Istanbul

Istanbul is such a crossroads of the world: Turkey is one of the few countries on the planet with its main territory straddling two continents (there are five other countries that do so…). The calls to prayer ringing out across the city from hundreds of mosques five times a day were a stark reminder that we weren’t in Eastern Europe any longer, as were the hijabs everywhere we looked… Lisa and I loved our time in the city when we visited with Sally and ET in 2009 and we thought the kids would enjoy all the bazaars as well as the incredibly eclectic mix of food on offer. The “Islamificaiton” of Istanbul since our visit in 2009 was pretty incredible. When we visited 16 years ago there were only a handful of local women cloaked in head-to-toe hijabs and alcohol was readily available at most eateries. On this visit we actually had to hunt around for an Efes in the hot and humid weather, and I’d guesstimate more than three quarters of the local women wore hijabs, many with only their eyes visible through their veil. That said, we still felt very safe during our entire time in the country and thoroughly enjoyed opening the kids’ eyes to another part of the world.

One of the main draws of Istanbul is its bazaars, particularly the Egyptian (or Spice) Bazaar next to the Eminonu ferry port and the Grand Bazaar a little further up the hill. We spent almost an entire day exploring the two bazaars and the endless streets of market vendors in the adjoining alleyways. Pretty much anything one could imagine was offered for sale: food, spices, electronics, fashion, artwork, leather goods… You name it. The Grand Bazaar in particular had become quite a bit more swanky since we visited 16 years ago, with prices relfecting the structural improvements: most of the knickknacks we purchased were actually from the street vendors outside the main bazaars, but they were a lot of fun to tour nonetheless. The Grand Bazaar sprawls over a whopping eight acres and we found ourselves getting turned around in its curvy alleyways more than once (yes, we even temporarily lost a kid or two for short periods as everyone let their focus drift to different stores as we strolled!).

We shacked up a stone’s throw from Galata Tower – one of Istanbul’s central landmarks – in a fabulously located apartment overlooking the bustling Galip Dede Caddesi. We strolled up and down the steep streets more than once, such an array of stylish vendors in the Beyoglu district, quite a difference from the market vendors surrounding the bazaars across the water in Sultanahmet.

The eclectic mix of food on offer in Istanbul was great. The street eats were excellent and focused mainly on pide – a pizza-like flatbread – and an array of spit-roasted meat vendors. And we can’t forget the boreks, which the kids ate by the bucket load for breakfast and afternoon snacks. We also made sure to have our fill of Turkish coffee, something I discovered on my first visit to Istanbul when I mistakenly drank the “mud” at the bottom of the cup (rookie mistake…) and had quite the unsettled stomach for the rest of the day! Max had done some research on food in Turkey prior to our visit and was laser focused on locating a Turkish ice cream vendor to experience the tricks he’d watched on YouTube firsthand. It wasn’t hard to find one and indeed they were quite impressive with the gooey Turkish ice cream, I think the kids treated themselves to a serving every day we were in the city.

A visit to Istanbul wouldn’t be complete without touring the city’s main religious sites of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. Quite the memorable experience lining up to enter the mosque: the girls were required to cover their heads with shawls and their legs with mosque-provided skirts out of respect. The Blue Mosque (and a number of the other mosques in central Sultanahmet) were incredible to take in, their towering domes and skyward-reaching spires dominating the skyline. Neighboring the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia was built by the Eastern Roman Empire almost 1000 years ago but we didn’t venture inside this trip: when we visited in 2009 it was still recognized as a Christian museum and was free to enter, but with the continued Islamic tilt of Turkish culture was redesignated as a mosque in 2020 and is now closed to the public (there was a museum in part of the structure but it was $120 for the four of us to enter to so we took a pass…).

We figured if we’re going to visit a country that spans two continents we might as well actually set foot on those two continents. So on our last afternoon in Istanbul we caught the ferry over the Bosphorus (at a whopping cost of US$1 each!) from Eminonu to Kadikoy, in doing so setting foot in both Europe and Asia. It was a great way to see the city from the water and also an excellent way to get some fresh air away from the heat and humidity of the Istanbul concrete. Kadikoy was decidedly less touristy – although no less bustling – than neighboring Sultanahmet and Karakoy on the European side. We enjoyed an hour-or-two strolling along alleyways lined with restaurants and food vendors, enjoying a beer to people watch while the kids each devoured another mountain of borek.

Such a memorable finish to our European tour! I can’t believe three weeks have passed already… I’m glad we had the opportunity to check off a few of the countries we missed during our 2021 European tour, and so fun to be able to join the Scammell clan in Czechia for Oliver and Veronika’s wedding.