Postcard from Türkiye
We stayed at the iconic Pera Palace hotel, famed for its connection to the Orient Express, literary rock stars like Agatha Christie and Ernest Hemingway and perhaps of most interest to me a strong connection to the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
The palace has all the elements of an opulent late 19th century hotel designed to welcome guests freshly disembarked from the Orient Express. The rooms are elegantly restrained while the reception area and Orient Bar just let it all hang out with deep red couches, chandeliers, cascading flower arrangements and impeccable service. Great place to stay
A contemporay creation of the hotel is the nearby Istikal Caddesi or Istikal Street. Laden with bars, restaurants and luxurious 19th century architecture which housed the wealthy elites and diplomats of the day all connected by a tram. This area is heavily populated by locals in the evenings with good reason, food options cater to all budgets while in the backstreets there are even more restaurants and bars catering to all tastes.
Getting around Istanbul is relatively straightforward. Taxis are everywhere but do require negotiation, even Ubers. When booking an Uber the price you see on the screen is literally an invitation to negotiate … upwards! After a day we found buses and rail the best and quickest way to get around as they linked pretty much everywhere wee wanted to go. A ride no matter how long was $1.50, you could buy various discount tickets or just pay with your credit card using a tap and go format … nothing to stress yourself over.
One of my enduring memories of my last visit to Istanbul 30 years ago was the sheer joy of consuming the humble doner kebab. I don’t know if things have changed but there now seems to be a perplexing multitude of kebab choices. We started our exploration of the kebab at Durumzade, made famous by a visit by Anthony Bourdain. Spice infused durum wheat wraps filled with delicious meat, perfect … it’s the simplicity of the kebab in Türkiye I appreciate not having to wade through a heap of stuff that was never meant to be in a kebab. The nearest equivalent I have found in NZ is in Alexandra. Food is an important element to any visit to Turkey and Kath and I made sure we had our fill travelling all over the city in pursuit of culinary delights.
There is plenty to do in Istanbul and how long you spend there will depend on the intensity of your interest. I’m a history tragic and Kath also appears to suffer from the same affliction as we find great joy in wandering around discovering the ancient and not os ancient wonders of our world. We spent 5 nights in Istanbul and I think that is about right to take in the main sights and experiences.
We started our exploration at the Galata Tower a 14th century built by the Portuguese to watch over their piece of medieval Istanbul. The tower is quite attractive but the main reason to visit are the views offered across Istanbul from the summit.
Everyone who visits Istanbul will find themselves in the Sultanahmet area on the Golden Horn with good reason, chiefly the beautiful monuments to Byzantine and Ottoman architecture the Haghia Sofia and Blue Mosque. Strongly suggest you arrive here for just after sunrise, although the mosque’s won’t be open I really like the early morning light illumination the Blue Mosque in particular.
Set aside at least a couple of hours for the Ottoman Sultan’s residence, the Topkapi Palace, an absolute treasure trove of Ottoman artefacts and of course the harem.
Once you are done with Sultanahmet you can of course turn your attention to the Spice Bazaar and Grand Bazaar. Surprisingly some of the pressures to buy I clearly felt decades ago are no more, and they now resemble a mall experience … not sure I welcome the change.
There are numerous mosques in Istanbul besides the headline acts in Sultanahmet and they are very much worth visiting and arguably more appealing. Close to the Spice Bazaar is Rustem Pasha, famous for its use of the blue tiles of Iznik. Further afield and home to the tomb of Suleiman the Magnificent is the Suleymaniye Mosque commanding a position over the Golden Horn and lands beyond, this one was probably my favorite but a tough call.
Even further afield in the suburbs of Istanbul was the Kariye Mosque, formerly a Byzantine Church where the main feature was the mosaic creations of the Byzantine period. This one involved a long bus trip and a decent hike, but a I alluded to before I love this stuff and sometimes the journey is as interesting as the destination.
On our final day in Istanbul we felt a cruise on the Bosphorous would round things off nicely. There are all sorts of cruises you can take or simply take the ferry to Uskudar for some time on the water. We decided to invest a little bit to include a hotel pick up, refreshments on board and a quality guide … all money well spent. It was great way to see other side of this sprawling metropolis, more palaces, multi million dollar homes, late Ottoman wooden houses and generally just put our feet up for a few hours before we headed to our next adventure.
Pera Palace Blue Mosque
Topkapi Palace Sulemaniye Mosque
Grand Bazaar Bosphorous