Istanbul: Last Day

Our last full day started with a delicious late lunch with Sania and friends in Bebek, a little north of where we were staying in Ortaköy (all within the expansive Istanbul city limits).

Since we left the club "early" the night before (at 3:30am), we decided to explore the area while the party animals recuperated on Galatasaray Adası, the man-made island in the middle of the Bosphorus.

The first stop was up this random, never-ending staircase across from the restaurant.  We didn't find much up there, but we did burn off some calories and found a great view!

Next, we stumbled across a neat looking cemetery in the shadow of Rumelihisarı (Rumelian Castle).

We totally had to check it out... if only for these gorgeous purple flowers spilling over the tombs/plots.  (It's a little morbid, but I loved the tombs/plots in all the cemeteries we saw.  Most had flowers and/or herbs growing on them like a beautiful eternal flower pot!)

And what a great place to spend eternity over-looking this view!

I'm sure these plots were very affordable (yeah right) so moving on up the hill, we finally reach Rumelihisarı, which is situated on the narrowest point of the Bosphorus straight and was built by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II between 1451 and 1452, before he conquered Constantinople.

This is what it looked like from our Bosphorus cruise earlier in the week.  (We were walking along the tower and wall on the left side of the photo below)

It's really too bad we didn't have enough time to explore the whole complex, but I guess that's what happens when you get a late start.

It was a relaxing and a gorgeous day to go exploring around this little residential district.  The week flew by and before we knew it, we had to go home.

Istanbul is a true mix of Europe and Asia - we've never experienced anything like it.  The city is fascinating, intoxicating, and overwhelming.  We're not sure if we'll ever make it back, but Istanbul has a way of making a lasting impression on its visitors and we'll never forget her.

Now before you get too sad about the end of our Istanbul trip... stay tuned for the next blog post dedicated completely to FOOD!!!!  I'm still drooling over the ice cream over there...

Istanbul: Saturday

Since our new posh hotel didn't offer a free breakfast, we set off to find some food.  We thought we'd run into one of the numerous simit (Turkish sesame bagels) sellers en route to Yıldız Park, but no such luck.  

So we started exploring this gorgeous former imperial garden on empty stomachs in search of the cafe.  It was enchanting!  

The weather was perfect, everything was in bloom, and Turkish families were having picnics all over the place.  It would have been the perfect morning walk except we were famished... 

Soon we stumbled upon the Çadır pavilion where no one spoke English but we sat down and helped ourselves to the fabulous brunch on the patio and tried not to look too out of place.  And as with every meal outdoors in this city, Michael had another staring contest with a cat.

With our bellies full, we headed up to the Şale Pavilion which used to be the guest house for visitors of the sultan staying at Yıldız Palace.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to tour the Palace but the guest house was beautiful, ornate and very impressive (you wouldn't guess it from the facade).

Of course we couldn't take photos inside, but we could roam around the beautiful gardens.

The bridges were so cool!  And the ponds were filled with tadpoles and frogs on lily pads.  It was like being in a fairytale.

Last stop was the Malta Kiosk where they had a bigger and better buffet for the same price of the other place!  It was also much prettier inside.

And a better view...

So we shared some yummy Turkish ice cream on the terrace.  Then we walked back to the hotel and hung out at the hotel bar.  Doesn't get much better than this...

And we definitely needed this leisurely day to rest up for Sania's birthday party that night at Reina.

Reina is an outdoor club next to the bridge and right on the Bosphorus (which is awesome on a normal night) but which is spectacular on the night of the Super Moon!

So much fun.  I miss Sania already...

Istanbul: Friday

Today, we took the Dolmabahçe Palace tour.  This palace was built in the mid-1800s to modernize the Sultan's living quarters, as compared to the old fashioned Topkapi Palace. It was described as being designed using Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassical styles, blended with traditional Ottoman architecture. Honestly, we didn't see much traditional Ottoman architecture... except there was a harem in the back.

We weren't allowed to take photos on the inside, but I think you could tell that it was done on a budget since only the rooms seen by foreign ambassadors and others that they were trying to impress were covered in crystal and gold, and the other rooms were painted (albeit beautifully painted with depth and perspective).  Michael called it mullet architecture - ornate on the front and cheap on the back.

But the gardens were gorgeous!

And can't beat sitting on a bench overlooking the Bosphorus!

Complete with peacocks roaming the grounds!

After a nice morning at Dolmabahçe, we head over to see the last two mosques of our trip.  We finally figure out how to find the Rüstem Pasha Mosque!

It's a small mosque compared to the others we've seen on this trip, but it's unique because of its octagonal shape and its liberal use of gorgeous Isnik tiles.

Then we headed on over to check on the filming of the James Bond movie and the New Mosque.

What a beautiful interior!

I loved the colors in this mosque... I could just look up at the ceiling all day.

Now it was time for us to leave our little hotel near Taksim, and move on up to our fancy 5-star hotel in Ortaköy to meet up with Sania.  We sort of had a Bosphorus view from our room but we definitely had a bridge view.

And we even got fireworks during dinner!

About 10 minutes after the fireworks, the guy at the table next to us proposed to his girlfriend and it was so sweet.  We had no idea what in the world they were saying, but I guess love is the universal language.

Istanbul: Thursday

Michael reminded me that I forgot to mention that we saw Bosphorus dolphins on our way to the Princes' Islands!  It was such a fantastic treat!  Unfortunately, they were hard to photograph but here's an NPR story about them if you want to read about them.

So on Thursday, we were back in the Old City to do some sightseeing before our Turkish bath appointments.  We were trying to navigate to the Rüstem Pasha Mosque but took a wrong turn and ended up at the Süleymaniye Mosque up the hill. This was on our list anyway so we checked it out.

This is Michael's favorite mosque of our entire trip.  It's gorgeous.  Here's a crazy cool perspective looking up from the entrance.

And here we are!

Sinan, the architect for Süleymaniye and bunches of other stuff, designed his own tomb and it's just on the other side of the wall.

We saw a couple other sultan's grave yards too.  They were pretty neat!  (Kind of reminds me of Boston where they just have random, old grave yards in the middle of the city.)

As we walked down towards the Hamam (Turkish bath house), we got a closer look at the German Fountain.  This is how it looked when we passed by on Sunday.

This is how it looked when we walked closer.

Whoa!  Beautiful ceiling!  And on the same stretch, there was some sort of classic rally car exhibition going on with cars from all over the world.  Here's our, um, favorite...

Whoa!  And yeah, it was furry.  It was fun to see all the cars and the team members hanging out.  But we couldn't linger too long... we had an appointment at the Hamam!

Unfortunately, we couldn't take photos because it was beautifully restored and just gorgeous.  Both the men's and the woman's sides were super professional and it was a great experience.  You know I was worried about how naked I had to get for this thing... well, you're pretty much naked after 10 minutes... but like I said, they were super professional so it wasn't a big deal.

Both our favorite part: The Bubble Cocoon (as I'm going to call it).  You are basically lying on the warm marble and the bath lady/man soaks a linen pillow case (at least that's what it looks like) into a bucket of soapy water and makes a whole bunch of bubbles with it and drops it on you!  It's awesome.

Michael's least favorite part: Oil massage by a large Turkish man.

My least favorite part: The expensive price tag!  No, but it was definitely worth the experience.

We had dinner reservations afterwards and got the restaurants mixed up.  We could actually see the rooftop deck two rooftops down from us when we got to the rooftop of the place we walked into.  We were the only people there!  But hey, we gave it a shot and it ended up turning out really good (and cheaper than the original restaurant would have been!)

Here's Michael with a glass of the Turkish national beer (and cozy wrap) and the view at sunset wasn't too bad either.