We wanted to continue our new vacation habit of nice long walks, but Istanbul is sorely lacking in scenic pedestrian sidewalks. For our first afternoon we went for a stroll along the Marmara Sea and finished up at the Galata Bridge near Eminönü where many of the ferries dock (imagine an area like Grand Central Station, just on water). The best part of this area is all the street food! Ears of corn and chestnuts roasting on open fires, strange pickle(d) concoctions and amazing balık-ekmek (fish sandwiches)! The fish sandwiches are outrageous... vendors sell them on the sidewalks or you can treat yourself to one grilled on a bobbing boat/kitchen floating in the sea. I believe the fish is mackerel and it's served in a half loaf of bread (have I mentioned the bread loaves in Turkey are heavenly?) with onions and lettuce. Yum. We split our first one so that we could treat ourselves to the freshly frying donut balls at a vendor nearby (covered with a type of simple syrup and crushed pistachios).
The roughest part of Istanbul in general was how clogged the city was with tourists, from buses crammed full to little tour groups to more independent travelers like us. This meant that at virtually every site we were behind a group of some kind. Tourism at it's worst was found at Topkapı Palace, clearly the school field trip destination supreme on the day of our visit. It wasn't all bad, though! Overall I'd say we enjoyed Istanbul, especially Hagia Sophia and the Basilica Cistern.
The Grand Bazaar is home to over 4000 shops/stalls and each and every one of them has some creepy dude out front laying it on thick to tourists passing by to try and lure them in. Some of the lines we heard in the Grand Bazaar...- I will cheat you less than the others
- I will take your money
- I will help you spend your money
- OK, my turn now
- Yes, please, hello (this is the worst!)
One of Kev's goals in Istanbul was to run from the Europe side to the Asian side, across the Bosphorus Bridge. No easy route from Sultanahmet to the Bosphorus Bridge (Istanbul, where are all your exercise-friendly sidewalks?), but he finally gets to the bridge and is told by the police that it's closed to pedestrians. Apparently this bridge is a haven for suicide jumpers. Thankfully though the cop offers to drive him across in his police car. He stops in the middle so Kev can get a photo, takes him to Asia and brings him back to Europe. We get home and the dude has already Facebook friended him. Hey, it makes a fun story!
Blame poor planning, but we left ourselves to the mercy of the guidebooks on where to eat in Istanbul. We divided our meals between street kebaps and balık-ekmek and restaurants out of the book. A few restaurants we enjoyed and would recommend are Doy Doy (awesome terrace view of the Blue Mosque), Hamdi Et Lokantasi (awesome terrace view of the Galata Bridge and Bosphorus Bridge), and Develi (awesome view of the Sea of Marmara). We split a mixed grill plate at Develi that was so scrumptious I told Kev I'd save my calories on a future day so that we could go back and I could have my own plate. And so it was. :)
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| Mixed Grill at Doy Doy |
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| Mixed Grill at Develi |
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| Kebap starts it's day raw |
- The weather was wicked hot - much warmer/sunnier than we were expecting based on the forcast. Since we were aiming to have only carry-on, we brought only a little trial size sunscreen (that was mostly used and probably expired), hoping to buy sunscreen in Turkey. We knew from visiting Greece that natives of this region don't really need sunscreen, so prices are inflated to around $20-$30/bottle. Clearly we did not learn our lesson as Turkey was no different. My best advice is always bring your own! We were applying sunscreen but clearly not enough and Kev got burnt while I got tan.
- Our luggage goal on any trip (learned from Rick Steves) is to always carry-on vs. check luggage. Leaving an airport is so much lovelier when you don't have checked bags to wait on. Unfortunately we flew 4 airlines on this trip, all with different carry-on regulations. We brought only a standard carry-on bag each, but the weight is what did us in (I think our lowest weight needed to be around 15 lbs.).
- We created/printed a loose itinerary to help us plan our days and keep the multiple flights/hotels/transportation options straight - super helpful. I also had print outs of every hotel confirmation to help close out our bills (which came in handy with some discrepancies).
- Even though the sun was sweltering, the shade was a delight. What I really enjoyed about dining in Turkey is that virtually every meal we ate was al fresco (and 90% of the time with an incredible view).
- This thought usually never enters our mind, but seeing as how we have now many friends with little ones, we were both struck by how much this was not a vacation destination for little kids. I think roaming through ruins and hiking would get quite boring for them. The chaos of Istanbul would also make it hard to push a stroller or hold onto a little hand. There also seemed to be very few kid-friendly attractions in Istanbul, though we learned that kids love running inappropriately around carpeted mosques (where everyone has to remove their shoes).
- I had a stomach bug right 2 days before our departure and lost 5 lbs. quite suddenly as a result. My vacation goal was to just keep that weight off. This was the first trip since re-joining Weight Watchers in March '10 that I tracked everything I ate. I also made exercise a huge priority (not just to balance the eating, but also as a fun way to fill time). Results? I kept that 5 lbs. off and lost 1 more to boot!
- Even though I may not look it, I feel like one fit gal. Working out 6-7 days a week since moving to Doha has definitely helped me breeze through the physically challenges of this trip (walking/hiking 2-5 hrs./day). A huge difference is that I felt like I barely sat down (and this is a tush that has seen every bench in Italy). The last trips we did that involved this much walking were Jordan and Christmas in Europe and I've lost 50+ lb.s since then. I felt great on this trip.
So there is Turkey for you! Not sure where we'll be off to next, but hopefully one more long-ish trip this fall, Oman and home for the holidays.
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