Good morning! It’s been a while since I was here last time. Why? Oh, it’s a long story, so why don’t we go for a walk through the streets of Istanbul instead of talking…
Crowded shore seen from the Galata bridge
Equipped with a bag of good advice from our Turkey-loving friends, or specialists on Turkey as others would say, we set off to conquer Istanbul. We did feel a little anxious, though: will it really be possible to relax and take a break from the Warsaw hectic lifestyle in this city with 15-million inhabitants? At the same time we were much more than just excited by our perspective of spending 8 days in a city which is nicknamed “the eye of the world”.
women of Istanbul
We arrived on Friday and it took us two days to do a small ‘reconnaissance’. We looked up all the names and places recommended to us by the earlier mentioned specialists in our guide book, read a little bit, bought the map and set off to explore. Additionally, we had a small book , which is a must-read for any gourmand — a culinary guide entitled “Istanbul eats. Exploring the culinary backstreets” (A. Mullins, Y. Schleifer). This small book was a present from our friends (also crazy about travelling and eating) and a sort of guide with description of local restaurants hidden in small streets and off-the-beaten-track routes. (A big thank you for the gift!!! :))
Magic
We wanted to stay close to the main tourist attractions and lively streets in Sultanahment according to friends recommendations but it seems that Booking.com fooled us with our booking. The district, we stayed in (I’m not sure if it was still Beyazit or Aksaray already) was quite unusual. The streets were full of clothes shops with clothes rather weird and elegant at the same time. Also, there were Russians with big bags in our hotel… Folklore. Apart from these inconveniences it was a good spot, because our hotel was situated close to Süleymaniye Mosque, Egyptian Spice Bazaar and Eminonu bay. A huge street leading to Grand Bazaar, Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque was also quite close.
So we went sightseeing… First thing that we found amazing (and a bit tiring later) was Grand Bazaar. The place is really huge and if you don’t know the topography of the city (the streets inside the Bazaar are not on the map) you may get lost pretty easily. Especially in the crowd. They sell everything there. We got quite tired after a trip through the alleys, but the locals seem not to notice the crowds. The colourfulness of the Bazaar is something that will probably bring us back here so we can watch and fill our suitcases with souvenirs, sweets and spices…
Grand Bazaar
After struggling to find our way in the overwhelming crowd it was good to sit down and eat some local delicacies. You can choose from a variety of kebabs, durums, donners, ones with lamb or chicken, ones in a roll, in a pita or some other snacks. Also, there’s a lot of grilled meat and salty yoghurt – aryan (I have to admit that I’m still not sure about the combination of meat and yoghurt, but maybe one day…).
time for a break
Between seeing the sites, we looked for more obscure parts of the city and for unusual foods. “Intanbul eats” guide was a great help here. Our food bible lead us to three fish places and one meaty joint.
Let’s start with Giritli (http://www.giritlirestoran.com/) situated near the Blue Mosque. It’s a small Turkish-Cretan restaurant. Quite elegant as long as you’re not bothered by cats walking around tables – we don’t mind and our little one just loves them. First we thought there’s not really anything to choose from as we are offered a set menu, but.. when a dozen or so small plates with different dips, salads and snacks (a classic meze) arrived, we knew there was a lot to choose from.
meze
Then a grilled octopus, fried calamari, fish and stuffed Turkish pie. And of course, a dessert. But it was the meze that won my heart. It may have been more Cretan than Turkish but it was delicious!
Next day we went to the other side of Golden Horn to walk around the Galata Tower area.
Galata Tower
We visited Furreyya (Serdar-i Ekrem Sokak 2) a little fish house near the tower. I have to admit that it was a bit “too little” for me, but it also may have been a matter of an extra 8 kilos on my shoulder that struggled vigorously to get free (our little one — if you haven’t guessed yet). The place was really little and a cute little sink hidden behind a detachable plank emphasised the impression. The sink however, gets less cute if you seat by it and need to move every time someone wants to wash the fish from their hands 🙂 From the simple menu we ordered a fish soup (we’ve had better), shrimps, calamari and fish. Fried calamari were really good – crispy, tender and gold.
calamari
When it comes to fish both Giritli and Furreyya lose with a place hidden in a backstreet called Tarihi Karakoy Balik Lokantasi. Why? I’ll write about that later. But look at this picture with fishy delicacies…
fish feast in a place hidden from the world
Don’t worry meat eaters, I remembered about you too! Next time I’ll write about best koftas in Istanbul, according to our magical bible… Even the thought of it makes me hungry 🙂
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