It all started with that I had decided I wanted to spend my birthday somewhere else and therefore my best friend Maren and I booked a flight to Turkey. It was about time to go there, not only because most of my lovely neighbours are mainly Turkish here in Berlin but everyone kept raving on about how amazing Istanbul is. And they are damn right!!!
So Maren and I had arranged to meet up at the airport in the middle of the night as both of us had the shittiest arrival time ever. Namely, 3 am at Sabiha Gökcen airport which is 45 minutes away from the city centre on the Asian side of town. In the end it was no problem at all, I was allowed to sit and wait for Maren on the baggage belt, next to the smoking security guys (next to the non-smoking sign
). Everyone seemed really relaxed and friendly at those early hours that we couldn’t believe it. There was also a shuttle bus to the city centre and from there we caught a cab to Ceylan’s place. I got in contact with Ceylan through couchsurfing (I’m telling you this website is fantastic) and it was no problem for her to let us in the middle of the night although she had to work the next morning. And this said is that she did not even know us personally!
Finally, we got a couple of hours sleep before we woke up to find that Ceylan’s cousin Esra who she is living with in Nisantasi, the suburb where Orhan Pamuk grew up (read his book Istanbul it’s fab!), had prepared breakfast on the balcony for us. Those girls were the sweetest and we were really grateful for such outstanding hospitality. Turkish breakfast is quite different from what we’re used to, it’s mainly savoury and we even had delicious black olives and the typical tea of course.
Off to do some sightseeing in Istanbul with a sunny 26 degrees at the end of September, woohoo! Picture us walking around with an open mouth saying ‘awwwwww’ and ‘ohhhhhh my gosh’ constantly (I mean the German version of OMG of course, lol). No, really check out some of the almost 400 pictures we together (sorry!) it is such a beautiful place. Whether the mosques (went to see New mosque, and Süleyman mosque on the first day) or the Bazaars, everything is so colourful and buzzing. And although we are blonde, blue eyed and foreigners, the guys weren’t harassing us as we had been told that could happen.
Also people did not really seem to mind that we were eating and drinking during the day as it is the 30-day Islamic holy month of Ramazan a time of fasting, prayer and celebration. During this month fasting means letting nothing pass the lips: no food, drink, chewing gum, tobacco smoke or, and for the strictly observant, not even licking an envelope or postage stamp from sunrise to sunset. Dedication I call this and I am not sure if I could stick to it. Maren and I were able to get some food and drink in our tummies and e.g. had fish kebab, with fresh fish off the boat at Galata Bridge.
In hindsight, I would say it was really cool to experience how the atmosphere in the city changed the minute the sun was setting. Life on the streets got even busier (although there’s a 24-hour rush hour in Istanbul) and Ramazan is also the time of celebration and after sunset the feasting begins. Strings of coloured lights festoon trees and buildings, mosques are illuminated and crowded with worshippers. It felt like being in a fairy tale of 1001 nights. A carnival atmosphere prevails with temporary booths selling religious books and paraphernalia, traditional snacks and stuff for the kids and we were right in the middle of it!
Later that night we returned to Taksim on the other site of the Golden Horn, a busy quarter with lots of shops, bars and restaurants and in a nice cosy back alley found a cool restaurant where we could sit outside and eat some Meze (small plates with hot and cold different kinds of food such as stuffed mussels, humus, pureed eggplant salad, stuffed vine leaves, watercress, yoghurt dip – yummy! A bit like Tapas style in Spain) and drink some red wine to go with it. I really love this kind of dinner, you can sit for hours and chat away while picking here and there.
From where we were sitting in the street we could hear some cool 80s music and instead of going home around midnight, we decided to peek into the bar for one last drink for the road. Isn’t it always like that, and then you end up coming home drunk at 5 am?! In our case we first couldn’t find the bar, although the music was getting louder as we walked closer to it. It turned out that we had to go up a set of stairs, and another, and another, and another. At this point I stopped counting and on the 5th floor we arrived in probably one of the best kept hidden secret bars in Istanbul, overlooking the whole city at night. There was even a terrace on the 6th floor! The one drink for the road became a few and we met some really cool people including the owner of the bar, Zana and his bro Met, the barkeeper. Had a brilliant time with the guys! Cheers!
The next day began with little sleep and feeling a bit hung over (tell me something new), but we were both so hyped that we didn’t care at all. Our first stop on the agenda was Dolmabahce Palace, the sultan's new European-style palace on the Bosphorus. It's just as a sultan's palace should be: huge and sumptuous, magnificent and decadent with hundreds of rooms and a 4000 kg glass chandelier!!!
Also a historic moment occurred in one of the rooms, Atatürk, founder of the Turkish republic, died in the palace.
From there we moved on to the Blue Mosque, Istanbul's imperial Mosque that is quite impressive with its six minarets and a great cascade of domes. Inside, wearing headscarves we watched the men doing their prayers and even managed to sneak up to one of the balconies to get a better view.
Right next to the mosque is Yerebatan cistern, a mysterious and gloomy place beneath the city. It felt like we almost entered into a different world when we descended down there. All the noise from above ground had ceased and we encountered ourselves in a forest of marble columns and atmospheric lighting. Apparently a James Bond movie (From Russia with Love?) was filmed there, might have to watch it again.
Now back to Turkish hospitality! When we returned to the girls place, they had prepared dinner for us and we all (including their boyfriends) had a huge meal together before heading out for birthday celebrations to a nightclub.
Again the party took place on the 6th and 7th floor (a night out in Istanbul is definitely great for your butt!) and we got to listen and boggy to a really cool live band playing good covers and some of their own stuff. The bar was packed and we therefore appreciated that the waiters came around with bottles of beer in their hands, handing them to you every time yours was empty
. This went on for a couple of hours and we followed the habit to go to bed at 5 a.m. You can’t help it, this is Istanbul!
Midday we were picked up by Zana (the bar owner), because we were going to stay at his place for the next night. Get this, not only he invited us to his apartment but he also made a huge effort and prepared a birthday brunch for me!! In the afternoon we strolled around Besiktas market and the chic art-boutique-and-cafe scene in the student quarter of Ortaköy. Later we went on a boat cruise around the Golden Horn/the Bosphorus watching the sun setting over the city. Stunning!
At night of course we had to go back to Cambaz, our favourite bar where I got a cake and birthday cocktails from Zana and the others!!!
We partied with locals until dawn and you can imagine that we weren’t exactly feeling too fresh the next day…
Nonetheless we managed to see Hagia Sophia (the church of the Divine Wisdom) and Topkapi Palace, two more of the top sights in the city.
It seems incredible that we hardly got any sleep at all during our time in Istanbul but the city makes you feel high constantly for some reason and this was definitely not the last time we were there!
Very nice to read about your adventures in Istanbul! And, better late than never: Happy Birthday!!! I'm still working on my driver's license: exam is at the end of this month. Rest assured I'll come driving to Berlin at some point so we can can catch up!