Where are John and Kara?: Istanbul, Turkey

Sunset in Istanbul

China has a very long history full of emperors and wars. However some of the first civilisations ever discovered were also found in Western Europe. Turkey to be precise.

We had the opportunity to head there before our next big move to Spain. The next few blogs follow our travels through the language difficulties, ancient history and our adventures in Turkey!

It was almost lunchtime in Istanbul when we flew into Turkey. The sky was a brilliant blue, clearer than anything we had seen in the last 10months. The Mediterranean sunshine was pleasantly warm like a fresh loaf of bread pulled from the oven and there was a cool summery breeze blowing across from the Bosphorus river.

Chicken kebab and sweet tea

Our first impression of Istanbul was mouth watering and knee twisting. Upon stumbling out of the underground metro the smell of meat cooking penetrated our noses after it was assaulted by the intense cigar and floral scents of the turkish people. We hobbled, clambered and tripped across the cobbled roads as the sound of old Islamic prayers echoed through the streets and filled our ears.

This gave us a euphoric sense of adventure, and boy were we hungry for it.

Hagia Sophia and the Bosphorus river from our hostel

We stayed a hobbled walk down an old alley behind the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque. From the rooftop of our hostel we drunk strong thick Turkish coffee and watched the cruise ships pull in on the sparkly sapphire Bosphorus river, looking across to the Asian side of the city. The Hagia Sophia on our shoulder was easy on the eye.

Roman Cistern underneath the streets
of Istanbul

Our adventures in Istanbul lead us through the exotic spice markets, grand Turkish bazaars and hidden underground roman attractions until our feet ached and the ligaments in our ankles and knees whimpered mercilessly.
Each day we woke was more beautiful than the last and the Islamic prayers continued to seep into our ears at regular intervals.

Fresh juicy pomegranates

The Turkish eye!

Inside the stunning Hagia Sophia

Christian paintings inside the Hagia Sophia

One morning we consumed our turkish breakfast of olives, tomato, cheese, bread and strong hair-raising coffee before adorning head scarfs. Then we joined the busloads of tourists who also waited in the early hours of the day to enter the Hagia Sophia. It was first built in the fourth century by Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor.

Then after its first total destruction is was built again by his son Constantius and then again by later Theodosius the Great. The church withstood many earthquakes and even crusader attacks before being converted into a mosque by Sultan Mehmet (after his conquering of the city of Constantinople aka Istanbul). Hagia Sophia was then Istanbul's primary mosque for over 500 years and today is still a key attraction in Istanbul.

Inside the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque)

Ferry cruising the Bosphorus River

Our visit was followed by a tour of the neighbouring great Blue Mosque and then a cruise down the slow-paced inebriated Bosphorus river.

The blue mosque (also named Sultan Ahmed Mosque) was built in 1608 to 1616 on top of the palace of the Byzantine emperors and is still used as a functioning mosque today. After queuing for quite some time we were allowed in and were mesmerised by the stunning internal handmade decoration, low hanging lights and the 200 stained glass windows.

Sweet candy and turkish delights

Different areas across the split city have very unique vibes. For example across the river the Asia side of Istanbul is quiet and laid back. Locals tend to their business and work or walk the fresh produce markets buying their dinner. Taksim on the European side is trendy and hip, popular with young Turks who sit outside at glass tables sipping their cappuccinos or browsing the latest fashion on the main street.

People watching beside the Blue Mosque

Sultanahmet is, at all hours, a swarming hive of tourists shopping, site seeing, munching on free samples of Turkish delight and waiting in queues to visit attractions. The area is busy.

Local boys yell out for you to purchase their cold sticky ice creams or their thick handmade carpets and rugs. There is so much to see in Istanbul and the entire time your senses are overwhelmed with the fragrant smell of cooking kebabs, sweet nut pastries and the forever call of 'Yes!? please!' from shop assistants who think you must desire yet another Turkish blue eye keychain.

Fishermen on the Galata Koprusu at sunset

Lamb Kofta and Turkish Coffee? Yes Please

For us, experiencing Istanbul was to sit, hot sweet tea in one hand and the other hand in a large bag of sickly Turkish delight, watching it all happening.
The old rugged men fishing from the bridge, the young Muslim boys laughing and splashing each other as they washed their feet clean in marble footbaths outside the mosques.
Or the well dressed groups of men sitting, smoking and drinking strong black chai tea beside them the women chatting happily eating ice cream, sweets and kebabs as the children frolicked with spinning tops.

Tot siens,

John and Kara