Istanbul 2023 Part 1

Mon 25/12/23

It is Christmas day today although it is not a public holiday in Turkiye. Regardless, there were hordes of tourists crowding Aya Sofya, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) and Topkapi Palace. More on that later.

We were already famished by breakfast time at 7.30am as we didn't have dinner the previous night. Our breakfast this time is buffet style consisting of a variety of bread, cheese, jam, scrambled eggs, borek, fruits, salad, olives, lentil soup and of course cay. The first day of breakfast at the hotel was enjoyable, but for the second and third day it was okay, as we had the same menu for 3 consecutive days. Not complaining though, and it was as expected. The breakfast spread was more than sufficient to sustain us until lunch time anyway.

breakfast place

breakfast buffet

breakfast

After breakfast, we walked to Aya Sofya or Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque which is just a 10 min walk from our hotel. Luckily we arrived early at Aya Sofya at 9.30am as there was no need to queue. Aya Sofya is now a mosque. From wikipedia: it was completed in 537 AD. The site was an Eastern Orthodox church from 360 AD to 1204, when it was converted to a Catholic church following the Fourth Crusade. It was reclaimed in 1261 and remained Eastern Orthodox until the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. It served as a mosque until 1935, when it became a museum. In 2020, the site once again became a mosque. We performed our prayers there.

chandelier at Aya Sofya

the dome at Aya Sofya

Aya Sofya is a mosque now

Aya Sofya

When we left Aya Sofya around 10am, the queue was snakingly long and the entrance was closed temporarily. We then walked across towards Sultanahmet Camii or better known as the Blue Mosque. From wikipedia:  It was constructed between 1609 and 1617 during the rule of Ahmed I and remains a functioning mosque today. We performed our prayers there.

Sultanahmet Camii mosque

a cat in Sultanahmet Camii mosque

Sultanahmet Camii mosque

From the Blue Mosque, we walked to the nearby Topkapi palace. From wikipedia: From the 1460s to the completion of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1856, it served as the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire, and was the main residence of its sultans. It is now a museum. The entrance fee is TRY 750 per person and it is worth the price as the palace is huge. The palace consists of four courtyards and the harem  interconnected with galleries and passages. Entrance to the harem requires an additional ticket which cost TRY but we didn't purchase it. The exhibits in the museum includes arms collection, imperial treasury, clock collection, audience chamber, library, kitchen and porcelain, imperial council and many more. The Grand Kiosk has a panoramic view on the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus strait where many tourists flocked for pictures.

Topkapi palace

ceremonial kaftan 

courtyard at Topkapi palace

courtyard at Topkapi palace

view of Bosphorus strait from Topkapi palace

We spent 3 hours at Topkapi Palace and were already famished by 2pm so we made our way somewhere near our hotel for lunch by randomly picking a restaurant after refreshing ourselves first back at the hotel. A bit of drama happened as we found out that although our room was cleaned, there was no towel. We requested for the towel but didn't wait for it to be delivered.

We chose Antep kebap where we ordered Antep lahmacun and kuzu guvec (lamb casserole) with cay. Total cost for lunch was TRY930 which we paid by credit card.

Antep lahmacun

kuzu guvec (lamb casserole)

After lunch, we walked about 15 mins to Eminonu pier to take the ferry to cross the Boshporus straits to the Asian side at Kadikoy. The ferry fare cost TRY 19.5 per person. We used our Istanbulkart to take the ferry. The ferry ride took about 22 minutes. We sat outside to enjoy the sea breeze and view of Topkapi palace, Aya Sofya and Blue mosque with seagulls accompanying us.

Bosphorus strait view from the ferry

entrance at Eminonu pier

our ferry from Eminonu to Kadikoy

From the Kadikoy pier, we walked to Asi Künefeleri to try some Turkish dessert. We ordered hatay kunefe (Sweet Cheese Pastry) , fistikzade (baklava with pistachio) and cay. Our dessert cost us TRY 290.  Since it was Christmas night, people thronged the streets. We thought Kadikoy would have less people, but boy were we wrong! There were as many people at the Asian side at Kadikoy as the European side at Sirkeci. We saw a long queue waiting at Şekerci Cafer Erol which is a candy store. We didn't realize the queue at first, so we tried to enter the store but was denied entry and told to queue.

Kadikoy pier

view of the sea from Kadikoy pier

hatay kunefe (Sweet Cheese Pastry)

fistikzade (baklava with pistachio)

After enjoying our dessert, we went back to the pier to take the ferry back to Eminonu pier, but this time the ferry made a stop at the other side of the Golden Horn at Karakoy before proceeding to Eminonu. The fare is the same at TRY 19.5 per person. One could also take a return ferry ride without disembarking and only pay a one way ticket. We saw some people doing this, perhaps just to enjoy the ferry ride from Kadikoy- Eminonu- Kadikoy. 

view of Eminonu at night

Yeni camii at night

It was already 8pm by the time we reached back our hotel. Our towel have still not arrived so a few phone calls ensued until we finally received our towels after about an hour. That was our only gripe for the Senabil hotel where we were staying.