istanbul
Outside Hagia Sophia
Inside Hagia Sophia
View of the Blue Mosque from inside Hagia Sophia
Inside Hagia Sophia
The Blue Mosque/Sultanahmet Camii
Ortaköy Mosque/Büyük Mecidiye Camii
Ortaköy Mosque
Inside Ortaköy Mosque
Inside Ortaköy Mosque
View across the Bosporus
With our friends & hosts, Sibel & Memo
Inside the Grand Bazaar
Bart enjoying Turkish Coffee in the Grand Bazaar
Lamps for sale in the Grand Bazaar
Me inside a water-less Basilica Cistern
The bar at The House Cafe Ortaköy
A fresh juice and craft cocktail from The House Café
Craft cocktail from The House Café
Bart in Old City
A Yakir Kokoreç sandwich (lamb intestine, oregano, crushed red pepper) from Kral Kokoreç
One of my favorite meals ever: breakfast at Kale Café
Libation creation at Kaia Bebek
View from Sibel & Memo’s apartment in Bebek
People in this city are expert drivers!
Old City
Old City
Old City
Ortaköy
Ortaköy
Bebek
Taksim
Taksim
Taksim
Istanbul is such an incredible and vibrant city, truly the place where East meets West geographically, culturally, and ideologically. We took every advantage of the 72ish hours we had to explore, staying up with our friends and their friends chatting and enjoying the nightlife scenes in Bebek and Taksim. Our friends and hosts Memo and Sibel went above and beyond showing us the best of the Old City as well as Karaköy, Ortaköy, Bebek, and Taksim.
Upon arrival, we went to Memo’s new Japanese-inspired speakeasy and izakaya Kaia Bebek where we returned almost every night of our stay. The cocktails and bites were so delicious and I’ve been telling all friends visiting Istanbul how to find the place. The options change every day, the setting oozes with cool and the bartender doubles as a badass DJ. GO!
The following day we got all the top tourist items out of the way—we visited the Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern, and Grand Bazaar. We attempted to see the Blue Mosque but since it was Ramadan the wait was about 90 minutes so we just admired its beauty from the outside. In the Grand Bazaar we had our first Turkish coffee which was like pure rocket fuel and had my heart beating out of my chest! I also picked up a few pieces of jewelry for friends and when we finished we stopped for a legendary sandwich. The specialty at Kral Kokoreç is the Yakir Kokoreç sandwich that includes lamb intestine, oregano, crushed red pepper. It was delicious but a tad too rich for me to eat the entire roll. We ended the night back at Kaia Bebek for a birthday party and stayed up late enough to watch the sunrise (I’m a firm believer in these being the best type of nights).
After rolling out of bed in the late afternoon we went to Kale Café for a traditional Turkish breakfast and WOW it was absolutely delicious. We sat outside looking out across the Bosporus and were told that on Anthony Bourdain’s first visit to Istanbul, he went to this cafe twice. Our breakfast table included treats like Fried Eggs with Pastrami, Menemen (Turkish scrambled eggs) with Yellow Cheese, Turkish Sausage Fried With Butter, Honey and Cream, Lavash Bread, and Acuka. Even the Plain Fried Eggs were ridiculously tasty. This breakfast made it to my list of all-time favorite meals, yum!
We continued on to Ortaköy to stroll along the water, buy some trinkets, visit the mosque and enjoy some drinks at The House Café where they make a mean juice! That evening we shared a traditional Raki and Kebab experience in Karaköy with Memo and Sibel at Kapı Karaköy which, like everything else we ate and drank in Istanbul, was scrumdiddlyumptious. We made our way to a rooftop bar in Taksim and saw a lively street party on our way back to Bebek for another late night chatting. Before heading to the airport we made one last pit stop at Aşşk Kahve which was another waterside delight. We already can’t wait for our next visit!
