Istanbul, Turkey

Sunday, October 27 – Monday, November 4

One of the most wonderful parts of my now year-long world travel adventure are the friendships I have made along the way. My dear friend from Wonderland, Fazi, invited me to come stay with her in Istanbul and I could not turn down the opportunity.

She is also winding down a year of not working and traveling mostly on her own. We have so much in common even though our backgrounds are very different, it’s such a meaningful friendship during this time in my life! She’s become one of my closest friends as she really understands what I’m going through as a nomadic traveler.

I landed at the brand new Istanbul airport and then navigated (horribly) through the process of buying a ticket for the Havaist airport shuttle bus to Fazi’s place in Yenisahra in the Kadikoy neighborhood of Istanbul.

Fazi posing in the subway by her neighborhood signs

It took me forever to finally arrive at her place but she had an entire homemade spread waiting for me. Her mom made everything on this table. Everything! The noodles, the fruit leather, the juice, you name it! I wasn’t even that hungry and it was close to midnight but you better believe I ate all this good stuff!

Fazi had a huge list of to-dos when I arrived! Huge! Multiple pages filling a notebook with ideas she had for my visit! With so many things to do, we hit the ground running as soon as I arrived! Fazi had also signed up her friend Nilü to give us a lift around town in her car. What a kind person to agree to chauffeur around some girl you don’t even know. I’m so grateful for the kindness and hospitality I received on this trip!

First stop on our “road trip” was a traditional Turkish breakfast at Big Chefs in Anadolu Hisari with a lovely view of the water and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Köprüsü bridge.

This was an incredible breakfast feast! Everything was so delicious!

Fazi and Nilü looking cute!

We then did some driving and headed up to a special prayer spot where a famous holy man was buried. Here’s me in my headscarf as I wanted to go in and make a few wishes for myself. Can’t hurt!

We got back in the car and kept driving north to visit Yoros Castle, an ancient castle with views out to the Black Sea.

This castle was sitting at the top of a massive hill with about a million stairs to the top. Smart entrepreneurs have opened cafes along the steep hike up so you can take a break for a tea or coffee and enjoy the views looking back towards Istanbul.

Another place we took at stop for tea and sweets was the adorable cafe at the fancy Pera Palace Hotel. I don’t usually love pink but this place swept me off my feet! The hotel itself was marvelous and so lovely to walk through, and this little spot was literally the icing on the cake! Definitely worth it for a spot to stop for a break.

Walking around and exploring the busy and trendy Beyoğlu neighborhood.

The interiors of a beautiful Catholic church in Pera

Fazi insisted we stop and split a Kizilkayalfir Hamburger and I’m so glad we did. I could have eaten 3 of these, they were so delicious!

Another tea stop what do you know! I had two too!

Nilü had been to Ficcin before and thought it would be a different type of Turkish cuisine experience, so we headed there for a big lunch! In love with this food!

Another great surprise was that my trip landed during Republic Day in Turkey! Everyone had the day off of work and there were beautiful Turkish flags everywhere! This is the historic Galata Tower illuminated for the holiday celebrating the day the Republic of Turkey was born.

This was deli/grocery store/sweet shop/restaurant that had a superb selection of everything you could ever want to eat. The whole place is one big photo opp!

Food is obviously a huge part of my visit! Fazi’s favorite restaurant also just so happens to be rated one of the Top 50 Best Restaurants in the world, Ciya. We ended up going here two days in a row! The great part is they have such different foods to try each day and there are a few different Ciya restaurants in the same block, each focusing on something a bit different than the others.

Meal 1:

Meal 2:

Worth noting, this black walnut dessert is one of my favorite things I had in Istanbul. It’s called ceviz reçeli and it blew me away! I don’t like walnuts and this strange black orb doesn’t appear appetizing but dear god it was fabulous!

We walked off all our food by exploring the city’s famous bazaars. I was on a mission to buy Turkish towels so we scoured the markets looking at all the options! They sell everything under the sun in this labyrinth of halls and stalls. You could get lost wandering for hours and not even realize it!

The main architectural wonders I wanted to see was Hagia Sophia. I studied it growing up and it’s always been one of the places I wanted to see in my lifetime. This wonder of the Ancient World was first a Byzantine church, later a mosque during the Ottoman Empire and finally a museum in 1935. To preserve all the colors and highly sensitive materials, the interior is not really lit very well. My pictures didn’t come out marvelous and they were doing a big restoration project in the main dome the further prevented great shots of the interior. But it was still amazing to visit and I was in awe walking around this ancient artifact.

Fazi was craving Suat Usta Tantuni so we made a stop here after I scored all my Turkish towels (and blanket!). It was a delicious bread filled with meat of some sort. The wrap itself was spicy and then those peppers served with it were reeeally spicy! My mouth was on fire for a good 5 minutes.

Fazi cooled her burning mouth with an Ayran yogurt drink. I found it gross but she loves it!

Not far from Fazi’s house was a great place called Tarihi Harman Fırını that sold traditional Turkish foods and lots and lots of sweet treats. The people who worked here were so friendly. Anytime I’d ask about what something was, they insisted on giving me a free sample. Everything was so good! If you’re in this neighborhood, it’s a place not to be missed! I went twice during my visit!

Saturday morning is the farmers market in Yenisahara so Fazi took me down to try samples, explore new fruits and vegetables and have lunch! It was a fantastic experience.

This is the size of Turkish cabbages. I couldn’t believe it!!!

So many types of olives! Even pink olives, dyed with beet juice, that he let us taste!

This is how they sell artichokes! Fully cleaned!

Lunch spot!

These ladies were so sweet and man they can really manage this grill!

So good! Especially the fried bread on the right- filled with meat and so delicious!

Then we went for a big walk to the coast in Kadikoy, just exploring the neighborhood and walking off our huge breakfast!

Dinner at home that night, lots of great Turkish foods!

My final breakfast we went out to Mado for one last big Turkish breakfast! This place did not disappoint!

For my last supper, we had another great spread at home using up all the leftovers we bought out over the past few days, plus Fazi ordered some chicken and other yummy miscellaneous wraps from local places. I was definitely sent off with a bang!

My final sunset out my bedroom window of Fazi’s apartment

This is the Priority Pass lounge at Istanbul Airport (IST). It was one of the best I’ve ever been to! Pool table, huge bathrooms and showers, buffet and a stand alone bar. If you’re ever stuck in IST, this is the place to go!