Istanbul: a city shared by Europe and Asia

Hey guys! 🙂

Recently I’ve written about my trip to Kusadasi. Other part of my Turkey trip was Istanbul. Still to this day this is one of my favourite cities I have ever visited! The sea, the architecture, people, markets, food, scents, sight…Istanbul really has it all! Before going further into my post I will list top 5 things ( for you lazy readers 🙂 ) you have to see/do in Istanbul:

1. Hagia Sophia
2. Blue Mosque
3. Topkapi Palace
4. Bosphorus ferry ride
5. Basilica Cistern

Other than those 5 things, you also must take a bus to go outside of Istanbul and see:

1. Pamukkale
2. Ephesus (Artemis temple, Library of Celses, Church of Mary)
3. Troy

For the rest of you who want to know more about Istanbul keep reading and let me take you on this little journey 🙂

Walking through Istanbul

I arrived in Istanbul from Zagreb airport. I don’t even remember anymore how long was that flight, but I don’t think it was longer than 2, 2 and a half hours. We stayed in Green Anka Hotel. The hotel was great. It was really nice, the food was amazing and the rooms looked very pretty, plus the tram station was very very close to the hotel so we had no problem in getting to the city center. You have to know that Istanbul is cheap. 1 lira (turkish currency) is approximetly 0.34 USD. Tram ticket is 2 lira’s, kebab (one of the most famous quick foods there) is 3-5 lira’s and you get kebab, fries and some dips! Walking through the town you see many pretty buildings but you can also see very old ancient ones aswell. All of a sudden you see some old ancient statues in the middle of the street. Walking there is amazing because you can see many different people. From very modern, fancy and well dressed people to old fashioned ones. It’s a city of diversity really. Sometimes you won’t get any looks, and at some points people will look at you wierdly because you have shorts. But even though we noticed some of the people not approving the way we dressed (it was summer, and 40 degrees celsius so naturally all of us wore shorts and tops), still we didn’t have any problems.

The most famous market there is called The Grand Bazaar and you can find everything there! EVERYTHING! From so many different spices, to jewerely and clothes, to food and phone accessories. It’s huge and crowded and cheap. You can buy a lot of cute necklace’s and bracelet’s because they are so cheap. One thing you HAVE to do there is BARGAINING! I’ve mentioned it in my post about Kusadasi (click here). Everyone is bargaining there so don’t be shy to start a bargain, it will work!

Top 5 things to see

Ok now, let’s show you those 5 things you have to see. Prepare yourselves 🙂

Hagia Sophia

Inside of Hagia Sophia on the second floor. Unfortunetly I didn’t have a good camera back then so the pic is blurry 😦

These chandelier’s look so amazing in person!

The ceiling in Hagia Sophia

Blue Mosque

Blue Mosque from outside

Blue Mosque from outside

Blue Mosque inside. I don’t have any good pictures from inside because it was so crowded so I couldn’t take a good one. You have to see it in person. So beautiful!

Topkapi Palace

Topkapi palace is huge (that’s what she said hahaha. Ok. Sorry for my “humor”..won’t happen again)! I think we spend a lot of time there because it’s so big (..almost wrote it again..). It has the most beautiful view and it has sooo many details it’s crazy! I got very excited to see that because many emperors lived there and at that time, one TV Show about one of them was very popular, so I was happy to see where he actually lived.

See how big it is? I have so many pictures from this place but I decided to post just a few because you HAVE to see this place in person. It’s a must!

One of the entrance’s.

Look at those details. Amazing!

One of the amazing views I had at Topkapi Palace.

Bosphorus ferry ride

You can’t leave Istanbul if you didn’t took a ferry ride! The most luxurious buildings, hotels and night clubs can be seen on the coast. Plus the famous Bosphorus bridge that connects Asia and Europe is amazing. The fact that only one city is actually on the both continent’s still blows my mind! I had a chance to go over that bridge with a bus AND to ride in a boat and see the coast. PER-FECT!

Look at those details!

Basilica Cistern

Last but not least, Basilica Cistern. That’s the largest of few hundred ancient cisterns beneath Constantinople (old name for Istanbul). It’s dark inside and very mistical! Take a look:

See how mistical, and a bit spooky it is. I loved it 🙂

idk what was happening here to be honest haha but it looks cool 🙂

Ok guys. That would be all. I’m sorry for too many pictures but I just HAD to show you a lot so you can really decide to visit Istanbul! Don’t forget to visit other things in Turkey by taking a day trips to Ephesus, Pamukkale and Troy. If you want to know more about Ephesus and Pamukkale click HERE and for Troy Imma leave you with this picture just so you get a bit more interested!

Until next time… :*

Yup, Troy is real you guys!

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