Istanbul Impressions

Turkey Flag

Two whirlwind days in Istanbul on our way to Cape Town, South Africa is complete. Complete with a few more hours than expected due to a 4 hour flight delay out of Istanbul, finally departing at 5:45am - yes, you read that correctly it was a long night in the airport. The time change helped, giving us some time to chat and enjoy some classic Tucker text group entertainment. Regardless, Istanbul surprised us in a quite a few ways. And yes, I’d like to go back, spend a bit more time see more of Turkey. But maybe not during the summer heat.

The unexpected

• The HILLS

• The size and sprawl of Istanbul

• Modern Turkey’s secular approach to democracy

• The story of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Let’s start from the bottom… Of course we expected a rich history, what we didn’t know much about was how the country took a major turn post World War I. With many thanks from Turks today, Atatürk, an Army General went against the Sultan, not willing to accept the allies demands as the Sultan was. He lead the Turkish people to a war of independence and today is known as the Father of Turkey. It was his leadership that took Turkey from a regime of the past into a progressive Muslim Democracy. It was his vision that created the Democracy of Turkey today including separation of Mosque and State, the right of an individual to live and interpret Muslim as they wish and more. Less related, but also unexpected, the hills of Istanbul, and not to be forgotten, the aggressive hammam masseuse who yelled "YES" when David’s back cracked.

Blue Mosque

Blue Mosque

Blue Mosque

(Sultan Ahmet Mosque, aka the Blue Mosque)

Istanbul did not have the charming historical city center that we often associate with historically significant cities. It’s a bustling, metropolitan city and its size and sprawl was surprising. The population grew from ~1M in the 1970s to 16M+ today as people came from smaller towns for the “sands of gold” in Istanbul. Locals expect it take at least an hour to drive anywhere in the city, and that would be “making good time”. We experienced that ourselves on the drive in from the airport; the traffic in this city puts LA to shame.

Rooftop Istanbul Sunset

Baklava Istanbul

Turkish Food

(Stunning rooftop sunsets, baklava everywhere, even gluten free!, delicious Turkish food)

OK the hills. We’re from California and the Bay Area. San Francisco is known for its hills so we know hills. Istanbul is built on seven hills and the beauty of those hills against the Bosporus was stunning.

View from Camlica Hill

Istanbul Galata Bridge

Bosphorus, Istanbul

(Bosphorus separating the European side of Istanbul from the Asian side; the middle photo is technically of the Golden Horn, connected to the Bosphorus)

And the cats, not unexpected but I couldn’t post about Istanbul without sharing some of the many cats that are found everywhere; cared for by the government and residents.

Istanbul Cats

Istanbul Cats

Istanbul Cats

(the cats...)

From a travel planning perspective we stayed in the old city center, traffic was bad getting there but it put us in the middle of all the main tourist spots. The staff at Erboy Hotel were super helpful, the room was small and modest but got the job done. We booked a full day city highlights walking tourand got lucky with an amazing tour guide, Arzu, even better, we ended up being the only people in the group. And also did a half day tour of the Asian side (you cannot walk or see this area well on your own, it’s far enough (1 hour minimum to everything) and the main sights are not walkable from each other.

P.S. send us texts, emails, photos - we’ll be sharing our life on the road, please share your life with us as well - miss you already!

Basilica Cistern, Istanbul