And One Fine Morning...: Istanbul

If there's any place in Turkey you've got to go, it's Istanbul. Somewhere around 16 million people call this continent-crossing province home. At risk of sounding like a travel agent-- Istanbul has got it all. Roman and Ottoman History seeps from every crack in the pavement. Modern stores and businesses cased in modern architecture keep the city current (Starbucks? Check. Sephora? Check). Plus, all of Turkey's major soccer teams hail from Istanbul (Beşiktaş, Galatasaray, and Fenerbahçe).

Pre-cruise view from our boat.

I've been lucky enough to go twice, however, with a little scrolling you will see that my first experience was less than ideal. Pours of rain extinguished any energy I had to sight-see back in October. This time was different, though. Kara and I sightsaw the crap out of Istanbul. Our pavement pounding was well worth it-- I was able to check just about everything off my "to-see" list.

Under the Galata Bridge there are a slew of restaurants selling balık ekmek (pictured below). It's not a very fancy sandwich (the name literally translates to fish bread-- and that's pretty much what you get), but we are not fancy people. We were satisfied with our tasty, cheap eats and great views of the Bosporus.

Lunch.

Next, we made our way to Dolmabahçe Sarayı (Filled Garden Palace). Sultans lived here with their families from 1856-1922. To put it plainly, this place was ballin'. It had 68 bathrooms. Who needs that many bathrooms? There was a 4.5 ton chandelier, too. That's so much chandelier! This place was built and decorated in a more Western style with Baroque and Rococo touches. Our tour was informational, but pretty crowded, so I couldn't badger the tour guide with questions. Bummer.

The Gate.

Thumbs up for awesome mansions.

We finished our first day with a sunset cruise on the Bosporus. It gave us a cool perspective on the city, and it also gave us a chance to get off our feet for a bit. Boats are a great way to travel.

Simit. Turkey's take on a bagel.

Woohoo. Boats are so fun.

On Sunday, I went to Topkapı Palace solo, while Kara chillaxed elsewhere. She's already been to the Palace and will go again with her family in the summer. This place was home to Sultans for about 400 years during the Ottoman Period. It's enormous and filled with great displays of wealth including weapons, jewels and art. This crowded tourist hot-spot was hard to imagine as an actual royal residence. I'd like to check it out on a quiet afternoon one day.

Me and some beautiful tilework.

It was the Tulip Festival while we were in Istanbul. Below are two photos from Gülhane Park, which was bursting with a million different types of tulip. Simply beautiful!