A Day in Istanbul

Our time in Istanbul was limited and so we made the most of it.

Our hotel room was in Sultanahmet Square, where no cars are allowed. Our transportation from the airport dropped us at a gate where a golf cart from the hotel picked us up and took us to the reception area. The hotel itself is pretty unique, composed of many different “mansions” on many different levels. Let’s just say we went up and down a lot of staircases outside every time we went to and from our room.

After our tour of Hagia Sophia, we fortified ourself with a traditional Turkish breakfast. Everything was delicious and I especially loved the tea served in the tulip shaped glass and the wedges of cheese and the soft boiled egg which was drizzled with a bit of chili crisp.

We toured the Basilica Cistern, which I didn’t know much about but Jo-Ann was eager to see. It was very cool, but not in temperature, it was surprisingly warm and humid. There are 336 of those marble columns, 52 steps down (which translates to 52 steps back up!), and it has been featured in several movies.

We also toured the Blue Mosque, which was beautiful and partly made up for the disappointment of Hagia Sophia. The tile work is amazing and the building dates back to the early 1600s. The main dome is 141 feet high and there are over 21,000 tiles and 260 windows.

One of my favorite parts of the day was taking the ferry across the Bosphorus Strait to the side of Istanbul that is in Asia. That’s right, we visited a different continent! This area of Istanbul is loaded with fun streets to explore, full of shops and sidewalk cafes.

We refreshed ourselves with a bottle of wine (how could we not get the Turkish wine called booze bag?) and some mezze plates.

And we took the ferry back to the European side of Istanbul at sunset. This was a complete and utterly amazing accident. The sunset was gorgeous and it was an otherworldly experience.

We returned to Sultanhamet Square, had a drink and some baklava, and our adorable bellhop picked us up in a golf cart and returned us to our room. Tired. Amazed. And ready to head to Greece!