took to him and were asking to be the one who got to sit next to him…in our seat across the aisle. Max got to the most and even wanted to read books to him. They face-timed with his girlfriend and he just listened to Max being Max.
Sam drew with him and played rock paper scissors. Sam ended up gifting him the drawing he did and in a sweet gesture, Sam’s new friend gave him a pen to remember him by. Random kind people make my day!
Arrived on time, so far so good. We found a taxi pretty easily; one that had backwards seats that the kids thought was just TOO cool.
As we were getting close to our place turned off to the small streets, it became a total gridlock. The streets weren’t big enough for 2 cars, yet there was no indication which way they went. We didn’t move for minutes at a time, then we backed up, then we waited, over and over. We finally got out, overpaid the driver so he could get out of the mess and walked the last 1.6km over crowded cobblestone sidewalks that were constantly blocked by something and we had to go into the street. Back on sidewalk, back into the street…you get the idea…and with our luggage. Saw this gem though.
We finally made it to our place after about 25minutes of walking, which was 100% faster than car could have made it. Great place, but man were we excited to get out and see! We headed towards the bazaar and everywhere you looked there was something to see! An old tower, ruins, a beautiful mosque (not even in the Lonely Planet). Kids were hungry so we grabbed some fresh squeezed pomegranate and orange juice on the walk. A bit stressful as the streets were just packed to the gills with vendors, pedestrians, carts.
We eventually got to a non-car area and that helped with walking ability. Saw this very old and tall column. Thanks to the wide angle to Dan’s camera (to get the whole thing in), we all look super tall and stretched out. The smiles are our face are so genuine…we were so happy to be walking around.
Continued walking to the Grand Bazaar and got a glimpse of the Hagia Sofia. Really any direction you looked, you saw something cool in the area we were in.
We got in the bazaar and it was a site! The rows of shops seemed to go on forever, or we were just being turned in circles that we could never find the exit. The ceilings were either painted or exposed wood beams. Turkish flags and banners everywhere. And as I said before, it went on forever, in EVERY direction!
Walked past a water fountain, that would end up being a meeting point for us later. Have I mentioned how much I love public water fountains?
We found a small courtyard in the back where food was being served. (Inside was all shops and some small cafes, but we needed food). Okay food, but it didn’t matter as we were all quite hungry.
With full tummies, we went back in and did a bit of Christmas shopping. We didn’t last long as it’s, as I said before, overwhelming. Back for a normal bedtime before the next day where we wanted to see a lot.
There really is just too much to see in this city, so we figured we start with a couple of the main sights. We had been talking about the Hagia Sofia for quite a while, so that was our first destination. With no food in the house, we stopped at a cafe for coffee and pastries.
We walked up, taking it all in and then realized things were looking a little different than we had expected. Looked a bit newer, different colors too.
Then we had a lightbulb moment…we were at the Blue Mosque! They are both so big and we weren’t totally playing attention to where we were going, we just walked to the biggest mosque we could see. The even bigger Hagia Sofia was on the other side of the central area we were. Maybe we shouldn’t have followed our trusty tour guide. :) My kids love maps and that makes me so happy.
With no rush, we sat down in the courtyard of the Blue Mosque and had the kids get out their field notes to write and/or draw about where we were and what we were seeing. It is so impressive to see and so much to take in. I wish so much I could read their minds and really know what they are thinking.
I walked around a bit and took some photos. I LOVE the architecture of mosques. I love the arches, the domes, the geometric designs, the LACK of paintings of people. The repeated arches and domes are so visually appealing to me that I could stare up for hours. Maybe just lay down and look up actually to save my neck.
Seriously, so beautiful and it seemed to exude peacefulness. Even the kids were chill as we were all sitting there.
Dan walked around to see about the line to get in. He reported back that there was a line, but not too bad. By the time we put the field notes away and walked to the entrance, all of 3 minutes, a GIANT tour group had showed up and now the line was quite long. It moved shockingly fast, really just a clothing check and a quick metal detector. And there was a cool tree for us to look at while we waited.
No words can describe the feeling you have when you walk in and are surrounded by the vastness of it all! The colors, the symmetry, the shapes, everything. Beautiful and amazing don’t even begin to describe it.
And the fact that there are no paintings of bloodied bodies on crosses or any of the millions of paintings we have seen in churches and cathedrals, well it makes it a much more peaceful experience for me. I have walked into too many churches in the last few months and been totally turned off at some of the sights inside. Some too vivid, too bright, too disturbing. But here, just geometric beauty and I love it. Maybe it’s because I’m an engineer or because I don’t believe in God, but whatever it is, it works for me.
About half of the place is roped off for prayer, including the center part where a huge circular chandelier (I think it would still be called this), with numerous circles of lights hanging down from way up high.
Kids had been so quiet and we weren’t going to push our luck…and more and more people seemed to keep coming in than were going out. So we grabbed our shoes, frantically reminded kids to not even step an inch on the carpet with them on and headed to a restaurant for a bigger breakfast.
It was a cafe on top with a shop below, so I took some time to look at the towels and robes. Not wanting to travel with stuff for us, I was really looking for family and friends. I got my sister, Erin, a tea towel. She loves having them from different places.
Food was great. We got a kahvalti for 2 and a couple additional dishes. Mine came with accordion cheese!
The area we were walking around had a few of the big main sites, but also everywhere you looked, there was something else to see. My parents came to Turkey about 8 years ago and my Dad said their tour guide told them that there are more Roman Ruins in Turkey than Rome, more Greek ruins in Turkey than Greece. It sounded hard to believe, but I’m kind of understanding that quote a bit more. Maybe not 100% true, but from what we’ve seem around Turkey and now in Istanbul, I get it.
We found the Hagia Sofia and the line was SO long and not moving. With so much else to see, we opted to save that for another day and go to the Basilica Cistern. Quick to get through the line and we were heading down stairs to below everything going on above. It was HUGE and you had no idea how far this thing stretched when just looking at the entrance above. None of my photos show the vastness of it.
Our guide book had told us there were 336 columns supporting the roof above and we were about to fact check them. Always keen to turn anything into a math problem, I asked the kids how we could figure out how many columns there were. Sam was quick with the ‘count them!’ and Ben knew the way to save us a lot of time. The width was easy…12 columns. I was trying to count ahead to see if this was going to work, but it was hard, as looking down the space, you could lose track quickly. We walked and counted. It was a really cool space. The ceiling was, of course, one of my favorite parts. In some spots, the columns were clearly ‘borrowing’ chunks from previous ruins. I guess scavenging is easier then carving out a massive column.
We made it to the end and had counted 28 rows of columns. Ben did some math in his head and 336! I love it when it works out so perfectly. As I once told a couple mean girls in Buenos Aires ‘Me encantan las matematicas!. Also at the end, we found Medusa’s head, just chilling on it’s side.
Example of ‘borrowed’ piece for the columns.
We had done the loop through and with no kids having yet fallen in, I was happy to leave. We were back up at street level and one thing I will never get sick of in this country are the amazing window displays. Obviously the kids loved them too, but probably for different reasons.
We had hit 2 big sights with super listening kids, so to either celebrate or keep the streak going, we headed to a park. There was this fountain that rotated to make it look like the water was a turning page.
The park was massive and even though the kids were drawn to the playground, there was a lot else to see, like this green wall that had ‘screen’ that played words by changing the rate of water dropping from above. Super cool.
Anytime we can get a moment together is greatly appreciated it. Kids did their thing, but for some reason were really into playing restaurant…taking our order and bringing us our ‘food’ back.
My food.
Yet another example of a cool public water fountain.
We finished up at the park and started our walk out to the water, thinking we’d do a little loop or enter the palace from the back side. Neither of these 2 things happened, but Max found a friend.
On the backside of the palace walls and walked up a cobble stone path. More like jagged stone path, according to the kids.
Down at the water, there was a cool monument to the 100 years of Turkey’s republic. The city was fully decorated for the 100 year celebration, literally tomorrow!
No idea what Dan was pointing at, but kids were enthralled and the water was such a deep shade of blue.
We thought it would be fun to walk along the water for a bit. It was fun for a while, but that ended. Great views of the back of the castle but zero entrances to anything. We were stuck on the path, no snacks, it was getting hot and no way off the path.
The water views never ended, but weren’t as well as could be enjoyed with exhausted and whining kids…just 2.
We finally found a street off the road we were on and Dan goes into ‘search for a restaurant’ mode immediately. I was getting grumpy listening to the kids, but Dan said he found a great one a 5 minute walk. A bit annoyed walking past a few, but it was truly a magical place for lunch. We were seated at a table under trees off the side of the road. Kids saw orange and pomegranate juices being served to another table, so we ordered those right away. All whining and exhaustion went away as they got to watch their juice be squeezed.
And happiness for all at our cute little table!
With starving kids and parents we ordered a lot and ate a lot!
Ben went with the fried fish, although he was a bit hesitant. Once he made the decision and it came, he was very happy with his choice.
Barely surviving the last few hours, we headed back to our place to regroup. Ben had been on a search for a treasure box for months now and I told him he and I could go to the bazaar alone…where else to find the perfect one?
I swear we looked at every single wooden or bone box in that whole place and didn’t find one he wanted. One didn’t have the right clasp, the one with the right clasp didn’t have the right top, the one with the right top had a weird inside. When I thought we finally found one he was going to say yes to, he decided against it. As we walked out of the shop and I asked why he didn’t like that one, he admitted that he’s having so much fun looking for one and that would all end if he picked one. haha So our quest will continue, most likely until the week before we fly back to the US.
With lunch being so big and so late, we really didn’t need dinner. I grabbed a couple donor wraps and we ate those with some cut up veggies and fruit and had a chill night.
The next morning was Dan’s birthday and with Sam’s help (or so he thinks) we planned a Turkish lamp making class. Unfortunately, Dan woke up super sick. With heavy hearts (or not the kids) we said bye to Dan and walked to meet our guide for the class. Like I said before, the decorations for the 100 year celebration were huge. This building was wrapped in red stripes.
We got Mom a coffee, kids some fruit cups from a fruit stand and all of us some pastries. We then found our guide and took the subway under the Bosphorus Straight to the shop…our only time on the Asian side of Istanbul. It was a workshop that was connected to a coffee shop, which was closed today for the holiday. Clever name. I found out you could also do Turkish coffee workshops here.
It was a huge hit! Easy enough for Max or you could pick a complicated design if you wanted.
We were given sheets with printed out designs were you would arrange the tiles and then from there you would transfer them one by one to the glass that had epoxy on it. Meticulous Ben at work.
And Sam in his element. He has been talking about this almost daily since we booked it a month ago. He was so excited to surprise Dan with this for his birthday. It really sucked Dan couldn’t join, but I spun it as we’ll make one for Dad and that will be his present, as I clearly had nothing else for him.
4 happy artists at work.
As we waited for them to dry, Max found another cat.
Bummer we picked it on this day, because having the coffee shop open in the back would have been delightful. But with it closed, that worked too as the kids had free reign with the cats back there.
3 of the 4 final products, that we planned to ship to grandparents for Christmas presents, with the 4th being for Dan.
Not really part of the day, but I have no idea why Max loves to squish himself on the toilet seat. Every time he puts the back part down, so he’s ’trapped’. Yuck and ugh.
We got them all wrapped up and our guide took us to the water to help us catch a ferry to a dock near the Galata bridge I wanted to walk over. Not wanting to over book ourselves, we didn’t do a boat cruise that I had contemplated. For the kids, this 10 minute ride across the straight was just as cool.
Who needs seats when you can stand at the edge and let the wind try to blow your face away?
Disembarked and walked along the water to the bridge…the one you can see in the background.
We got there and I realized ALL the restaurants were tourist traps. Like really bad. Kids of course saw them and were so excited to eat on a bridge. Knowing they were hungry, it probably was the right choice, but I regretted it right away. I ordered an espresso cappuccino and when I tasted it, it was terrible. I asked if it was actually espresso and the guy fumbled a bit. When I asked if it was dried coffee with water added, he said yes. He said he’d bring me another one. This time I heard the espresso machine. Was better, but not great. Why they would serve a crappy instant one when they have the machine was beyond me. Kids split a bad pizza, but they were so happy. We sat right on the water and you could see the fishing lines from above in the water. It’s on of those times you need to repeat over and over again ‘It’s not all about me. It’s not all about me.’
Happy Sam and Mom.
Since we were in this area, I thought we could check out the Galata Tower. We walked back the way we came on the bridge and then walked up and up and up, only to stop in a shop for me to get a new wallet.
When we got to the tower, the line was SO long and didn’t appear to be moving at a good rate. We checked in with Dan, who was feeling like he could meet up. So we walked down from the tower hill and as we got to the main road, a bunch of VW bugs decked out, with people hanging out them, singing and honking. I missed a photo of that, but here’s us walking. Kinda the same chaos I guess.
We walked back over the bridge towards Dan. So many fishermen on the top deck and a few that let the kids look in their buckets at the fish. One guy even picked one up for them to get a very close look at.
They were so happy as we walked down the bridge, although it was so crowded and I was a bit nervous. SO many people. Max got handed a Turkish flag by a guy passing them out, which Max waved a little too enthusiastically at times. Everyone seemed to be celebrating in one way or another.
We planned to meet Dan at the Yemi Cami Mosque. It was huge and not hard to find as we came off the bridge.
As we were walking up, we heard the call to prayer, so I knew we wouldn’t be able to go in for a while. There was a guy selling bird seed outside and I figured it would keep the kids busy for a bit. Lasted much longer for some than others. Max basically dumped his out for one bird and Ben and Sam were doing a grain at a time.
I had a total panic when I couldn’t find Max for 10 seconds. Probably actually 2 seconds, if that, but it felt like forever. There were so many kids running around with the gross birds and I just lost him. He was basically just standing behind a large kid. Dan showed up a minute later and came up from behind to scare me. I almost screamed and felt a full rush of panic until I realized it was him. Then pretty much grabbed the kids, told them to finish up and we were out of there.
I was hitting my limit with the overload of people. I did want to go in the mosque, so Dan suggested we walk around a bit…death grip on Max. It was a good idea, but just couldn’t get away from people.
We walked around a bit, enough to have the prayer time over. We went in and had some much needed contrast to the craziness outside.
Kids, not knowing why people pray, started coping the men. We didn’t realize it at first, but when we did, we didn’t want to be disrespectful, so we got them up to leave. I get it though, to them that is no different than copying me when I do yoga in the house. We have tried to explain religion to them, but honestly have focused those conversations more towards Ben.
As we were walking out, there was a wall of blue tiles. I’m always a sucker for blue tiles like this.
Lunch wasn’t big, and it was probably 2 hours ago. We stepped up our simit game and got simit with nutella…basically the simit is cut in half, dare I say ’like a bagel’ and nutella is smeared on one side, then squished back together.
We started back towards our place as Dan wasn’t feeling great again. I have no idea why, well I do actually, I decided to take the kids to the water to see the parade of ships through the Bosphorus Strait for the 100 year anniversary. Why? I figured if we had to deal with all the extra people here because of the holiday, then we should enjoy the extra things they were doing for the holiday. We parted with Dan and continued through the park, got corn on the way, and to the water’s edge we were at the day before.
It was lovely. Probably the Turkish version of the Blue Angles started it off. That’s a heart.
Then Giant ships, smaller ones and submarines.
We watched for probably close to 2 hours. By then, Dan was feeling better and came back to meet us. By some miracle he found us as cell phones weren’t working and my location basically thought I was on the last ship that passed by.
It was really fun to watch and I found out later there were 100 ships that came through. Not surprising as I counted at least 10 submarines. What to do after was the question. We sat for a bit and waited for some crowds to leave, but there were just too many people. I wanted to stay close so we could come back for the nighttime fireworks show, but we knew any place close would be mobbed. We walked halfway back through the park to a restaurant Dan had found. Not the birthday he had expected, but we all rallied for his birthday dinner.
Kids have fully turned into soup eaters and it’s awesome. We didn’t order it, they just brought it out as a starter.
Another table had ordered a clay pot dish and the waiters let the kids watch up close and Sam to bang it to get the top to come off.
Finished up and walked back to the water to wait for the fireworks show to start.
In addition to the fireworks, there was a show of 2023 drones. We didn’t know exactly when it would start, but we picked a spot and the kids found a friend to run around with. We waited and waited. We talked to people about if they knew when it was supposed to start. We saw a couple fireworks, then nothing. Then more of nothing and we finally had to call it quits. It was late and it had been such a day!
Kids were upset, I was upset! At the time we thought that the winds were to high so they couldn’t continue with the show. Well, we were wrong. We were just not in an area where we could see the show. If you want to see what the show looked like, see here .
The bridge in the background, we were on the other side of that.
We walked home. It had been A DAY!!!
The next day our whole plan was to see the Hagia Sofia. We woke up, ate a banana and were out the door. No use getting there to early, due to prayer times, so we took our time on the walk over. Dan and I got coffee and as we were waiting in the line, we got some street pastries.
The line was long, but as it wasn’t open to the public yet, when it did open, the line flew by. Right as we got past the outer gate was a beautiful fountain for washing.
In a city like this and in a place like the Hagia Sofia, it is bursting with ruins. The Hagia Sofia has been built 3 times and remnants from past builds were shown in this column graveyard.
We had read A LOT about it before, but I wish I knew more. The current building was a church that was converted to a mosque in 1452. I asked Ben why exactly in 1452 did he think it was converted to a mosque. ‘Because that’s when the Ottomans took over Constantinople.’ He does listen!!!
There were outer walls and you could look down into an area where you could see the steps from the previous builds.
We took off our shoes and walked inside. It was a sight! I can’t express the pure sense of aww I felt. How, just how did they build this? How is it still standing? How is it so beautiful?
Ben loves the quote about how the dome is so high, it seems that it is being suspended by heaven. Note: not in quotes because I don’t know the exact wording. It’s true. It’s so high up there and what’s holding it up? Well, besides compression?
Being a church at one point, there were non approved paintings on some of the walls. Instead of painting over them (maybe some were) they are covered up with cloths. No idea what led to this, but if felt a bit like an understanding of 2 religions of each other. I could be totally off on this though.
You couldn’t stop staring up. Kids were completely transfixed too and wanting to point out everything to Dan and me.
A rare adult photo. Maybe because the kids couldn’t stop looking up.
Sam claimed his neck was hurting, but wanted to see more of the ceiling. This was his solution.
We wrapped up the viewing and planned to check out the palace. On the way, just ruins on top of ruins that have yet to be cataloged or have a place to be put. Just on the side of the road. It reminded me of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. You almost couldn’t see some of the exhibit because of all the extra pieces with no place to be
We got as far as the entrance and the kids couldn’t do it. After staying up so late, they were just too tired. I told Dan to stay and I went back to the apartment with the kids and we all took a 10:30am nap, but in our own way since one kid especially claimed he was not tired.
Dan had a great time at the palace, until cruise ships seemed to have docked and tours were piling in. He met us back at the place and we all headed out to the bazaar one last time to get some presents. The Turkish Delight displays never get old.
Done with shopping and sensing hungry kids, I headed out with 2 kids to find a place. Only one place got okay reviews that was close, so we went with that, not before finding street corn…appetizer, right? Ben, Max and I finished ours and went to get a table and Dan and Sam came out of the bazaar and started eating theirs. We sat down and the prices were SO over priced and the food that went by didn’t even look that good. We bailed and opted for fresh squeezed juices from the street and hot dogs.
The juice was so good, I went back for more of the apple. On the walk home, I stopped in at a pharmacy, coming to the conclusion after not being able to find contact solution in stores, that it’s only sold in pharmacies. I was right. Wondering if the anti-inflammatory steroid I took for my back, I asked if they carried it. I was feeling paranoid that they were going to call me out for trying to get some illegal drug. 5mg or 10mg she asked? Oh, okay! 5mg and 3 packs please. I had no idea how much, but I figured in case of emergency this would save me a doctor’s visit. $2! TWO DOLLARS!!! Now I know what the woman carrying out giant bags of stuff was doing. My 100mL contact solution cost more!
Always appreciative of amazing engineering and architecture, but one should not over look the bad. When you want stairs to your basement, but don’t want to lose too much square footage, just take it from the sidewalk. And this wasn’t even the most offensive. Some when all the way to the curb.
We wandered around a bit more and felt we had seen what we wanted to see, or what we were capable of seeing. We headed back to our place to let the kids play around.
With all the traffic to get to our place when we arrived, we opted for the subway to get back to the train station. A million times easier and faster. We gave ourselves a buffer, not knowing how long it really would take, so we got there quite early. Dan went to go find us food. We ate and boarded our train. Quite a subdued train ride home compared to the way out. Kids drew, I read to them, they read to me and we were hope quickly.
It was Halloween, but I let this fact slip. They did put on their new Galatasaray jerseys to send Onur a photo.
