Seven of us took a trip to Istanbul recently. It's a fascinating city, and I had an amazing time. My advice to those considering a visit: Go.
(Don't worry, we'll be back to the lovely Lake District again soon(ish).)
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| James and my housemate Sarah, on the metro in Istanbul. |
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| Kitty and I. |
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| SO MANY STAIRS--probably because a lot of Istanbul seems to be built on hills. Still, as long as your legs can stand it, the stair-streets are quite cool. |
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| Main thoroughfare. |
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| A lot of cool graffiti. |
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| Priorities: beer and food. (Also, that's Tel in the middle there.) |
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| Photo cred: Tel. Sarah and I with our Kurdish waiter. |
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| A truly unattractive picture of me, but you get to see the terrace we got drinks on after dinner. |
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| So that's just an ad behind Tel :P |
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| So much Turkish delight! |
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| Selfies were kind of a theme of the weekend. |
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| Waffles! |
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| The Galata Tower |
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| Looking up. |
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| "Fossil" in the pavement. |
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| Band shot, but with an unidentified extra member (also, minus Chris and Sandra). |
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| Not sure about the shop name, but love the owl. |
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| Thought the painting in this store display was really cool. |
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| Love the colors of the city, as well as the random artistic touches. |
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| Tram |
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| Waffle cart. What I didn't take pictures of were the numerous chestnut and corn stands. |
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| Such a beautiful script. |
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| Headed for the Topkapi Palace. That's a pomegranate juice stand on the left. |
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| Love all the trees--sycamores, I think. |
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| Photo cred: Tel. Typical ;) |
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| All the detailed craftsmanship is a bit overwhelming to take in, but certainly beautiful. |
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| Where the sultan kept his concubines. |
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| So much amazing tile! |
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| Can you see Sarah and I? |
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| Galata Tower in the distance. |
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| Just for water run off, I think! |
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| Minarets in the distance. |
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| Pretty sure we all took an abnormal amount of pictures of each other taking pictures. So meta ;) |
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| Group portrait (again missing Chris and Sandra, who at this point were being heroic and getting our race packs from somewhere far, far away). |
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| I'd go back in a heartbeat! |
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| Can you see the bridge? |
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| Bathroom selfie--taking things a bit too far? |
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| Ayasofia aka Hagia Sophia. |
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| Blue Mosque. |
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| The colors! |
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| The Basilica Cistern (which the internet informs me was a Roman water source), built in the 6th century, I believe. |
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| One of my favorite places we visited. |
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| Mysterious Medusa (mysterious as to why they stood her head upside down). |
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| A sideways Medusa. |
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| Rome or Babylon next? |
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| The Million Stone: apparently this was for measuring distances throughout the Byzantine Empire. |
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| Inside the Hagia Sophia. |
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| This time we got to go up an incline, rather than stairs. Much better! |
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| Action shot. |
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| The Upper Gallery. |
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| It's a big space, even with the construction/conservation going on. |
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| And finally, a picture of Chris and Sandra! |
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| Mosaics. |
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| Photograph-ception. |
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| 11th century mosaic. |
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| Blue Mosque again. |
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| And Hagia Sophia again. |
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| Chris and Sandra again! |
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| Photo cred: Chris. |
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| Inside the Blue Mosque. Beautiful, but a very different feel from the interior of a church. |
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| Blurry, but gives the mood! |
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| So many people fishing from this bridge! |
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| I thought this guy's stove was pretty cool. I think something he was cooking also smelled really good! |
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| Back at the Turkish delight shop. As it turned out, I didn't buy any here, but instead at the Grand Bazaar (that was the right decision, as I got some pretty sweet flavors like pomegranate, pistachio, and rose petal). |
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| You'd often see people holding onto the outside of this tram for what I guess was a free ride... |
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| Photo cred: Tel. Sunday morning, nearing the finish line of the 10K. |
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| Cue Coldplay, Yellow. |
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| Such good food here! |
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| Sandra was our Istanbul guru, as she studied here for a year! |
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| Falafel. Muah. Probably my favorite meal in Istanbul, and definitely my favorite café. |
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| Back at the Galata Tower. |
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| We took the elevator up. But don't worry, there were still some stairs to climb. |
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| View from the top. |
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| Didn't get coffee here, sadly ;) |
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| My beer actually had a beer-iceberg in it! Pretty exciting. |
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| Koka-Kola! And Sandra! |
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| Some pretty sweet dance moves were busted. |
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| So huge, and pretty overwhelming. But I successfully haggled for one gift! |
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| The Spice Bazaar, which I actually liked better than the Grand Bazaar. |
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| View from the apartment. |
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| And, with yet another selfie, back we head to Jolly Olde England. |
In summary, go to Istanbul. Especially go if you can go with friends, and definitely be sure you run across the Bosphorus Bridge from Asia to Europe! What a memorable weekend.
