Despite an economy flight, heaven forbid, to Taipei, we ended our journey to Istanbul on Turkish Airways in business class and it was great. Seats not quite a cubicle but they lay flat and plenty of room to move around. The service was excellent and the food great though we have been constantly full most of this trip. We started with Tattinger champagne, mushroom raviolis with a Bordeaux Red, I tried a Burgundy Chablis and a vintage port with desert. We arrived early to Istanbul, 4:30 in the am, but our driver was still ready for us. Night and day difference getting into Japan vs Turkey. We basically just walked in! An hour drive to our hotel which was and is stunningly bad despite 4.5 stars. We would have changed hotels but we have a number of pickups from our hotel which would complicate things. We checked in, dropped our bags and set out in search of coffee. Met a bombastic Kurdish restauranteer who kindly provided coffee, 2 types of Baclava, because why not, wifi, and persistent conversation. While trying to read the home newspaper we learned all about the Kurds, the Turks, the Syrians, and the politics of the day.
We met our tour guide in the Hippodrome that morning. His name Salahattin. His English, excellent, His knowledge, extensive. The tour was Katie and I and a young man from New York. Ended up to be a 5 hour tour with a number of hidden gems most tourists don’t see. Sights included the Hippodrome, the Egyptian Obelisk, the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the Grand Bazaar, and many other places.
That evening we went back to one of our guides hidden gems, The Palatium, where we had a great mezes (tapas) plate, lamb dishes and a very good bottle of turkish syrah. Apparently, a Hookah after dinner is the thing and people would pass it around the table changing to their personal mouthpiece each turn. In the am we found ‘our’ coffee shop, the Rabbithole, a couple blocks away and that has been our newspaper reading spot ever since. We began our 30-60 min Segway tour that am after showing up, saying our name, not signing a thing, and practicing for 2 minutes. We were off touring the city stopping to hear our guide talk about the history and culture, note he is on his 12th year in the University there! Again a crazy wealth of information both historical and cultural. We were dodging crowds, cars, scooters, and trams. Turkey has some of the most aggressive car, scooter, motorcycles drivers we have ever seen. The rules seem very vague and mainly are just suggestions. The only imparted wisdom for riding was if you fall you will probably get hurt. After 3 1/2 hours riding we were way up on a hill at a Mosque (of course) looking over the city when I had to tell the guide we got to go. We have a food tour on the other side of the Golden Horn that is supposed to begin in an hour! We had an assistant lead the two of us past the Grand Bazaar, driving on the metro lines ahead of the tram and going backwards down one way streets. We jumped off and immediately a taxi driver came up and asked if we needed a ride. Why yes we do. Do you take cards. Yes I do. We drove taxi-style through the narrow streets, honking all the way. Narrow winding roads that we were convinced he couldn’t make it up. Cars passing with less than an inch between them. Needless to say, one of the best things to do in Istanbul. Getting out with minutes before our tour began, my credit card wouldn’t work and we had no cash. Katie went in search of an ATM.
The afternoon food tour was ho hum for the food but ended up being a 5 hour city tour by all means of transportation from subways, trains, cable cars, and ferries. Our second day. was a day of transportation
The first part of the following am was our coffee shop fix. We went over to the Basilica Cisterna for a guided tour. Fortunately renovations were completed 3 weeks ago and it was now open to the public. Again a fantastic guide and the place is spectacular both in lighting and the installed art. The story of building this cistern to hold water for the new roman capital was boggling and apparently 20 years ago they had a 7.4 earthquake and all is still standing.
We also toured the Topaki palace later but really it was just too crowded and all in all not that interesting except the enuchs and harem stories. We rode the metro up to the Grand Bazaar which has over 3000 shops, but we didn’t buy anything. Later in the evening we did a food tour of the Pera or Istiklal area. We had walked this area before. It is jammed with people strolling and shopping. Crazy drivers intermittently cross the mall and it is always a close call with the walkers. The tour was great with many back street venues just off the bustling mall but quiet and only populated by locals. A yogurt covered tantuni was a favorite but to be honest all foods were good even the stuffed mussels! I had two. Katie and I bailed around 11:30 before the baklava as we were not only exhausted but stuffed.