Istanbul in Spring

After a fairly grueling three flights and 30+ hours of air travel we were back in Istanbul.  I must admit though that as we started this journey, even though I was sad to leave the good people of Bellingen and the beautiful bush environment, I felt a wonderful lightness of being to be on the road again.

Arriving bleary eyed in Istanbul at 7 am Istanbul time, one of our 21 kg bags wasn’t there.  It showed up two days later having decided to take a bit of a side trip to Singapore.  Ah, the tales it could tell...  What a change in travel from last year when we traveled for 7 months with just carry-on luggage of a small duffel bag each.  This time we had 70kg of luggage in 5 bags packed with things for the boat.  Bob was sure we would be stopped and our luggage searched.  We had masses of electronic gear – VHF radios, EPIRB, GPS, computers, hard drives, sailing route books, wet weather gear, inflatable life jackets and clothes for several seasons.  We even brought a cocktail shaker with a two way radio stuffed inside – now if that didn’t look like a bomb.....  But we were never questioned and our bags went through all the checks smoothly.  

This time in Istanbul we decided to stay in Beyoğlu across the Galata Bridge on the northern side of the Bosphorus.    

Art Gallery and new mosque in Beyoğlu

The Galata Bridge and Tower

This area has quite a different feel from the main tourist area of Sultanamet where we stayed last year.  Beyoğlu is a bit bohemian with lots of cafes, winding narrow streets, old classic buildings and undergoing massive gentrification.  Our hotel was right in the middle of this gentrification, a polite way of saying construction zone.

The view from our hotel balcony

We certainly know how to pick them!  Actually the room itself was very nice but to get to it we had to pick our way through mud and scaffolding then climb 4 flights of treacherously narrow winding stairs.  Taking our 70 kg of luggage up and down those stairs was no mean feat!

As we saw most of the tourist sites last year we spent our three days in Istanbul mainly just walking around the streets taking in the atmosphere.  The city was quite different in the spring.  The weather was cool – more like Canberra in mid-winter but the parks were glorious with spring flowers.

Gülhane Park

Like Miss Carpenter, I love daffodils

Istanbul's own Floriade in Gülhane Park

Funky Rainbow steps

Cobbled streets of Sultanamet

Along with over a million people a day, we spent many hours walking up and down Istiklal Cadessi, a wonderful pedestrian street which goes for about 2km from Taksin Square down the hill to Galata Tower.  It is lined with cafes, up-market shops, buskers and a perfect place for people watching.

Some of the million plus people walking up Istiklal Cadessi

This cello trio busking along Istiklal Cadessi were superb

Bob even took his chances again with a Turkish barber.  We found this small barber shop with a single old man next to trendy salon buzzing with barbers.  We decided to give some custom to the old man and thought it would be less likely he would go for the ear waxing and facials of Bob's horror experience in Marmaris last year.  The old man was lovely but his shop was less than hygenic with a large rat trap sitting on the top of the counter.  Still he got a good haircut and I'm sure earned some karma points giving the old man some business.

Bob and the Barber

Near the Galata Bridge we stumbled upon the fish markets and the iconic street carts selling Balik Ekmek (fish sandwich) – a must have taste treat when in Istanbul.  But buy the sandwich from a street stall as the Balik Ekmeck from the cafes and restaurants tend to be fairly average and have none of the rich flavours of those from the street sellers.

Fish Market, Galata Bridge

Street sellers preparing Balik Ekmek

We did do one tourist site, Dolmabahçe Palace, the home of six Sultans and where Ataturk died in 1938.  The grounds were lovely but we could only see the palace in a guided tour group and no photos were allowed.  Quite a few of the areas were in need of a bit of restoration but the gold gilding, crystal chandeliers and ornate furniture were impressive.

The grounds of Dolmabahçe Palace

Looking out to the Sea of Mamara from Dolmabahçe Palace

It was great to see another area of Istanbul in a different season.  Istanbul has so much to offer and even after two visits we only touched the surface of this fascinating city.