Istanbul, Turkey September 30 – October 6, 2017

Istanbul was another unexpected landing point for us. Not unexpected because there was no desire to visit. We’d been wanting to come here for a long time; but, because of recent politics, we had temporarily removed it from our bucket list. So how did we land here?

Trying to plan our next jump from Sarajevo to another Balkan country proved to be difficult: Bosnian trains no longer have international routes, flights were cost prohibitive (like Canadian-flights-prohibitive!) or required long stopovers in Austria or Germany. Then, there it was: Sarajevo to Istanbul. $110CAD – check! two hours, direct – check!

Our arrival at Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (Asia side) meant a 45-minute-when-traffic-is-good bus ride to downtown Taksim Square (Europe side). On this Saturday afternoon, traffic was far from good! Two hours along an uninspiring highway in stop-and-go traffic. It is said that Istanbul has one of the worst traffic congestion in the world. Check! Bus ride notwithstanding, we had a lovely experience getting to our  apartment, as strangers smiled at us and offered direction and assistance. One woman even led us around the large Taksim metro station looking for an open ticket booth so we could buy our metro card (Istanbulkart). No luck! Her solution? Paying for the metro ride to our ‘new home for the week’.  Thank you friendly stranger!!!

It was rainy during the first two days of our visit, so we took advantage of the miserable weather to catch up on reading, researching, editing pictures and writing more blog posts in our Airbnb apartment. And this apartment happened to have an amazing view: Galata Tower.  At night, the tower glows in purple and orange light.  The view was spectacular and the apartment was in another very walkable neighbourhood… as long as you like steep hills, stairs and inclines.

Our days began with the 6AM call to prayer, the city’s own built-in alarm clock. We hit the big tourist attractions, passing lines of people fishing on the bridge along the way: Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Sultanahmet Square with its fountains and obelisks, Basilica Cistern, Constantine’s monument, the crowded Spice Market (a.k.a the Egyptian Market) and Grand Bazaar. Dave got to see some these places twice, the first time going alone, since Gilles took a sick day-off. While there were tourists, the crowds and line-ups were not so bad or annoying; except for the markets, and those we left as soon as we could find the exits – sometimes, not so obvious! What was a little annoying were the very-friendly-but-pushy carpet salesmen who could appear out of thin air, seemingly. And a lot of them alleged to be former university professors. Really? – trick me once!

But let’s do what we do best: wander the streets, discovering new surprises. And what a surprise! Istiklal Street, that runs between our Karaköy neighbourhood (only a few hundred feet from our apartment) and Taksim Square (Beyoglu neighbourhood), was teeming with locals, shops, restaurants, buskers – especially in the evenings – and fish, fruit and meat markets during the day. Unfortunately, we only discovered this area on our second last day in Turkey. So many more areas to discover and many more delicious foods (Kebaps!) to eat.

Istanbul is definitely a place to return to. We truly loved our brief stay in Istanbul.  From the people we met, the food and various markets, to the sights and sounds- everything was unique and wonderful.  Even the many stray dogs and cats added to the charm to this captivating city. The locals appeared to cherish them as much as the visitors.  It seemed everywhere we went there was food and water put out by people for the animals.

We will be back!