3rd of January 2015
Introduction:
While working in China, I came back to Bulgaria to celebrate Christmas and the New Year's Eve. The first time i came back I was using Aeroflot and the pilots were making me freaking out, so this time I wanted to go with a "normal" company. Hopefully it was my annual ticket provided by the company and my boss accepted me to fly with the Turkish Airlines with a connection in Istanbul. Great !
Meanwhile I saw that there were two flights from Sofia one in the early morning and one in the afternoon, and the connection for Beijing was late in the night. The opportunity to visit Istanbul for a day came naturally so I went for the 12h stop in Istanbul.
On the website of the Turkish airlines that seemed more than attractive for the stop over passengers: a free 3h tour by bus in the city of Istanbul. I haven't used in the end as i was having a full day over there but in any case I think this was a great idea to make discover the city.
So here we go:
I arrived at the Ataturk airport in the early morning, I left my luggage at the storage room and went to the tourist information center. There was one smiling lady who draw me a map with everything I was able to visit for the visit for that time (and of course she gave me the name of restaurant when I could a kebab). Quite challenging day but challenge accepted ! :)
I was lucky because the weather was cold (around 5 degrees) but sunny.
I took a tram to the downtown... first impressions: the tram were new and similar to the Parisian ones. Actually I guess I was excepting to see a city like Sofia but definitely Istanbul is far more developed.
First stop: The Grand Bazaar which is the oldest cover market of the city. Inside, sellers were selling everything: souvenirs, clothes etc. I catch the opportunity to buy some souvenirs. I decided from there to do everything walking for where I was able to do so.
So I walked to the Bleu Mosque. While walking I was able to feel the different influences in the city: the Greek, the Roman and most recently the ottoman influences. Also I was paying attention to the faces of the people who were walking around and suddenly the word cultural crossway took all the place in my mind. Indeed, everyone could be Turkish. Something I find beautiful.
I reached the Bleu Mosque: wow ! Such a master piece ! Really beautiful building !
I got in the front yard but didn't get in to visit as I was with a limited time an proffered to visit a bit longer the Hagia Sophia Mosque which was 300-400m away from the Bleu Mosque and has been transformed into a museum. Indeed, it used to be an Orthodox Church converted into a mosque.
Again wooow. Once inside there is this mixed feeling about being into a church and into a mosque with some scripts in Arab and in Greek... impressive !
To keep it even more authentic on some of the walls behind the painting it is still possibility to see the the icons of Jesus and Marie for example.
While working in China, I came back to Bulgaria to celebrate Christmas and the New Year's Eve. The first time i came back I was using Aeroflot and the pilots were making me freaking out, so this time I wanted to go with a "normal" company. Hopefully it was my annual ticket provided by the company and my boss accepted me to fly with the Turkish Airlines with a connection in Istanbul. Great !
Meanwhile I saw that there were two flights from Sofia one in the early morning and one in the afternoon, and the connection for Beijing was late in the night. The opportunity to visit Istanbul for a day came naturally so I went for the 12h stop in Istanbul.
On the website of the Turkish airlines that seemed more than attractive for the stop over passengers: a free 3h tour by bus in the city of Istanbul. I haven't used in the end as i was having a full day over there but in any case I think this was a great idea to make discover the city.
So here we go:
I arrived at the Ataturk airport in the early morning, I left my luggage at the storage room and went to the tourist information center. There was one smiling lady who draw me a map with everything I was able to visit for the visit for that time (and of course she gave me the name of restaurant when I could a kebab). Quite challenging day but challenge accepted ! :)
I was lucky because the weather was cold (around 5 degrees) but sunny.
I took a tram to the downtown... first impressions: the tram were new and similar to the Parisian ones. Actually I guess I was excepting to see a city like Sofia but definitely Istanbul is far more developed.
First stop: The Grand Bazaar which is the oldest cover market of the city. Inside, sellers were selling everything: souvenirs, clothes etc. I catch the opportunity to buy some souvenirs. I decided from there to do everything walking for where I was able to do so.
So I walked to the Bleu Mosque. While walking I was able to feel the different influences in the city: the Greek, the Roman and most recently the ottoman influences. Also I was paying attention to the faces of the people who were walking around and suddenly the word cultural crossway took all the place in my mind. Indeed, everyone could be Turkish. Something I find beautiful.
I reached the Bleu Mosque: wow ! Such a master piece ! Really beautiful building !
I got in the front yard but didn't get in to visit as I was with a limited time an proffered to visit a bit longer the Hagia Sophia Mosque which was 300-400m away from the Bleu Mosque and has been transformed into a museum. Indeed, it used to be an Orthodox Church converted into a mosque.
Again wooow. Once inside there is this mixed feeling about being into a church and into a mosque with some scripts in Arab and in Greek... impressive !
To keep it even more authentic on some of the walls behind the painting it is still possibility to see the the icons of Jesus and Marie for example.
After getting out it was time for lunch. So I went to the restaurant the lady from the airport suggested me to go. I ate a nice kebab and drunk an ayran: the yogurt based soft drink which is also very popular in Bulgaria.
The afternoon continued by a visit of the Topkapi Palace which had a huge park and several buildings transformed into museum. The most beautiful part for me was the view that this palace has been offering over the sea on the Asian part and the Bosphorus. After getting out the night was approaching, I continued walking in the downtown streets in order to reach the subway and go on the Asian part of the city to visit the Maiden's Tower (if I remember well that was the place where girls were commuting suicides when they didn't want to get married with somebody). The lady from the airport has her eyes shining when talking about the subway: "you know it is a subway which is going underwater and reaches Asia :)" so I had to try it. Well in the end nothing exceptional just like the La Manche it is just a tunnel and you don't see the water outside... the idea however is good :).
Once I got out of the station I was lost. I didn't know which direction I needed to take in order to go to the Tower. I stopped to ask several people but they pretended I didn't exist... I thought "well Turkish are not so welcoming that people say..." quite disappointed by the situation. In the end I managed to ask a person in a nearby shop. I reached the tower which is in the sea just like a Lighthouse and impossible to reach it from where I was, except by tourist boat.
Just next to the place where I was there was a huge café place... it was obvious that I wouldn't miss the opportunity to drink a Turkish coffee. Well the taste was really not bad and gave me power to pursue the day trip. As advised by the airport lady, I went to the nearby port from where I needed to take a boat and enjoy the Bosphorus crossing by sea and reach Europe again. Once arrived there the boat was about to leave and I needed to buy a ticket. I asked a random couple who were kissing nearby (sorry to disturb bla bla), they couldn't speak English but showed me the automatic ticketing machine... then the man realized that there were only two minutes before the boat leaves, he called me again got his transportation card out and opened the gates for me... a moment I was speechless... the contrary of what happened just earlier when I was asking for directions... so I said to myself: "Turkish people are actually really nice..." :)
I reached Europe again and went to the Galata Tower (one of the symbols of Instanbul). I was in the old Istanbul - small streets, full of art and souvenir shops, a lot of foreign embassies or consulates. I was walking on the Main Street where an old tram was a main attraction but actually I was more impressed by the number of people who were singing and dancing in the street without a particular reason. Only the happy faces of being together.
I finally reached my last stop: the Taksim Square (the equivalent of the place de la République in Paris) where all the internal movements/revendications start. However, I didn't find it exceptional but it's historical value seems to be more important in the eyes of the Turkish people.
I went for dinner in a nearby restaurant and went for a final walk around. There was also the airport shuttle station. Once I reached the airport I was already really tired.
Funny part: I remember sitting in the plane and the person who was sitting next to me asking me questions about China as it was his first time there. A very nice guy... Well just after we took off I remember apologizing and falling asleep... I woke up 30min before landing in Beijing. Not bad at all for me, not very funny for the guy...
The afternoon continued by a visit of the Topkapi Palace which had a huge park and several buildings transformed into museum. The most beautiful part for me was the view that this palace has been offering over the sea on the Asian part and the Bosphorus. After getting out the night was approaching, I continued walking in the downtown streets in order to reach the subway and go on the Asian part of the city to visit the Maiden's Tower (if I remember well that was the place where girls were commuting suicides when they didn't want to get married with somebody). The lady from the airport has her eyes shining when talking about the subway: "you know it is a subway which is going underwater and reaches Asia :)" so I had to try it. Well in the end nothing exceptional just like the La Manche it is just a tunnel and you don't see the water outside... the idea however is good :).
Once I got out of the station I was lost. I didn't know which direction I needed to take in order to go to the Tower. I stopped to ask several people but they pretended I didn't exist... I thought "well Turkish are not so welcoming that people say..." quite disappointed by the situation. In the end I managed to ask a person in a nearby shop. I reached the tower which is in the sea just like a Lighthouse and impossible to reach it from where I was, except by tourist boat.
Just next to the place where I was there was a huge café place... it was obvious that I wouldn't miss the opportunity to drink a Turkish coffee. Well the taste was really not bad and gave me power to pursue the day trip. As advised by the airport lady, I went to the nearby port from where I needed to take a boat and enjoy the Bosphorus crossing by sea and reach Europe again. Once arrived there the boat was about to leave and I needed to buy a ticket. I asked a random couple who were kissing nearby (sorry to disturb bla bla), they couldn't speak English but showed me the automatic ticketing machine... then the man realized that there were only two minutes before the boat leaves, he called me again got his transportation card out and opened the gates for me... a moment I was speechless... the contrary of what happened just earlier when I was asking for directions... so I said to myself: "Turkish people are actually really nice..." :)
I reached Europe again and went to the Galata Tower (one of the symbols of Instanbul). I was in the old Istanbul - small streets, full of art and souvenir shops, a lot of foreign embassies or consulates. I was walking on the Main Street where an old tram was a main attraction but actually I was more impressed by the number of people who were singing and dancing in the street without a particular reason. Only the happy faces of being together.
I finally reached my last stop: the Taksim Square (the equivalent of the place de la République in Paris) where all the internal movements/revendications start. However, I didn't find it exceptional but it's historical value seems to be more important in the eyes of the Turkish people.
I went for dinner in a nearby restaurant and went for a final walk around. There was also the airport shuttle station. Once I reached the airport I was already really tired.
Funny part: I remember sitting in the plane and the person who was sitting next to me asking me questions about China as it was his first time there. A very nice guy... Well just after we took off I remember apologizing and falling asleep... I woke up 30min before landing in Beijing. Not bad at all for me, not very funny for the guy...
Conclusion, this was an excellent way to see a bit of Istanbul. I loved the city and he mixture of cultures over there. For sure I will be back. I think this city needs at least 4 days to truly enjoy as a tourist.