Getting the Flavour of Istanbul and a visit to the Galata Tower

We have arrived in Istanbul and just spent our first full day exploring the city.  We had a good flight on Air France from Toronto to Paris and then a 4 hour layover before we continued to Istanbul.  We left Toronto at 6:40 p.m. on Tuesday May 28 and arrived in Istanbul at 5: 00 p.m. on Wednesday May 29.

The scene at the airport was a bit chaotic as there were at least 100 people waving signs waiting to pick folks up.  I spotted my name and we were lucky in finding our driver and getting out of the airport.  An hour journey took us to our apartment in the Beyoglu area.  Our apartment is clean and compact in a small building in a working class area.  Ishmail, our host was there to greet us and give us the lowdown on the neighbourhood.

We are only minutes away from a long pedestrian street (Istiklal Caddesi) and also close to the "fish street" which has some great fish stores and restaurants.  Istanbul is an exciting, vibrant city with about 15 million people.  The weather is warm (26C today with warm evenings), but there is a bit of a breeze and it is good weather for walking.

On Wednesday night we checked out the immediate neighbourhood and had our first mezze (some nice eggplant) and shared a sea bream for dinner.  We got to sleep before midnight and then crashed to noon on the 30th.

Old street around the corner from us

Pedestrian street -Istikilal Caddesi- at night

Mer Balik restaurant where we had dinner on May 29

Alain with eggplant

On Thursday May 30, we finally headed out at about 2:00 p.m. and decided to walk to the older part of Istanbul, stopping at the Galata Tower to get a 360 degree view of the city.  We took a number of pictures on the way.

Lots of posters of Istanbul trying to be the Olympic city in 2020

Fish shop--- excellent fish in Istanbul

Coffee cups anyone?

Istanbul is both a coffee and tea city.  Ishmail, our host, says tea is the primary beverage, which is drunk in small glasses, often with sugar.  There is also turkish coffee which is very good.  As well, there are many international coffee shops (Starbucks, Lavazza, Caribou etc).

There are many vendors selling mussels in the street

Alain and a tram

There are many trams, both old and new, and an old funicular called the Tunel (started running in 1876 and is either the second or third oldest passenger underground in the world) that runs between Beygolu and the water.  There is also a more modern metro.  The fare system is an Istanbulkart ( like the Oyster card in London, England).  One puts money on the card and it can be used by more than one person.  Each ride is only 1.95 Turkish Lira (about $1.05 Can).  Toronto is so backward when it comes to transit.

Lots of stores with Turkish Delight

We passed the Consulate General of the Russian Federation, which was built between 1838-1845.  It was the premises of the Embassy of the Russian Empire in Constantinople and was built by G Fossati who reconstructed the Hagia Sophia.  Legend holds that the former Embassy was built on soil brought by sea from Russia.

Consulate General of the Russian Federation

Pedestrian street scene

We finally arrived at the Galata Tower, which at one time was one of the oldest in the world, dating back to 528.  It has gone through many iterations.  A later version of the tower was destroyed by an earthquake and the latest iteration was built in 1864.

Galata Tower

The 360 degree views were spectacular.

View from the tower

The Bosphorus

Roof tops and the Golden Horn

 After visiting the Tower, we wandered around the Galata area.  Lots of neat shops - some very modern and lots of design details (the Soho of Istanbul).  I bought a lovely silk blouse at "Studio".  The designer was there for a picture.

Toby and designer

We then stopped for a very late lunch and our first Turkish coffee and Turkish tea.  Both good.

Turkish coffee and tea at cool cafe

A lot of the stores seem to have coffee/tea and light fare as well as either clothes, design items, ceramics or graphic t-shirts.

A lot of the buildings have spiral staircases

Galata tower from surrounding streets

We stopped at a great coffee shop/ graphic T-shirt store.  The designer/owner was there.  This graphic on the wall was also on a number of T-shirts.

Istanbul-They Call it Chaos, We Call it Home

We finally made it all the way down to the Galata bridge which links the area we are staying in with the older part of Istanbul.  There were lots of fishermen on the bridge.  Great views of the many mosques.

Fishermen on the Galata bridge

Boats in the Harbour

Toby on the bridge

We walked by the New Mosque.  Construction began on the New Mosque in 1598, but was delayed due to the execution of the architect for heresy.  It was finally completed in 1663.

The "New Mosque" (Yeni Camii)

Our final stop for the day at about 7:00 p.m. was the incredible Spice Bazaar, also known as the Egyptian Bazaar.  The latter name derives from its past association with the arrival of the annual Cairo caravan, a flotilla of ships bearing provisions and coffee from Egypt.  There are around 90 shops with some great looking spices, olives, nuts, turkish delight and other goodies.  Alain bought some coffee from a coffee merchant who has been in business since 1871.  We'll definitely return.

Olive selection

Crowds walking through the Spice Bazaar

Gorgeous colours of many spices

We walked back to the funicular for our first ride uphill to the pedestrian street near us.  We bought some sea bream from a fish store on the "fish" street and then went back to our apartment for dinner at around 8:30.  It was a great day.  We are both glad we are here for another 11 days.  There is so much to see and do.  We like to wander the streets and watch the scene as well as take in the major sights.  To do this requires time, which we luckily have.