Hey Guys! This is the last of my 4 part series on my trip to Central Europe this year.
Sorry if I've been sitting on this post for a while, I feel like I had so much to say, yet I wasn't sure how to convey everything nor what to show and what not to show so it's taken me a while to put everything up.
Istanbul was an amazing experience, it was a place unlike any other which I had visited in my life. There were so many people and the sights, sounds and smells were all so different to what I was used to! I really had an eye-opening visiting to this city but I don't think I'll be back in the near future. It was very over-whelming and the next visit will probably be in a long long time.
The Sights
There were so many mosques and historic sights to see, since we were only there for a short time, we visited the most famous Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.
The first stop of the day was the Blue Mosque.
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| What a beautiful day |
We had to take off our shoes and me and Annie had to wrap our heads in scarves before we got to go inside since it was still an operating mosque. The inside does not disappoint with the soaring domes and intricately carved interior.
We didn't really stay long at the mosque since there were lots of people milling about. We moved on to the next monument, the Hagia Sophia, a church that turned into a mosque that turned into a museum.
I was even more impressed by the soaring ceilings and impressive architecture. It was the world's largest building for nearly a thousand years before being displace by another church. It was very awe-inspiring to walk inside. Fun fact: the g in Hagia is not silent! I was so surprised when I heard the official tour soundtrack pronounce it!
Our hotel had a very good view of both the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. Here they are at sunset with the Bosphorus in the background. So beautiful.
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| Blue Mosque |
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| Hagia Sophia |
And here they are side by side. So awesome!
The Shopping
Istanbul is also a city famous for its shops. You can literally by anything in this city and someone will be here to sell it to you and haggle with you. I found the Grand Bazaar, the most famous of the Istanbul Bazaar to be too overwhelming. There were sooo many people everywhere, all trying to get your attention and sell you something. Shopping became a whole new level of intense.
On the bright side (no pun intended), the turkish lamps sold were gorgeous!
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| Should've brought one back! |
There were also these fun decorative dishes everywhere as well! My mom told me I should've brought one back for her. (oops!)
Story time: while we were at the Grand Bazaar, Rowan needed to go to the bathroom so Annie and I decided to stand in one place to wait for him. BAD IDEA! These two Turkish gentlemen quickly came over and introduced themselves and insisted that I take their picture. They then proceeded to ask about our relationship status as well as how they were "rich and single Turkish men" .
Needless to say, Annie and I put away our cameras after that and did not stay in one place anymore for Rowan's next bathroom break.
The Food
Turkey is also famous for their food. I'll be honest and say that I didn't really like the kebobs that I was eating. I did have to say that I really enjoyed the other things that I tried.
I'm a really big fan of seafood, and streetfoods in general. However, usually the combination of the two means a nasty trip to the bathroom. I did get up the courage to try these stuffed mussels though. They were stuffed with a cooked rice and mussels stuffing and served with a squeeze of lemon. Yumm!
Along the same stretch of the harbour, we found fresh grilled fish! Except you eat it with bread like a sandwich!
It was actually really good since the fish was so fresh and moist. I wish we had these in Canada!!
The other thing I really loved about Istanbul was that there were fresh, roasted chestnuts everywhere, selling for peanuts (or chestnuts??)! I pretty much grabbed a bag of them every time I saw them. So fresh, so good.
Since Istanbul was a city surrounded by water, fish and seafood is in abundance. The turks are really good at grilling fish so I had a lot of fish on the trip.
Since we were in Istanbul, we had to get some Turkish delight for home. There were many shops specializing in Turkish delights since it's a tourist favourite. The candy was actually not bad and the amount of variety was very refreshing.
Finally, I had a sip of Turkish coffee and not pictured, tea. I have to say that I was not fond of either. The coffee had a lot more grounds then what I was used to and the tea was not my cup of tea either. :\ I do like how the Turks serve the coffee with a bit of Turkish delight since they know it'll be more bitter due to the extra grounds.
Finally I leave you with this image of the Blue Mosque at night. I hope you enjoyed my jam-packed trip to Istanbul. There were other things we did that was not mentioned but this post is already long enough. Enjoy your week!
