This past weekend five friends and I embarked on a weekend journey to Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul is AMAZING and unlike anywhere I have ever been in my whole life. I have so much to say about the city and trip as a whole so I hope you have some serious homework or work (cough cough Mom) to be putting off because I am about to present you with the perfect way to procrastinate a little bit longer. Sit back, relax, and enjoy!
So, just to put things in perspective about how amazing Istanbul is and to get you in the right mindset, I give you this...
So, just to put things in perspective about how amazing Istanbul is and to get you in the right mindset, I give you this...
the beautiful view and sunset that I got to enjoy while on the shuttle back to the airport to leave. It really doesn't get more gorgeous. Anyways, I am getting ahead of myself so let me rewind to 72 hours before and start from the beginning.
Thursday started like any other would (class, gym, etc.) but once 3:30 pm rolled around I found myself not reading my textbook or grocery shopping like I would usually be, but on my way to the airport to head off to Istanbul. I won't bore you with the flight details because frankly it was just like any other. Fast forward three hours, one half hour cap ride, a jump and a skip, and we had arrived at Taksim Lounge Hostel AKA our home for the next three days.
Thursday started like any other would (class, gym, etc.) but once 3:30 pm rolled around I found myself not reading my textbook or grocery shopping like I would usually be, but on my way to the airport to head off to Istanbul. I won't bore you with the flight details because frankly it was just like any other. Fast forward three hours, one half hour cap ride, a jump and a skip, and we had arrived at Taksim Lounge Hostel AKA our home for the next three days.
Not going to lie, when we first arrived at the Lounge, we were all quite skeptical because it seemed like a sketchy house in a back alley but once we got inside we were comforted by the hospitality of the owner at the front desk and the lovely decor.
The six of us got a perfect room with three bunk beds. The walls were painted a bright, lime green that was adorned with glitter while the bedding was flowery, pink, and everything that the boys probably have envisioned in some nightmare (see below).
The beds were just as comfortable as the visual of the Lounge from the outside, and by that I mean not in the slightest. Luckily, we weren't planning on spending much time in our room because we wanted to get out and see as much of the city as possible during our short time there. As long as we had a place to shower, change clothes, and sleep, we were happy.
The six of us got a perfect room with three bunk beds. The walls were painted a bright, lime green that was adorned with glitter while the bedding was flowery, pink, and everything that the boys probably have envisioned in some nightmare (see below).
The beds were just as comfortable as the visual of the Lounge from the outside, and by that I mean not in the slightest. Luckily, we weren't planning on spending much time in our room because we wanted to get out and see as much of the city as possible during our short time there. As long as we had a place to shower, change clothes, and sleep, we were happy.
Not the best pictures, but you get the picture. It was pretty late once we finally dropped our stuff, freshened up from the flight, and wrapped our minds around the fact that we were actually in Turkey but we were determined to go out and see what the city had to offer. Our hostel was very well located with proximity to the main "going out" area and Taksim Square.
It was only after about a five minute walk that we stumbled upon an outdoor hookah and tea bar and were immediate sold. It probably didn't help that the man working the place capitalized on the fact they we were young, Americans who were so excited to be in a new place that we would have fallen for any sale but it turned out to be a great time.
The weather in Istanbul was warm enough to sit outside and so we lounged on the couches and enjoyed some delicious Turkish tea and hookah while observing the crowd on the streets. The people watching made for some interesting sights: small children begging for money, boyfriends assisting their drunk girlfriends home from the clubs, groups of young teenagers strolling the streets, and tons of people who approached us trying to sell us various goods. Most of all, we just enjoyed the company of one another and relaxed after a day of travel. At about 2:00 am we decided to head back to the hostel and get some sleep. We all had made an executive decision to be up, have eaten breakfast (complimentary of the hostel), and ready to go by 9:00 am so that we could have as much time to see all of the sights so to bed it was.
8:00 am Friday morning: rise and shine! We all woke up, not in the best of moods considering it was still quite early for us and Istanbul is an hour ahead of Copenhagen. Anyways, we were able to make it out the door of the hostel at 9:15 and headed to the Metro to get the day started. Before leaving Copenhagen, Jaime and Celine (two girls in the pictures that aren't me) had made a full itinerary for our trip after hearing from peers that Istanbul has so much to see and offer that if you go in blind you will end up completely overwhelmed. On our agenda we had The Granda Bazaar, The Four Seasons Hotel (I will explain), lunch, The Blue Mosque, back to the hostel to "chill and be homies", dinner, hang out in the city. Little did we know the day was going to offer so much more which came in the form of a mid-day, relaxed hookah and tea sesh round two, and an amazing waterfront walk beside The Wall of Constantinople ending with the sunset. I cannot stress enough how beautiful and lively the city is and most of the pictures speak for themselves so I will let the words come from there. That being said, most of the pictures do not even do the city justice because just the atmosphere of Istanbul is overwhelmingly different from anything I have ever experienced. The sounds, the smells, the sights- I wish more than anything that I could have just strapped a GoPro to my head and kept it on record for the hours that I was in the city. Unfortunately that did not happen and so pictures will have to do, or better yet, go take a trip for yourselves. I promise you will not be disappointed.
8:00 am Friday morning: rise and shine! We all woke up, not in the best of moods considering it was still quite early for us and Istanbul is an hour ahead of Copenhagen. Anyways, we were able to make it out the door of the hostel at 9:15 and headed to the Metro to get the day started. Before leaving Copenhagen, Jaime and Celine (two girls in the pictures that aren't me) had made a full itinerary for our trip after hearing from peers that Istanbul has so much to see and offer that if you go in blind you will end up completely overwhelmed. On our agenda we had The Granda Bazaar, The Four Seasons Hotel (I will explain), lunch, The Blue Mosque, back to the hostel to "chill and be homies", dinner, hang out in the city. Little did we know the day was going to offer so much more which came in the form of a mid-day, relaxed hookah and tea sesh round two, and an amazing waterfront walk beside The Wall of Constantinople ending with the sunset. I cannot stress enough how beautiful and lively the city is and most of the pictures speak for themselves so I will let the words come from there. That being said, most of the pictures do not even do the city justice because just the atmosphere of Istanbul is overwhelmingly different from anything I have ever experienced. The sounds, the smells, the sights- I wish more than anything that I could have just strapped a GoPro to my head and kept it on record for the hours that I was in the city. Unfortunately that did not happen and so pictures will have to do, or better yet, go take a trip for yourselves. I promise you will not be disappointed.
The Metro system in Istanbul works by you going to the "ticket" machine, but you get a token that you put into slots that let you into the train boarding area. I thought this was actually genius because instead of wasting paper and printing useless tickets, the tokens get reused over and over and there is no waste.
From the Metro stop to the Bazaar, we had a lovely little walk full of street vendors, stray cats and dogs, and McDonalds (no we did not eat there but just admired what the Istanbul menu consisted of and how it differed from the standard Big Mac that us Americans know).
From the Metro stop to the Bazaar, we had a lovely little walk full of street vendors, stray cats and dogs, and McDonalds (no we did not eat there but just admired what the Istanbul menu consisted of and how it differed from the standard Big Mac that us Americans know).
Stop #1: The Grand Bazaar
The Grand Bazaar is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world. With over 3000 different shops and 61 different streets, it is quite overwhelming but it's claim of being "one of the world's most exciting shopping experiences" is almost an understatement. The Grand Bazaar has ceramic shops, jewelry, fake designer purses, clothing, carpets, scarves, spices & dried fruit shops, lamps, and everything in between. Unless you are in the market for something very specific, my best advice would be to just go in, wander, enjoy everything the Bazaar has to offer, and do some bargaining to get a couple souvenirs.
The Grand Bazaar is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world. With over 3000 different shops and 61 different streets, it is quite overwhelming but it's claim of being "one of the world's most exciting shopping experiences" is almost an understatement. The Grand Bazaar has ceramic shops, jewelry, fake designer purses, clothing, carpets, scarves, spices & dried fruit shops, lamps, and everything in between. Unless you are in the market for something very specific, my best advice would be to just go in, wander, enjoy everything the Bazaar has to offer, and do some bargaining to get a couple souvenirs.
The lamps shops in the Grand Bazaar were my absolute favorite part of the whole place. I fell in love with all of the beautiful light fixtures and would have done anything to be able to get one but it wasn't realistic stuffing one of those back into my duffel bag to bring back to Copenhagen.
I might not have gotten my beloved lamp, but that does not mean that I left empty handed. I bought this turquoise and gold bracelet as well as some dried fruit, and a pair of awesome patterned, silk, parachute pants.
I kid you not that we stayed at the Grand Bazaar for almost two hours and probably saw about half of it but many of the shops sell the same things and one can only take so much of Turkish men shoving scarves and fake Chanel bags in your face. At noon, we all reconvened, did a little show and tell of what everyone had purchased, and then decided that it was time to move on to our next attraction.
Stop #2: The Four Seasons Hotel at Sultanahmet
This Four Seasons sits in the middle of the city and is well-known not only for its fantastic architecture and gardens, but also because the building used to be a prison back in the day. The hotel has been refurbished but I found it quite cool to think about the fact that in the previous century, visitors of the building were not going there expecting a luxury vacation and to be served delectable cuisine from the hotel's five-star restaurant, but rather to be locked up in prison cells and eating stale bread and water.
This Four Seasons sits in the middle of the city and is well-known not only for its fantastic architecture and gardens, but also because the building used to be a prison back in the day. The hotel has been refurbished but I found it quite cool to think about the fact that in the previous century, visitors of the building were not going there expecting a luxury vacation and to be served delectable cuisine from the hotel's five-star restaurant, but rather to be locked up in prison cells and eating stale bread and water.
A quick stroll through the building and courtyard was just enough to get everyone's stomachs growling for lunch. We had researched local restaurants and found one that claimed to have the best kebabs and pide (turkish version of pizza) so we went for it. I am not going to say that they deserve to say they are the best, it actually reminded me of that scene from Elf where Buddy runs into the coffee shop to congratulate them on the best coffee in the world, but none the less, we greatly enjoyed our meal.
Stop #3: The Blue Mosque
After getting some food in our bellies and resting our feet for a while, we decided it was time to get moving to our next stop. Before heading in though, we got the obligatory, touristy group photos in. It would have been a shame to pass up anyways with the Mosque serving as such a beautiful back drop.
After getting some food in our bellies and resting our feet for a while, we decided it was time to get moving to our next stop. Before heading in though, we got the obligatory, touristy group photos in. It would have been a shame to pass up anyways with the Mosque serving as such a beautiful back drop.
Or you can just turn around, and the Hagia Sofia is at your back. (below: Will and I)
Todd and Jaime.
After we got our fair share of pictures in, it was time to get down to business, and by that I mean time to get the head scarves on!
Just for a little lesson of the day, head scarves are worn by Turkish women and others are a kind of "barrier" that stems from culture, tradition, and scriptural readings.
Some women are required to cover themselves by law, but mostly women feel pressure from society and religion to cover their bodies and hide themselves from the eye's of men who fall outside of their family.
Scarves on, shoes off, and we were set to head inside. The mosque was so incredibly amazing with such intricate decor and architecture. The construction of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, more commonly known as the Blue Mosque because of blue tiles adorning the interior of the mosque, began in 1609 when Sultan Ahmed decided it was necessary to build a mosque after the conclusion of the Wars with Persia. Ahmed picked the site of the palace of Byzantine emperors to be the location for the Blue Mosque. The Mosque would face the Hagia Sophia which was the most venerated mosque in Istanbul at the time. The opening ceremonies of the Blue Mosque were held in 1617 and has served as place of worship ever since.
Unfortunately, we couldn't stay in the Mosque for long because we arrived just about 25 minutes before the 3 o'clock prayer time, in which the mosque is closed to visitors. Our time spent in the mosque however, was just enough to soak up the ancient beauty before heading back outside.
We were standing outside of the Mosque examining our map and deciding where to head next when this gentlemen approached us. Having been heckled all day by people on the streets trying to sell us stuff, we naturally ignored him but after a minute or so of hearing him blabber while we tried to study our map and decide where to head to next, we realized that he was just a genuinely nice man who was out wandering the city and enjoying the sunshine. We started to converse with him and found out that we was actually from Edmonds, Washington, a town right outside of Seattle. After telling him that I go to school in Seattle he proclaimed me his "homegirl" and we became the best of friends.
Kidding. But he was quite kind and even pointed us in the direction of a waterfront cafe when we asked him what we should do to occupy our free time for the next hour or so. We said our goodbyes to our new friend and headed off towards the water to see what this recommended place was all about. This was hands down the best thing that could have ever happened to us honestly. If it wasn't for our friend, we would probably never have adventured to the water, never would have rested at this little cafe to recuperate, and would never ever had the idea to not Metro but walk back to the hostel with the Wall of Constantinople on our left and the waterfront on our right.
It was just our luck that we timed getting to most beautiful point of our whole walk just as the sun began to set. We had to cross a bridge to get to other side of the city where our hostel was located and being able to walk along it surrounded by the bustle of the city in combination with the old mosques all around us and the sunset to top it off was completely surreal.
As the sun went down and the sky turned dark, we arrived back at our hostel and in desperate need of a nap before dinner. One of Jaime's old teachers had been to Istanbul and recommended that we go to Datli Maya for dinner- thank goodness that we did. This restaurant was a homey little place in which you have to walk through the kitchen to get to the small seating area where you really feel like you are eating in someone's dining room in their home. In addition to the warm and cozy atmosphere of Datli Maya , it was the food that made it over the top. Our feast consisted of various pides, some rice/grain casserole dish, and my personal favorite was my appetizer of extra large artichoke hearts that had been roasted and topped with pickled onions and butter beans. The restaurant even had a make your own tea station.
The combination of our post-dinner food comas and pure exhaustion from our day lead to a night of relaxation and roof top hanging out at the hostel. We turned in to bed fairly early, with alarms set for 8:00 am so that our second day in Istanbul could be just as productive and entertaining as the first.
8:00 am came before we knew it and everyone was up, dressed, fed, and out the door at 9:30- a little later than day 1 but we were all still impressed by our ability to get it together so early in the morning. Following our itinerary, we headed to our first stop of the day.
Stop #4: Topkapi Palace
We had been warned to head to the Palace in the morning and not plan anything after besides lunch because the Palace is huge and you can spend hours and hours at the site. We quickly came to see what they meant- just the walk from entering the Palace gates, up what used to be the personal driveway, to the actual site was about a quarter of a mile. Let that be an indicator of how eleborate the entire Palace is, seriously I understand this was the home to royalty, but really who needs that long of a driveway? Luckily we were able to find a way to entertain ourselves on the walk.
Stop #4: Topkapi Palace
We had been warned to head to the Palace in the morning and not plan anything after besides lunch because the Palace is huge and you can spend hours and hours at the site. We quickly came to see what they meant- just the walk from entering the Palace gates, up what used to be the personal driveway, to the actual site was about a quarter of a mile. Let that be an indicator of how eleborate the entire Palace is, seriously I understand this was the home to royalty, but really who needs that long of a driveway? Luckily we were able to find a way to entertain ourselves on the walk.
When we finally got to the entrance, we were greeted with a warm welcome and open arms...kidding (in case you didn't notice the man guarding the door with a gun). Luckily, this was the most unappealing part of Topkapi.
Topkapi Palace sits in the middle of the city of Istanbul and used to serve as the home for Ottoman Sultans for over 400 years. During that time, the Palace was used as not only the royal residence, but also for state occasions and royal entertainment purposes. At one time, the palace was home to around 4000 residents- like I said, walking around the Palace could take hours.
From what I have read about the Palace however, it seemed like a pretty happening place considering it was the home to Selim the Sot who lost his life by drowning after drinking too much champagne. We started our tour in the Imperial Harem. The Harem was the part of the palace that housed the wives, servants, and concubines in their own secluded portion of the Ottoman household.
As you can tell, the tiling within the Harem was exquisite. It was also unbelievable to see how many different patterns and colors were all incorporated and yet it never felt overwhelming or clashing but only beautiful. Someone also pointed out that while all of the design is based around royalty and religion, you will never see paintings of people or Gods because for Muslims, you cannot paint Allah. This is much different than any Christian or Catholic art that you see, such as is the Sistine Chapel. Overall though, just a thing of pure beauty.
Once we had done our fair share of exploring the Harem, we went outside to the courtyard, and down to the balcony of the palace that overlooks the water and gives a lovely view to the city on the other side.
The rest of our time at Topkapi was spent in old rooms that have been converted into spaces to showcase old jewelry, clothes, weapons, thrones, etc. from the Palace residents. Unfortunately you cannot take pictures within those rooms or of the artifacts but the landscape and architecture provided for lovely snapshots!
Right about the time our feet started to feel a little bit heavier and we had seen almost everything there was to see it began to drizzle and we took that as a sign to duck into a restaurant for lunch and somehow we found the cutest little restaurant ever that was just down the street.
I had a salad with a sort of vegetable, chicken saute on top. Not going to lie, it was not one of the best meals I had but it was adequate fuel to get us to our next destination.
Stop #5: Hagia Sophia
The Hagia Sophia was originally built in 537 AD (WHOA!) and served as a Greek Orthodox Church. After that it was converted into a Roman Catholic church, then a mosque, and in 1935 turned into a pure tourist attraction and museum.
While every mosque, palace, bazaar, etc. that we visited was incredibly amazing, I thought the Hagia Sophia's exterior and interior were the most impressive and so I will simply let the pictures do the talking.
The Hagia Sophia was originally built in 537 AD (WHOA!) and served as a Greek Orthodox Church. After that it was converted into a Roman Catholic church, then a mosque, and in 1935 turned into a pure tourist attraction and museum.
While every mosque, palace, bazaar, etc. that we visited was incredibly amazing, I thought the Hagia Sophia's exterior and interior were the most impressive and so I will simply let the pictures do the talking.
We left Hagia Sophia with a good amount of energy and desire to see more so we went off the itinerary and decided to just kill the rest of the afternoon at the Spice Market.
Stop #6: Spice Market
The Spice Market is much like the Grand Bazaar but focusing only on tea, dried fruits, nuts, Turkish delights, and of course, spices. I did not enjoy the Spice Market as much as the Grand Bazaar mainly because there were way more people in a much smaller space and the vendors were so much more aggressive with us, constantly heckling us to come and buy their spices. Sorry bro but NO THANK YOU- at least for me. Jaime and Celine bought some tea while the rest of us snacked on some Baklava and fruit.
Walking around the Topkapi Palace + Hagia Sophia + Spice Market = Get us home for a nap! We had a big night out planned at Reina Nightclub which is supposed to be one of the best nightclubs in the world. So we had strategically planned some extra down time this afternoon (on the itinerary it was labeled "time to chill or be homies") so that we had plenty of energy to dance the night away.
We all got back to the hostel and crawled into bed. About an hour later we were awoken by alarms going off letting us know it was time to grab some dinner and some adult beverages to get our night started. We asked the guy at the front desk of the hostel for a recommendation for cheap, good, quick dinner places- he did not do us wrong.
We all got back to the hostel and crawled into bed. About an hour later we were awoken by alarms going off letting us know it was time to grab some dinner and some adult beverages to get our night started. We asked the guy at the front desk of the hostel for a recommendation for cheap, good, quick dinner places- he did not do us wrong.
Right down the street there was a great little kebab place that had us in and out in a flash but extremely satisfied. It was not too heavy either so we were still in the mood to slip into our party dresses and suits and hit the town.
Stop #7: Reina Nightclub
What makes Reina so amazing is that it sits right on the water and you have the most gorgeous view of the Bosphorus Bridge while partying in one of the most highly-rated and respects venues in both Istanbul and the world.
Reina attracted a very interesting crowd, ranging from older men and women to a group of 18 year old kids celebrating a friend's birthday. Overall, we just enjoyed the view, the music and dancing, and each other's company and had a great night
What makes Reina so amazing is that it sits right on the water and you have the most gorgeous view of the Bosphorus Bridge while partying in one of the most highly-rated and respects venues in both Istanbul and the world.
Reina attracted a very interesting crowd, ranging from older men and women to a group of 18 year old kids celebrating a friend's birthday. Overall, we just enjoyed the view, the music and dancing, and each other's company and had a great night
The morning after Reina we were not quite as ambitious as we had been the past two mornings. We vowed that sleeping in was acceptable after rolling in quite late and just wanted to be up by 10:00 am to get the complimentary breakfast from the hostel. By about 10:30, we were all up and had decided that the perfect morning activity would be to take a boat tour around the harbor just as a way to get out and some fresh air without exerting too much energy.
I had no idea that Istanbul is technically seperated into two parts, with half of the city in Europe and the other side in Asia. The boat tour we went on went down one side of the Bosphorus River and showed the coast of the European side and then did a little flip and went back more towards the Asian side so you can see both.
I had no idea that Istanbul is technically seperated into two parts, with half of the city in Europe and the other side in Asia. The boat tour we went on went down one side of the Bosphorus River and showed the coast of the European side and then did a little flip and went back more towards the Asian side so you can see both.
I didn't take this pictures but just thought it was a good visual. So that bridge is the Bosphorus Bridge, the one that we saw the night before at Reina, and it connects one continent to the other. The boat then took us first down the right side and then the left.
The boat tour took two hours and we had gotten a late start in the morning so that meant that once we were back on land, I only had time to get a quick bite for lunch before heading back to the hostel to pack up my things and catch the shuttle to the airport. Will and I have Corporate Finance on Monday mornings so while everyone else was fortunate to stay in Istanbul for one more night, it was back to Copenhagen for the two of us. Being able to travel all over Europe has been one of the most rewarding parts of studying abroad and while Istanbul is such an amazing city to visit, being there also made me realize how great it is to be studying in Copenhagen where the city is so livable, clean, and the people are all so nice.