Istanbul 🇹🇷

Istanbul with friends. Rain & snow. Delicious food. Mosques. Bazars. Belly dancing. Holly cats & seagulls. We had a blast and very adventures days!

Basilica Cistern
is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city.

Service oriented: don’t know the way? No
problem? Taxi driver using my smartphone & Google Maps to bring us to our destination ✅

Istanbul is the only city in the world that sits on two continents: Europe & Asia. It makes it a true melting pot of cultures traditions & architecture.

Istanbul is also the only place that’s been the capital of three empires, it is this bridge between east-west, it’s spectacularly beautiful. Nobody knows so exactly how many people live here, something between 16-30 millions…

The majority of the population is Muslim. Members of Islam, Christianity, Judaism and other religions live peacefully in Istanbul. Istanbul has >3000 mosques – we visited 2 of them.

The Hagia Sophia: dating back to the early 6th century, it started as a church and then, nearly a millennium later, was converted into a mosque by the Ottomans. This blend of Christian and Islamic influences gives Hagia Sophia its one-of-a-kind look, combining the features of a church with those of a mosque.

The Blue Mosque 🕌

The Blue Mosque – the name given by the Dutch due its beautiful blue tiles inside.

We stayed for hours in the Egyptian Market, the Spice Market: spices, tea, Turkish delights, dried fruits, nuts… you name it. The colors. The smell. Wonderful. Delicious.

Turkish Spices: cannot wait to jazz up our cooking back home.

Turkish cuisine: kebabs, baklava, Turkish tea & coffee, and delights – we had it all and loved the rice the most. Sooo good.

So before you enter the Grand Bazaar, make sure you’ve polished your bargaining skills and you’re ready to haggle – perfect for people like me, working in sales.

Our America friend learnt it the hard way: being bold enough to say NO when you don’t want something, like carpets… or apple tea… 🤣

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops. Wow! Perfect on rainy days!

carpets, tea and coffee sets, lamps, clothes, ceramics, jewelry, spices and Turkish sweets…

We kept wondering why the trip was so low prices… a bargain? It’s Ramadan!

During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, and smoking from sunrise to sunset. However, non-Muslims and those exempt from fasting can still find many places to eat. Lucky us 🍀

Ortakoy Mosque, maybe the most picturesque mosque in Istanbul.

Cruising along the Bosporus between Asia & Europe

Due to latest incident earlier this week, Social Media and protests were banned for 4 days: very limited What’s Up, Insta, FB, etc. and nights of protest broke out despite ban. It’s good to hear & see you locals protesting for democratic rights! We saw you, we heard you. Keep fighting! ☮️

Istanbul, straddling the boundary between Europe and Asia, you are a city where diverse cultures, rich history, and modernity intertwine. Your unique position as a bridge between continents makes it one of the most fascinating cities in the world. We had a fantastic time! 🇹🇷