Istanbul 19 Years Later...

After 17 years, driven by my partner's desire to see the Pearl of the East for the first time, I decide to book a flight from Bologna to Istanbul, at a cost of 200 euros each. After careful research I book the hotel (Star Holiday), a choice that will prove spot on since it is located right opposite the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern, Topkapi Palace and Hagia Sophia, with a breathtaking panoramic view from the breakfast terrace. A hotel located on Divan Yolu, one of the main streets, where thirty metres from the hotel passes the TRAM that leads to many parts of the city. I will not list here what we did on each single day during the week, but I will limit myself to telling you what I visited and noticed after 17 years.

Clearly, finding ourselves opposite it, we visited the now museum of Aya Sofia (entry 30 Turkish lira) dating from 537 AD, for a millennium the largest Christian basilica in the world, which splendidly blends Byzantine Christian culture with Muslim culture; the queue to get in is often long but arm yourself with patience because it is worth it.

The Blue Mosque, built in the early 1600s AD, has free entry instead, but here too you often have to queue, also because the visit can only be made at certain times when there are no worshippers praying; the mosque is imposing with its domes, very beautiful, rich in floral decorations and blue ceramic tiles, a true jewel as are also the other mosques we visited, that of Suleiman, that of Sehzade, Nuruosmaniye, the Yeni (New) and other lesser ones found on every street corner and where entry is always free, you just have to respect a few rules of decorum.

A visit is certainly worthwhile also to the Basilica Cistern / Yerebatan Saray (20 Turkish lira), an ancient Byzantine cistern that supplied the princely palaces with drinking water. There are 336 columns lit by a soft light and with a background of classical music that makes it all very evocative and magical.

Since during the week we found several rainy and cloudy days, we spent a lot of time in two markets absolutely worth visiting, the Grand Bazaar (Kapalicarsi) and the Egyptian Bazaar (Misir Carsisi). The first is one of the largest covered bazaars in the world, with almost 4000 shops spread over 65 alleys in which it is easy to get lost. You haggle with everyone and over everything and we loved doing it; clearly, before buying, always ask more than one trader so as to tell the next one the lowest price the previous one gave you. Also stop at one of the cafés there to enjoy a Turkish coffee, a tea or a dessert so as to fully savour the atmosphere; an important thing to keep in mind is that in the Grand Bazaar there are the “Cambi” euro/Turkish lira with the best rate.

The second, the Egyptian one, is smaller, 95 shops, famous above all for spices, near the Yeni (New) Camii; it deserves a visit above all because you will buy very well (especially the lokum, coffee, spices, cheeses, dried fruit) not inside but in the little shops just outside the Bazaar, and in the nearby streets.

Always in the vicinity of our hotel we visited one of the major attractions of Istanbul, the Palace that for 4 centuries was the residence of the Ottoman Sultans, the Topkapi! Spread over 4 courtyards, it is rich in rooms richly decorated with enamelled ceramics and gold (including the Harem) in which the life of the sultans took place; some relics of Muhammad are still kept there today. Beautiful is the view that from its walls one enjoys of the Bosphorus, on the eastern shore, of the Galata tower and the various mosques. The cost for entry is 30 Turkish lira plus 15 to visit the harem. Adjacent is Gulhane park where you can rest and refresh yourself after the visit to the palace.

We also dedicated half a day to the Kumkapi district, and to the seafront, a quiet area of Istanbul, where at the market (the ancient port of Istanbul) very fresh fish is sold, artistically displayed, and you can eat it right in the little shacks and small restaurants behind the fish shops. Inside the Komkapi district, on the other hand, there are many taverns one after another with a lively atmosphere, where you can eat the fish from the market fish shops, though at higher prices.

Another area you absolutely must visit is that of Eminonu, with the lively life that takes place around the new mosque, the Egyptian bazaar and all the streets that intersect in that area, packed with people. Here you must enjoy the sunset on the Galata bridge, watching the Turks who slowly occupy the whole bridge on both sides with their fishing rods, and perhaps also enjoy a kebab or a Balik Ekmek, the famous fish sandwich that from the barges beside the Galata bridge are handed out in industrial quantities, absolutely to be tried!

After seeing all these things in the “Golden Horn”, the most historic part, you just cross the Galata bridge and go to the more European districts of Galata and Beyoglu. In the first it is essential to climb the tower, of Byzantine age but rebuilt by the Genoese in the 14th century, 68 metres high, from whose summit you can enjoy a 360° panorama of the whole of Istanbul! The cost to go up is 18.5 Turkish lira.

The climb from the Galata and Pera district along Istiklal Caddesi up towards Taksim square is rather demanding, so you can and should go up with one of the funiculars that from the port of Kabatas or from Karakoy reach the square. From here the descent along the pedestrian Istiklal Caddesi down to the Galata bridge will be a real stroll; the street is beautiful, full of fine shops and little restaurants, you always feel like you are in Paris or London, the street is lined with many very evocative side alleys, in the evening it is the area of Turkish “movida”.

We loved getting lost in the less touristy streets of Istanbul, full above all of Turks, sometimes even without a precise destination; we also reached the university district or the heart of the Fatih district where the most fundamentalist population is found, but never any danger; on the contrary, in these areas no one will try to insist on selling you something, people are much more detached, so you can also enjoy a different Istanbul. We tried and experienced everything, from kebabs to the fish sandwich, from big glasses of pomegranate juice to boza (a drink of fermented and sweetened maize or wheat), from lokum to the cheeses of the stalls; we missed the Bosphorus cruise and a visit to the Asian side given the very windy and often rainy weather.

There is no need to take taxis; with the two metro lines, the tram and the funiculars you can comfortably reach all the most important places. Happy travels to everyone!