Istanbul | Constantinople | Byzantium

1) a sea of people just outside the Grand Bazaar

Whatever you call it – Byzantium (which it was from its founding in 657BCE to 324AD) | Constantinople (which it was from 324 AD to 1453AD) | Istanbul (its modern day incarnation since then) – this city is steeped, much like its strong tea and coffee, in layer upon layer of history. Istanbul is an old place and yet is utterly, thoroughly and in some cases, glaringly, modern. It is one of the largest cities on earth with a population of some 14 million people. We spent near a week exploring it and just barely scratched its surface. One could spend a lifetime here I suspect and not discover a tenth of its wonders. I enjoyed Istanbul very much. In a trip with stops in two other arab countries, hands-down, Istanbul was the most blatantly islamic. I heard the call to prayer here everyday no matter where in the city I was. I could not say that of our visits to Jordan or Dubai.

G met me in Istanbul well rested after a one-stop flight from Vancouver via Frankfurt; quite unlike my adventures. We opted to split our stay between two hotels in two different sections of the city – the to-die-for-we-will-go-back Witt Istanbul in Cihangir district (a working/middle class area with narrow streets, shops and cafes within walking distance of Taksim Square) and W Istanbul in Muradiye district (a more privileged and upscale area I would argue). On the whole – for room, ambiance and location – the Witt won easily.

1a) G’s plane prepares for his arrival on board in Vancouver

2) naturally, there is champagne on route

3) the business class appetizer on route to Frankfurt

4) a very German main course

5) breaky time!

6) a layover in Frankfurt

7) … includes a visit to the Lufthansa Business Class Lounge

8) and when in Frankfurt, of course, G opts to have a frankfurter

9) more food on route to Istanbul

10) the view from our suite at Witt Hotel in Istanbul (sigh)

11) Witt, well worth it!

12) the lobby at the Witt

13) our room at the Witt

14) the other half of the room

15) the bathroom complete with very modular sink

16) … and very cool rainforest shower head

17) management leaves wee treats for us each night

18) our lovely balcony with a view where we spent a lot of time!

19) turn down service at night

20) breakfast at the Witt is served on our balcony each morning

21) … and on Thanksgiving day includes ‘turkey’ … cold cut style

22) here’s the view from the roof of the Witt (if you double click this wee photo, it will open bigger) … you can see our shadows in bottom left hand corner

We spent our days in Istanbul exploring where our whim and fancy took us. One day we took a ferry that wandered up the Bosphorus Strait crisscrossing from the European to the Asian side, passing under the iconic Bosphorus Bridge and puttering all the way north to the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge. We hit the iconic landmarks – the Spice Bazaar; the Istanbul Modern; the Grand Bazaar; the Bascilica Cistern (or the ‘sunken place’ in Turkish); Taksim Square (a great disappointment to be honest); Hagia Sophia; the Blue Mosque (with its breath-taking interior) and walked to and fro across the Galata Bridge and the Golden Horn several times. We ate whatever we could find that was different and unique, including a fabulous lunch on the terrace at Matbah Ottoman Palace right beside Hagia Sophie that served dishes dating back to the height of the Ottoman Empire; dishes that – in their time – would have only been served to the Sultan. Changing gears, we visited the Marmara Pera Hotel to dine on a superb tasting menu at Mikla, Istanbul’s acknowledged “it” place for modernist cuisine where chef Mehmet Gürs takes inventive turns on Turkish dishes. We drank litres of exceptional (and cheap) Turkish wines – oh the roses! – and wondered why Canada cannot discover these gems, which have been produced for millennia. We found little holes in the wall near the Witt, cute, basic, quaint cafe-restaurants where the welcome was warm, the food brilliant and the price easy on the pocketbook. We, of course, got naked and took a hamam at Kılıç Ali Paşa Hamamı (sorry no pictures!), a hamam that has operated on its spot at the base of the road leading to the Witt since 1580 and was pricey, sure, but oh-so awesome. It was all magnificent and what I had expected of Istanbul after studying its history (mainly during Constantine’s time) whilst in university.

23) the Galata Tower take from the Galata Bridge … built by the Genoese in … wait for it … 1348

24) into the Spice Bazaar

25) you can get teas galore

26) and sponges galore

27) and Turkish delights galore

28) and even goat cheese still in the goat skin!

29) more types of tea

30) the butcher will cut anything you like to order

31) onward to the Grand Bazaar … really one of the world’s first BIG malls

32) it’s very pretty inside and you can get ANYTHING you want

33) including, yes, more tea and sponges

34) here’s the million dollar Turkish delights we bought. It weighed a ton and we then carried it for a month throughout Asia and the Middle East; but you know these are fabulous

35) shops are everywhere – here G explores the shops in the pedestrian walkway that goes under the road near the Galata Bridge

36) here’s the call to prayer from our balcony at the Witt

37) the shadow of a seagull on the ferry that took us to Asia

38) anchors away!

39) and we’re off to the Asian side

40) looking back to the Golden Horn

41) and across to Cihangir

42) along the way you have moments like this were the ancient and modern colliade

43) and here near the Sultan Mehmet Bridge the old protective walls

44) landing on the Asian side with the Bosphrous Bridge in background

45) the famous “Madien’s Tower” – now a cafe – was once home to a princess … or so legend tells us

46) heading back to port with the Suleymaniye Mosque in the background, built in 1550 – it is the largest mosque in Istanbul

47) fishermen are everywhere on the Galata Bridge

48) a close-up of the Galata Tower

49) our room at W Istanbul

50) it had a great bathroom with a fabulous shower

51) the shower even could be used as a hamam

52) lunching at Okka, the restaurant at W Istanbul – those tomatoes you see there were THE BEST tomatoes I’ve ever eaten… go figure!

53) here along Nevizade street you’ll find a rabbit warren of cafes …. and a bordello where young Istanbul lads hover gawking at the whores coming and going

54) before dinner at Mikla, we enjoyed cocktails at The Orient Bar at the Pera Palace Hotel, famous as the regular hangout of Ernest Hemingway and Alfred Hitchcock

55) me at The Orient Bar

56) at Mikla, grouper tartare amuse

57) vegetables & zeytinyagli

58) crispy hamsi, olive oil bread, lemon

59) salted & dried beef tenderloin, humus, antep ‘birdshit’ paste

60) slow cooked grouper, roasted tomatoes, capers

61) trakya kivircik lamb shank, smoked eggplant, tuzlu yoghurt, stew of kayseri sucuk, chard, peas and plum pestil

62) sari celtik rice pudding with mastic, sour apple sorbet, black mulberry crisp

63) G heads down to catch the tramway from the Witt

64) ah, the hamam (sorry, no pictures)

65) out for pizza in the narrow streets of Cihangir

66) ymmy!

67) … as was the salad; rustic and yummy

68) Taksim Square

69) our pet kitty that lived outside the entrance door to the Witt at all times of the day and night

70) G strolls near the Dolmabahce Palace

71) with its very cool trees

72) we paid a visit to the 13th Istanbul Biennial – a great art show built in the experimental/performance art vein

73) which then lead us to a trip to Istanbul Modern

74) G explores the installation outside the Modern …. these umbrellas were linked (below) to the water and swayed with the tides

75) the Modern’s sculpture gallery

76) Hagia Sofia – iconic – first built in 360AD and most famously rebuilt by Emperor Justinian in 532. It was the central seat of religious power in the East and site of the crowning of its Emperors