Our family weekend in Istanbul
Our family weekend in Istanbul
Istanbul is our favorite city in the whole planet! And although he already has worthy competitors such as Xi'an or Hong Kong, he still remains the warmest and best for us.
And you can fly to it again and again, even just for the weekend, fly less than two hours. I finished working a little earlier, got on the subway, changed into a taxi, and after 3 hours I was already in the heart of Turkey! Dasha and I are completely in love with Istanbul and this love is very contagious. If one of the readers has not yet discovered Istanbul personally, then write to us, we will influence you so that you will definitely visit this city in the coming year. Turkey is the first country we visited 10 times!!!
After Egypt, it was necessary to intensively throw off the gained three kilograms, before the next gastronomic paradise. I managed to almost back to back) This trip was special, one year ago Misha said that he was ready to participate with us in full-fledged trips with difficult routes, and not just where the sea and hills. The challenge was accepted, we literally on the same days took low-cost tickets from UIA. The year went by, Misha and I were looking forward to the trip. Misha studied the metro and tram map of Istanbul, learned the main stations, line markings and the location of the main areas. Sometimes I took an old printed map of the Istanbul transport and added new built branches. In particular, Misha was interested in the underwater branch. The second important point for Misha was the gastronomy of the trip: unlimited fresh juices, sahlep and roasted chestnuts. I had to leave work early. I quickly wrote down on a piece of paper all my thoughts and ideas of what I want to do and where I stopped at work. Now you can fly away. When you write down your thoughts, it’s like you unload the work from your head and don’t return to it with your thoughts during the trip. Traffic jams in Kiev in every possible way did not allow the whole train to get to the airport. But there was plenty of time. Since the free lounge zone is valid only for bank card holders, Dasha and I took turns walking. While Dasha was eating in the lounge, I gave Misha a tour of Boryspil duty free, introduced him to popular foreign goods that are not sold here. Then it was my turn to the lag zone, and Mishina was on the plane, since we got him some tasty treats from there ????
We flew quickly, and passed all the control in record time. We usually took the subway and then walked to the hotel. Having seen the current rate in relation to the hryvnia, we realized that this year we can walk in full. Children are also free to travel. With this rate, I promised Misha twice as many unlimited fresh juices and added unlimited ice cream to the program! From the metro, we boldly transferred to the tram. Traveling on the Istanbul map now costs 13.5 UAH.
Weather. This is the dumbest factor in Istanbul trips, the chance of catching rain here is quite high. Of the four trips, the weather was bad twice and good twice. I was afraid that according to the theory of probability we would catch a bad one, but no! This time we were very lucky for two days, one just clouds, the second half sunny, no wind, 8 and 12 degrees. It was comfortable, it was very comfortable. In the meantime, frosts and snowfall hit Kyiv. But now about Istanbul!
We had a very strange hotel in the heart of the Old Town. A strange hotel came with a strange owner and slightly strange breakfasts.
Probably already traditionally we start our route from Gulhane Park. Earlier, at the entrance, we were met by a hefty stone squirrel, but later we saw this squirrel several times in one of the parks in the Uskudar region. Now a very interesting fountain has been installed in the park, which draws patterns and various inscriptions in the air. Of course, flocks of parrots joyfully circled over the trees, and the largest one took the largest hollow and proudly looked at us. The embankment has finally been opened and now, right behind the park, there are excellent views of the Bosphorus Bay and, of course, the shining bridge.
We will definitely come back here in the evening. The water in the bay is beautiful even when the sky is overcast, the color is turquoise and milky. Further along the program, the ice cream sold near Burger King is probably one of the most delicious in the world. Misha strongly insisted that we should lay a further route to Kabatash, but the ferry was just leaving for Uskudar. I suggested Misha first sakhlep on a boat, then a market with fresh juices, and then Kabatash, Misha approved our plan. Hot sahlep is the taste of Istanbul. Unfortunately, besides us, few tourists like it, and perhaps Misha is the third person in the world who appreciated the drink at its true worth.
Perhaps, somewhere in the depths of our memory, the taste of sahlep gives rise to memories of that unforgettable first trip to Istanbul... Although, as I say, every trip to Istanbul is unforgettable. By the way, Istanbul was Misha's first trip abroad when he was a little over a year old. Uskudar is one of the districts of the Asian part. No need to take ferry excursions along the Bosphorus, you can just float to one of the Asian regions. Traditionally, Dasha buys house pants, and then we go to the point where there are cheap fresh juices. Unfortunately, the point with fresh juices was closed, but this is Istanbul, no one will be left without fresh juices.
While Dasha was shopping for pants, Misha and I went looking for a place to drink juice. Didn't have to search long. Literally across the street from the market, fresh juices from various fruits were sold from 1.5 lira per glass. Since in terms of hryvnias at the current exchange rate it is a little less than eight hryvnias, we arranged a total reveling in juice. We drank about 20 lire at a time. They drank until they stopped getting into Misha. This time in the assortment we had orange, apple, grapefruit, pomegranate-orange and carrot. Carrot was generally sold for a lira. Misha also stopped three tangerines in the morning. I call it a vitamin charge for a year. I remember on one of the first trips, Dasha and I drank about 4.5 liters of fresh juice during the trip. Misha, of course, tried to defend that another glass would fit into him, but it was clear that it would begin to flow through his ears. After the fresh juices, be sure to taste the street mussels! Oh yeeees! From year to year we repeat approximately the same route, and it doesn't get boring, which is great.
Our next stop is the Besiktas area. It takes about 20 minutes to sail there by ferry. We plunged into the cozy, lively streets of the old district. Somewhere a cat ran out of the bushes with her kitten in her mouth, it was very nice to watch how she deftly carries her child somewhere. The cat decided to move into the restaurant, and through the window. On the other side of the window, a couple was having lunch. The cat made a dexterous jump. There was a scream of horror outside the window. Then it was seen how the couple jumped in different directions and got ready to leave. And the thing is that the kitten was still very small and looked like a cat's prey, something like a mouse or a rat. I hope the cat and kitten didn't go deaf. I remember a similar situation was in Kyiv when I was about 16 years old. It was night outside, my friends and I approached someone's house. While we were talking, a kitten crawled out of the bushes and began to quietly go ahead. Apparently it was dark for him, and he did not notice us, at first the kitten crashed into the leg of the most hardened one - Vova, Vova only said “Oh! ”. We could not understand why Vova said this, as the kitten crashed into my leg. I am more timid in such situations, I jumped in horror and screamed a little, but the kitten continued to go to defeat. The third in line was a childhood friend Dasha, who did not have time to figure out what kind of wave of kipish was coming when the kitten crashed into her leg. The scream was so loud and ferocious like a saber-toothed tiger attacked the miners. The kitten itself disappeared at the speed of light somewhere in the bushes. The kitten was clearly stressed afterwards.
Istanbul has always been famous for the number of cats, but now for some reason there are very few of them. So let's look elsewhere. Cat therapy in Istanbul is as much a must as fresh juices or eating Iskander kebab for dinner.
Misha does not like to walk around Kiev very much. He just can’t understand what is the point of going somewhere just like that, but this trip was officially a test, Misha knew that the whole future plan of our joint trips would depend on the manifestation of himself on this trip. Misha valiantly coped with the route without even a hint of fatigue. Dasha and I were really surprised at how far our child can already walk. This many times exceeded our walks in Kiev. And here Misha is also running ahead in a jump.
- Misha, why so happy?
- Because I'm in Istanbul!
Nevermind the child entered the city! It's like in Egypt, Misha expressed his joy during the trip so much that all the vacationers envied him. It is necessary to be able to receive such a strong pleasure from travel. Misha offered to stop for lunch. So that the child would not fall apart, we made a two-hour halt in a cozy restaurant on the third floor. The restaurant was like our paunch, when you immediately show what you need to impose. Glade for three with dessert and tea cost 50 liras (260 UAH). We took a break and hit the road to our favorite area of Ortakoy! Tourists and locals gather there in the evening. The atmosphere is cozy as always!
It used to be true that the lighting was more yellow, which added to the unnatural atmosphere, but the mosque and the bridge are as beautiful as ever. Also in this area, we visited a memorable place where we once lost a mitten and restored the exact place of its loss from a photograph. We returned to the old city by transport, Misha switched off as soon as we entered the bus. When it was necessary to get off and transfer to the tram, Misha sharply cheered up and promptly presented us with a diagram of the intersections of the tram lines in Istanbul. Here they are knowledge! Wake up a child even in the middle of the night, he will tell you everything he knows about the transport of Istanbul. Before dinner, we returned to Gulhane Park to look at the glowing city from the embankment. The only pity is that the winter wind does not allow you to stand near the water for a long time. We had plans to visit and take pictures in one of the restaurants where Misha and I sat 6 years ago, but the restaurants on the main streets raised prices to indecent. I'm afraid that with such prices, food can get stuck in the throat. But if you go to a parallel street, then the pricing policy changes dramatically and in addition, as a compliment, they bring freshly baked Turkish bread, all puffed up, and free tea, and even no additional service charge, and the bill for three is just a fairy tale 49 lira ($ 9.2 ). I marked all our gatherings in inexpensive restaurants on the map with asterisks, and at the end of the story there are their coordinates. Already at the end of the first day, it was clear that Misha had successfully passed the test for hiking routes))))
We wanted to start it from the Basilica Cistern, but the water was drained there and it seems that it will not be filled soon, restoration is underway. And visiting a reservoir without water is like a wedding without music))) Well, okay, we haven’t been to Topkapi for a long time either. The main thing is to get through before the crowds appear. Even the weather approved of our choice, flooding all the lawns and buildings with sunlight. Misha demanded that Dasha read to him all the signs at all the sights of the Sultan's palace. But the number of one of the plates 410 confused me, I had to limit myself to about ten plates. There was also an important mission to repeat the photos in the same places and poses. The task turned out to be not the easiest, either the trash can is no longer in that place, or the sun does not shine, then the arms are crooked, and the proportions of the sides of the camera are significantly different. But we did our best. It is interesting that the parrots have chosen Gulhane Park and the adjacent palace, in simpler parks, apparently, they are not fit to fly.
I even had an idea, what if these are the reborn inhabitants of Topkapi, and the chubby one in the hollow is the Sultan himself. The second time to visit the palace was no less joyful than back in 2012. After the palace, of course, for delicious ice cream. In our favorite shop, the seller for some reason refused to sell ice cream, saying that it was cold. Strange, bought in the next one, it turned out just as tasty.
The Christmas tree has grown)))
Taxi farther? As if the answer to the question on the pier was the departure of the ferry to the Kadakö y area. So they decided, I have looked at him more than once on the maps. But first you need to taste Ekmek Balik (a sandwich with fried fish on the pier). I think so: did not eat ekmek - a visit to Istanbul is not counted. Or even that.
For one gastronomic visit to Istanbul you need:
1. Eat Ekmek Balik
2. Eat 100 grams of roasted chestnuts
3. Refresh yourself Semich (Bulka with sesame seeds)
4. Eat street mussels
5. Drink orange juice
6. Warm up with hot sahlep in cold weather
7. At least once in a restaurant, order a hot Iskander Kebab (and it’s better for the waiter to clarify what exactly is hot)
When they boarded the ship, Misha immediately declared, “Daddy, bring Sahlep! ” For some reason, the bartender on the ship at first refused to sell me sakhlep, but after two minutes he still sold it. Well, today everyone doesn’t want to sell me the first time. We wandered aimlessly through the streets of Asia. We made the right decision, here you can really wander around and wander all nice and cozy. And here are the cats!
These streets are literally overpopulated with furry creatures. Apparently, a cat summit was taking place and all the cats, cats and kittens of Istanbul decided to move to the Asian part. But how did they overcome the Bosphorus Bay? Perhaps Captain Kotovsky brought a whole barge, and perhaps a small liner. While the cats were swimming across, they had unlimited sahlep. But these are just my guesses, perhaps everything was wrong, with the exception of sakhlep, he was definitely present in this story.
Walking around the area, we completed a full course of cat therapy. Views of the Princes' Islands open from the hills. Then the sun came out and sunbathing began. Even somehow I didn’t want to waste solar time on food.
We even had a halt to rest under the rays. When we started to get out of cozy parks to the center, a whole mini-performance with a trained dog was waiting for us. The owner, while walking his pet, began to demonstrate to passers-by the acrobatic skills of his dog, which clearly performed various tricks according to the gestures of the owner. There was only one drawback in all this, for some reason fresh juices were not sold in the Asian part. That is, on this trip I had to choose between fresh juices and seals.
And, well, here traditionally everyone speaks only Turkish and the explanation in restaurants easily comes to a standstill. Nevertheless, we found our corner of happiness for a meal. We decided to return to the central part on the metro line that passes through the Bosphorus. Although it's just a dark tunnel, but the fact is, we drove under water!
We planned to walk along Isteklal Street, but you don’t meet so many people even in China every day. I had to deviate to the neighboring streets. Soon there were fresh juices at a normal price. The guy was selling them for 2.5 lira per glass, I offered him ten for five glasses (52 UAH). The guy said that he did not understand me, but he agreed to my conditions for ten. We drank five glasses, but after five minutes the level of fresh in the blood became insufficient again. I had to look for the next one. The man had a large glass for five lira, he agreed without hesitation for 4 lira (21 UAH). Although Misha declared that he wanted another glass, it was clear that he could not cope with this to the end. With an internal gurgling, we wandered towards our area. It seemed that the legs were breaking under the weight of drunk juices, got on the tram and went to a half-hour evening halt in the room under the covers. After 30 minutes they were again like cucumbers. After dinner we went to the main fountain in Sultanahmet Square.
There, in the obelisk area, they played hide and seek, Dasha and I hid, and Misha was looking for us. Misha really suggested, on the contrary, but it would already be unsafe. You never want to leave Istanbul, both for the first time and for the sixth time. We should have gone to bed already, but Misha looked at the fountain as if spellbound and did not want to leave. It is clear that this is not our last visit to the cultural center of Turkey and there will be more evenings on Sultanahmet, but in what years? Until the next Istanbul, in the optimal scenario, we have to wait another year and a half, but I really want to fly here again next weekend. But they are such actions, here you have to think through everything in a year, when and where you want. Nevertheless, a rather unusual journey awaits us next weekend, from which it promises a lot of positive and warmth.
We had a very early flight, but at the current rate it was already possible not to use the shuttle. Taxis were ordered from the hotel and pre-prepared exactly the agreed amount in lira. A taxi to Ataturk Airport cost 70 liras ($13), although, given that the airport is closed, there will be other commutes for the next time. UIA made a pleasant surprise by launching an additional flight; as a result, the aircraft was loaded by less than a third. As a result, each passenger got a bed of three seats. As soon as they gained altitude, everyone was evenly distributed throughout the cabin. Despite the cloudy and foggy weather that awaited us in Kyiv, we had a great sunrise overboard.
Below, the fog was so thick that you could see a chimney sticking out of the clouds and exhaling smoke. The plane descended to the runway and only photographs and this story remained about warm cozy days.
Travel Information
Date of travel: 31.11. 2018 – 03.11. 2018
Hotel: Hotel Han. Not recommended
Duration: 2 full days
Tour type: Weekend
Air tickets: UIA took almost a year
Hotels: Booking
Excursions: All by yourself
Difficulty of the trip: 1/10 (Almost hometown)
Where you ate profitably
Restaurant 1. Ortaklar Kebap Lahmacun
Restaurant 2. Mevlana Kebap Lahmacun Salonu
Restaurant 3. damak tad?
Restaurant 4. Pehlivan Kofte
