We ended our 7 ½ months of travel with just under 3 days of sightseeing in Istanbul. After arriving at our Airbnb in Beyoğlu, a lively and diverse neighborhood dating back to before the Byzantine Empire, we went to Old Ottoman Café for a delicious lunch of fresh mezze (yogurt with mint, grape leaves stuffed with rice and herbs, eggplant dip, and spicy pepper dip served with fresh Turkish bread) and a traditional Ottoman dish of chicken in a delicious sauce with peppers and onions. We got dondurma, chewy Turkish ice cream made with mastic, on our way to the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar was built in the 1450s following the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople. It is often considered one of the world’s first shopping malls, and remains extremely busy to this day; hundreds of thousands of people visit each day to explore the 4,000+ stores selling everything from spices to fake designer handbags to artisan-crafted jewelry. We spent the evening strolling through the beautiful, tree-lined Gülhane Park. The next morning, we started early with one of two extremely memorable, cheap, and delicious Turkish breakfasts at Van Kahvalti Evi. For about $10 total, we each had unlimited Turkish tea, fresh squeezed orange juice, an assortment of cheeses, tomatoes, cucumbers, honey with honeycomb, black and green olives, hazelnut spread, sour cherry jam, tahini, garlic yogurt dip with mint, hard boiled eggs, and fresh bread. We walked across the Galata Köprüsü Bridge into the Old City. We stopped in the Egyptian Spice Bazaar, and bought some spices and homemade perfumes from an extremely personable Syrian refugee shop owner, then explored the iconic Sultanahmet Square. We visited the Hagia Sofia, one of the most beautiful buildings we’ve seen. Formerly a Greek Orthodox basilica, the Hagia Sofia was first built in 537 AD. It was converted into an Ottoman Mosque in 1453, and used as a place of worship until 1931. Pink on the outside with a pale blue dome, surrounded by minarets, the Hagia Sofia is instantly distinguishable from the many mosques around Istanbul. Turkey’s first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk had the building restored in 1935, including having some of the Christian mosaics uncovered, and it has been a museum ever since. Next, we visited Topkapı Palace, the residence of the Ottoman Sultans beginning in the 1400s. We walked around the beautiful grounds and saw intricately decorated rooms and a collection of relics from some of the Islamic prophets. We had a simple but phenomenal lunch at Ortaklar Kebap Lahmacun. Robert had lamb wrapped in bread with spicy sauce, and I had the most delicious chicken grilled over coals with tomato barley. We also tried Ayran, a savory, salty yogurt drink popular in Turkey. We looked at silk carpets and handmade ceramics at a shop with a very friendly and effective salesman. Store owners in Turkey can be very aggressive – they usually invite you for tea, and won’t take no for an answer. They are very personable as they roll out the many carpets for sale. We ended up buying a beautiful hand-painted ceramic bowl, and promised to come back for the carpets when we have a house or larger apartment someday. We toured the Sultan Ahmed (Blue) Mosque, then had an afternoon treat of baklava, sliced ice cream, and Turkish coffee at Hafiz Mustafa. We spent the evening wandering around the city. We started our final day of the trip with another Turkish breakfast - this one included grilled halloumi, clotted cream in honey, tomatoes, cucumbers, hardboiled eggs stir-fried in butter and spices, bread with sour cherry jam, tahini, rose syrup, olives, cheeses, meats, roasted peppers, stuffed grape leaves, coffee, and tea. We saw the intricate and radiant mosaics at the Chora Church, originally built as part of a monastery just outside Constantinople at the beginning of the 4th century. Most of what stands today dates from the late 1070s when it was rebuilt. The mosaics were completed in the early 1300s. We had another strong, rich Turkish coffee, then went to the massive and architecturally stunning Sulimaniye Mosque on the Third Hill. After snacking on simit – circular bread covered in sesame seeds, not unlike a bagel, we visited the Basilica Cistern. Built during Byzantine Emperor, Justinian’s reign in the 500s, the cistern could hold 80,000 cubic meters of water. Its construction involved roughly 7,000 slaves. Next, we saw Taksim square, and the massive mosque construction site across from it. Construction on this controversial mosque began after the 2016 coup attempt against President Erdogan, after which Erdogan became more powerful and more forceful in his vision to make Turkey a more religious nation. We had dinner while watching the sun set over the Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosque. The next morning, we flew back to New York, where we stayed at Robert’s family’s house for a few days before moving into our new apartment! This has been the most incredible, eye-opening, fulfilling eight months of our lives. It feels like a lifetime ago that I finished college, we put all our things in storage in Philadelphia, and flew to Taipei last Christmas day. During our travel through 17 countries, we met so many interesting and wonderful people. We tried amazing foods like tea leaf salad in Mandalay, tian shui mian in Chengdu, pasta with foraged hazelnuts and truffles in San Miniato, and many more dishes we are going to now attempt to make at home. We lived out of carry-on backpacks for the entire journey which was convenient and wonderful, and also why we are always wearing the same unfashionable athletic wear in all our pictures. And we also got engaged! We are so excited for our future, and we will always look back with such joy on this exciting and unique time of our lives. Thanks to all our friends and family who kept up with our travel adventures on this blog! And if you’re ever in New York, definitely get in touch!
20 Comments
|
Email subscribe:
Archives
September 2018
|