Thoughts on Istanbul

Istanbul marked a significant milestone on my journey as I’d made it to the edge of Europe and was shortly to leave the continent behind as I pushed on into Asia. Technically I made multiple forays into Asia during my stay as I nipped back and forth across the Bosphorus both by train and on foot.

Istanbul is vast. I barely scratched the surface and focused most of my efforts on the European side in the ‘old city’ where I did see quite a bit.

My first experience of Istanbul, besides arriving with no clue about where I was or where to go was walking down to see the famous Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque) which was very near my first hostel. The Mosque is currently under construction and so has scaffolding up the side. I wandered around and hadn’t realised there was another enormous Mosque, The Hagia Sophia nearby. I found myself stood in a park between the two gazing up at them when the call to prayer started, emanating from huge loud speakers. It’s quite something. It’s extremely loud, and all the mosques go at the same time and so it echoes around the city in a discordant non-harmony. I found it weirdly moving when coupled with the spectacle of these enormous monuments.

One of the thing you immediately notice is how the Mosques dominate the skyline of the city, towering above all other buildings. This is something you can see on both sides of the Bosphorus, although further into the Asian side there are a lot of impressive sky scrapers.

I spent a lot of time just walking around the city, exploring and soaking it up. You see so much more on foot.

I actually didn’t visit either of the aforementioned Mosques and instead opted to see the Süleymaniye mosque instead, in part because it was free! (Pics below).

I went to the Topkapı Palace although having seen my fair share of national monuments I’m not sure it was worth the £10 to get in. There were too many people and not enough to see that I found interesting. Far better was the Archaeological museum which housed an impressive collection of ancient artefacts spanning several historical periods dating back to 2500 BC. They seemed to have so much that there was a literal dumping ground for artefacts that didn’t make the museums and even when you visited the toilets there were a load of unmarked archaeological finds littering the corridors. The other place I really enjoyed was the Basilica Cistern.

The food in Turkey came as welcome break from the previous stodge. Whilst still very meat and carb orientated I finally experienced the introduction of vegetables! The cuisine was a lot more varied and I ate very well.

Whilst I enjoyed the city, by the end I was keen to escape. I’d had my fill of cities, especially being in such a busy, hectic and enormous one like Istanbul.