A Turkish Delight, On a Moonlight Night {Istanbul, Turkey}

Back in May, we took a week off for a trip to Turkey and Greece.  We were both really excited about this trip, both places were high on our bucket list.

We started our trip in Istanbul.  Istanbul sits on the edge of both Europe and Asia and the city spans both continents.  It was Brian's first time in Asia, and both of our first time to a muslim country.

There were so many people in Istanbul, the streets were packed, all day and all night.  The stores were open past midnight and there was so much going on everywhere we went.  We stayed on the European side of the city, in the middle of Taksim Square (before the riots broke out).  Walking off the bus into this atmosphere was sensory overload, and I loved it.  It really reminded me of Japan.  It's the complete opposite of what Dublin, and the rest of Europe, is like were the streets are lively, but not packed, and the shops close by 6 most days.

Even though we were still in Europe, it definitely didn't feel like Europe.  You could hear the call to prayer literally everywhere in the city.  One memory from the trip that I'll never forget was one afternoon we were taking a break at a park by the water, having a Turkish tea - as you do.  While we were there, The call to prayer started and because of where we were sitting, and the breeze, we could hear calls all around us from Mosques near and far, and even across the river.  It was incredible.

Prior to our trip, my Turkish colleague (thanks Genco!) gave me some great recommendations and information on what to do, see and eat.  One thing he told me about were Midia Dolmas - which are mussels that are stuffed with the same filling as dolmas (you know, those grape leave wraps that you get with mezzo plates).  I'm obsessed with both mussels and dolmas, and I couldn't wait to try them, so on our first night, after a drink on a rooftop bar, we went to find the recommended Midia Dolma shop. 

Bar with a view - that's Asia across the Bosporus River

I loved at bars they would bring the most amazing nut/snack mix

So much going on in Taksim Square

All the people, all the time

Street food is everywhere - this one is famous for "wet burgers"
that cost around a dollar which makes it a popular late night spot

This is the place we went for dinner, for Midia Dolmas

Our friendly waiter helped show us how they work - and actually fed this one to Brian

They made other food too - like these sandos that are filled with sweetbreads

After dinner, we ended the night with a nightcap of Turkish Tea

Our first full day was all about the sights in the morning, and a boat ride down the Bosporus in the afternoon.

We started at the Basilica Cistern, which is an underground cistern that was built in 532!  It was originally built to provide water to the Palace of Constantinople.  It's 500 feet below ground and has over 300 marble columns.  There is still water in the cistern, and we even saw some carp swimming around.

Inside the Basilica Cistern 

It was pretty dark and eerie 

The bottom of 2 columns have a Medusa heads

After the cistern, we made our way to the Blue Mosque.

In front of the Blue Mosque

Walking up to the Mosque

Inside the Mosque

Brian - dressed normal

Me, not so normal. I brought a scarf because I knew that I would need to be covered
to go in, but I didn't realize that my dress needed to be below my knees
(it was literally at knee level - so close), so they made me put a wrap on

And then we went across the way to go to the Hagia Sofia.  This was originally built as a Greek Orthodox church, then a Roman Catholic church, then a Mosque, and now a Museum.  When they changed it to a mosque, they just painted over the frescos and hung up their decorative pieces on top of what was there.  Now it's a museum, and you can see some of the frescos under the paint, it's pretty interesting.

In front of the Hagia Sofia

Inside 

Another shot inside

After a morning of tourist stuff, it was time for some food.  We headed for a fish sando straight off the boat.  Then across the Galata Bridge and up the hill to the Galata Tower.

They cook the fish right on the boats

This is it.  It was okay, I didn't love it & there were too many bones in the fish

And here is a shot of the "restaurant" - there was a line of probably

10 stalls, all serving the same thing

And here it is again, the boat where they cook the food, and the tent to the left where we ate

Looking out from the Galata Bridge - yes, you can see the fish boats still.
I thought they were cool.

The Galata bridge is famous for being packed with fishermen.
We found that, in general, there were fishermen everywhere in Istanbul

Look at them all - there must be a lot of fish 

We were actually really surprised at how many hills there were in Istanbul, it was like SF
At the top of one hill, was the Galata tower

We went up the tower to see the views

Istanbul is a massive city.  There are 14 million people that live there
 and the city is 100 miles long, or something close to that

Everywhere you look there is water and city

After the tower, we made our way to Ortakoy for a boat ride up the Bosporus, another great recommendation from my colleague.

Boating on the Bosporus was beautiful

The Bosporus divides the European & Asian continents and is a huge trade route for Russia

All along the East side of the Bosporus, there were massive houses

After a long and full day of sightseeing, we had an amazing dinner. starting with incredible mezzo.  All the food we had in Turkey was great (except the okay fish sando).  We became obsessed with a drink called Ayran, which is a tart yogurt drink that everyone drinks, all the time.  It was surprisingly refreshing and addicting.

Every dish was delicious

Speaking of food, the sweets were equally as amazing.
I'm pretty sure we had a pistachio baklava everyday

The next day, we spent a lot of time wandering around the markets.  We started in the spice market, made our way to the Grand Bazar, then just wandered the markets around the area.  We didn't spend much time in the Grand Bazar, it was really touristy, and we weren't looking to bring home a rug or chandelier.

Just walking past another massive mosque

The people in the little booths are selling bird seed - yuck!

This is exactly what I expected - mounds of spices, teas, fruit, nuts and sweets

It was all beautiful and looked amazing

and it was stall after stall of the same stuff

On our way to the Grand Bazar, we ran into some soccer fans who were
still celebrating from the previous night.  The local team won
the Turkish league, and the city went nuts.

The outside of the market

We loved this area - the streets were like a never ending market

Lots' of nuts

more nuts

Our lunch this day was unbelievable.  This guy below cooked us up a fresh Pide, which is like a Turkish Pizza in his brick oven.

You can kind of see the dough on the counter - doesn't get any fresher than this

The finished Pide

The stalls were packed with stuff - you could get anything at the market

Another massive mosque and more fishermen

In the afternoon, we made our way over to the Asian side of Istanbul.  The funny part was, the Asian side felt really European.  It seemed a little more progressive and hip, while the Europe side felt more traditional and really Asian. 

We'd seen these guys selling mussels on the street everywhere, and we couldn't figure out how they were prepared since the shells were all still closed.  They were obviously popular, and we were really curious.  When we got off the ferry on the Asian side, we figured it out - they were all Midia Dolmas!!  

Although it could have been a really bad decision, we had to try them.  It was really funny, you just walk up to them and they start handing you mussel, after mussel, after mussel....it's hard to get them to stop.  Then they name the price, you pay and off you go.

Previous spotting of Street Mussels

Look at how many there are - 6 in a row!

This is where we tried them!  Yum.

We had found a place for dinner that we wanted to try that evening, so we just wandered the street, and took it easy for the rest of the afternoon.  We had the most amazing pistachio ice cream, then hung out at the Moda Tea Gardens, with a cup of tea.

Moda Tea Garden is a bunch of tables & chairs overlooking the sea

Tea time

We walked back along the water as the sun was setting to dinner.  After dinner, it was back on the ferry to Europe with an awesome view of the skyline lit up at night.

Spotted, Street Mussel vendor on the move - look at those skills

Selfie on the water, it was really windy

And more fishermen - everywhere

Istanbul was perfect.  We love the city, the culture, the food, and the atmosphere.  I really think we'll be back in Turkey someday to explore more of Istanbul and beyond.