Istanbul, Turkey

Jason and I spent last weekend in Istanbul, Turkey. Another city that more than surpassed our expectations. We stayed in the main tourist area in the shadow of the Blue Mosque and from there we were able to visit all of the main sites in the heart of the city. Saturday included a run along the bank of the Bosphorus Straight, a visit to the Aya Sophia church (built in 537), shopping in the Grand Bazaar (approx 2500 shops under one roof) and a night out in Taxim (where I'm convinced that 10 million of the 12 million people that live in this capital city were out for the evening). Taxim was really insane - people everywhere - and building 5 stories tall all connected to each other lining street after street. The building has a bar or restaurant on every floor and each one was a bit different. One that we went in had a cafe on the ground floor, then a salsa club, then a live rock band, then a techno dance club on the top floor. We ended up spending about 3 hours in one place where they had live Turkish pop music which was fantastic.

Sunday was spent exploring the Hippodrome area, visiting the Blue Mosque, and taking the ferry over to the Asia side of the city to visit the other part of Istanbul. On the other bank, we walked through crowded streets of fruit stands and fish mongers, and played backgammon and drank apple tea with the locals.

Overall the city was much more westernized then i anticipated, including a Nike Town and a light rail system. The people were outgoing and friendly and the food was fresh and delicious. We enjoyed the apple tea, the meat and chicken kabobs and sandwiches, the pistachio baklava and even tried smoking the hookah (apple tobacco) to fit in with the locals. I recommend the city to all adventures and hope to go back to Turkey sometime to explore the many other interesting regions of the country.