Istan Humble

Because everything in Geneva shuts down for 4 days over the Easter weekend, Travers and I decided to head to a place where Easter was not widely celebrated: Istanbul, Turkey!  Istanbul has never been one of my top places to visit before. And I found out a few days before our trip, that I had actually been there before for a day with my family while we were on a cruise.  Who knew!

Travers relaxing in our room

But once we arrived and were in the taxi from the airport to the Taksim Square area, I knew I was going to enjoy the trip. The city is huge! There are buildings everywhere, cars and people everywhere, and it reminded both Travers and I a bit of San Francisco. We stayed at the Odda Hotel just steps away from the main drag, Istiklal Street in the Taksim, Beyoglu area. And after requesting a room on the top floor, we enjoyed a cup of turkish coffee and tried to decide what to do first. We figured we had a few hours to walk around before trying to find a place to have dinner that night.  And knowing our track record for not being able to choose a restaurant in a timely manner, we did some research before we left the hotel and chose a couple restaurants that we could walk by beforehand and see which looked best to go back to that night.

At Taksim Square!

So we left the hotel and walked down Istiklal Street and were immediately blown away by the amount of people in the street. We could barely walk next to each other or in a straight line as we were having to avoid running into people from all sides.  But no one was rude, no one was bumping into us, and there was a good energy about that really got us excited to be there.  We stopped at a local kebab shop and got some kebab sandwiches to tide us over. Then we walked to Taksim Square, and enjoyed a cup of Chai Tea that someone was walking around selling for 1 Turkish Lira, which is about CHF0.50. Amazing!

Bad picture, but so many people
walking the main drag.

We soaked in the warm weather and all the people walking around. We strolled through a nearby park, saw some views of the Bosphorous, and stared at all the shops and interesting things to see. We had heard that the thing to do is to sit on a roof top or balcony, enjoying the views and watching the people below, so we headed to Nosta Cafe, got a seat on the balcony overlooking Istiklal Street and grabbed a glass of wine for me and a beer for Travers.  We sat until the sun started to go down, and finally headed back down to the masses of people and headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We had actually not ended up walking past any restaurants that we had originally wanted to, so we were going to have to decide where to go before heading out again.

Travers at Dai Pera!

After reading all of our notes from previous research, going online to review menus and prices, and google mapping it to see if it was within walking distance, we finally settled on a restaurant called Dai Pera for some local Turkish cooking. We were not disappointed. The food was great. Not something you can easily get in Geneva. And our waiter was very helpful even though he didn't speak much English. He brought the chef out at one point to explain to us in English how one particular dish was prepared! So far, a great impression of the turkish culture, people, and food!

The next day we decided to walk to the Old Town area where most of the tourist attractions are located. First we stopped at the Galata Tower and got to see 360° views of the city. It was a great way to orient ourselves with the city, and we saw some amazing views of the Bosphorous, the Marmara and the Asian side of Istanbul beyond.

We then walked across the Galata Bridge. Throughout the bridge, there were tons of fishermen fishing off the bridge. We got to see someone reel one in, and saw several buckets filled with fish!  We then walked on the lower level of the bridge and saw tour boats passing underneath. Then walked past several restaurants on the bridge, all with someone out front trying to tempt us in for some food and drinks.

So many fishing poles hanging over!

Fun tour boat!

After crossing the bridge we immediately saw this gigantic mosque. We peeked inside as locals washed their hands and feet in the center fountain area, and others layed out their rugs to kneel on for praying. We didn't stay long as we didn't want to interrupt, but it was so interesting to see this different culture and religion. The building was amazing and huge and was just one of many that we would see on our trip.









Just outside the mosque, I spotted a bunch of booths and shops! Travers could immediately tell I wanted to go walk around in them and see what was for sale. So we walked over and found the entrance to the Egyptian Bazaar and Spice Market.  We didn't buy anything that time, but I was promised we would go back and shop some more later on in our trip.  We were getting hungry so we found a small kebab shop on our way to some more tourist attractions.  Travers was determined to eat the same type of kebab sandwich everyday for lunch, but I tried a different one this time in a wrap instead of a roll.  We grabbed our kebabs and sat in the nearby park, which was the thing to do as every bench was already occupied.

The rest of the afternoon, we got to see the inside of the Blue Mosque, known for the blue tiles on the inside.

The Blue Mosque

Ceiling of the Blue Mosque

Inside the Blue Mosque.

Inside the Blue Mosque

On top of Istanbul at Leb-i-Derya

Afterwards, we walked across the way to the Hagia Sophia intending to go in, but the line was really long and our afternoon was getting short, so we decided we'd come back another day. We caught a tram back through town and across the Galata Bridge, then headed up the hill in a funicular in search of a bar and restaurant called Leb-i-Derya that was known for its spectacular views of the city.  After searching a bit, we found the street that it was on, and walked down the hill part way to this run-down apartment building. It didn't look like the right place, but there was a sign out front that pointed us in, so we took our chances and went inside. We rode the elevator up, following the signs, and walked into the door of the restaurant right as they were opening for the evening.  We got the best seat on the outside terrace overlooking the Bosphorous! We enjoyed the views and the seclusion. Coming from the busy street below, it was amazingly quiet at the top of this restaurant. You would never have known there were thousands of people below, hustling and bustling about. A great way to end the afternoon.

Me, Travers & Sibel

After a rest at the hotel, we met up with some co-workers of Travers that happened to be staying in the same hotel as us (amazing coincidence), and met up with an ex-co-worker from San Francisco Hotwire, Sibel, that had recently moved back to Istanbul where she is from. She took us to a new area near the hotel for dinner. There were tons of restaurants and bars and people on this street too, and with a large group we had a tough time finding a restaurant. But we eventually did and it was a great meal. We got a bunch of appetizers and I had a tasty meatball dish. We had walked past so many restaurants and places that night that I don't think I ever found out the name of the one we actually ate at, but it was a delicious meal.  We then went to a bar down the street for some after dinner drinks and dancing. A perfect way to end our a long day in Istanbul.

To be continued...