The city where you leave your soul!
This is how my first trip to Istanbul began, this is how I fell in love with this city. This was my first visit to Turkey, and after it I began to break stereotypes in people's opinions about this "Busurmaniya". So. . .
Airplane. Flight to Istanbul. People exactly half the plane. Mostly some "ladies-traders". Landed! We decided to start researching Istanbul on public transport. Immediately at Ataturk Airport there is an exit to the metro. That's where we headed. Our small hostel was located in the heart of Istanbul, in the historical center of Sultanahmet. On the map in the subway, we instantly orientated how we needed to get to the hotel. Metro, then transfer to Zeytinburnu to the tram line. I was struck by the subway, but the biggest shock was from the "tram". This is real Europe! Even in Budapest, not all trams are new, but here....yes, any Kyiv high-speed train of an improved standard gives way to the Istanbul tram !! ! Everything is clean, well-groomed, all stations are announced in Turkish and English, if you did not have time to run to the tram and the door was closed, press the magic button and the door will open. Under the tram stations are descriptions of the sights that can be seen by getting off at this station. The fare is 1.5 lira. (Thanks to this, we learned a lot of interesting places)
Sultanahmet greeted us with sunshine, barking dogs and the cry of seagulls. By the way, what pleased me is that all dogs are well-fed, and they have chips in their ears. Stomping with chumadans to the advantage, looking around, we walked past the huge Sofia, circled the small streets, found the Four Seasons hotel located in the building of the former prison, finally turned into a small nook, where our hostel ended up. Pleased with the location of the hotel. Going out onto the roof-veranda, one could contemplate the marble sea, the lighthouse, and that part of Istanbul, which is called Asia. In the evening, to our delight, we found that the hotel is located near a noisy street full of cafes, restaurants, shops.
Breakfast with seagulls on the veranda! So, we decided to start our impromptu excursions! Wandering through the small streets of the Old Town, looking into all the nooks and crannies, we found a way out to the embankment. A huge number of small boats, large boats, huge cargo ships, the blue Sea of Marmara, many seagulls..... we saw all this emerging from a small arch created by some historical character in the wall of the ancient ruins of Topkapi. A lot of shops, huge boulders, cats disappearing and appearing in them... all this is very beautiful...
Then we went to the mosques. The first on our way was the Sultan Ahmet Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Camii, 1609-1616), tourists called it the Blue Mosque. Blue, of course, there are only roofs, and the building itself is white, but it is very majestic !! ! The courtyards are all landscaped, there are many palm trees and flowers. It has six minarets, which at one time caused an incredible scandal: no mosque can have more minarets than one of the main Islamic shrines - the temple in Medina, which had five of them. Inside the Blue Mosque there are stone floors, an old fountain for ablution before prayer, and the mosque itself is filled with a lot of lamps (hanging very low) and carpets so soft that the feet sank in them. This mosque is active, and one can observe how the followers of one of the most ancient religions pay tribute to Allah. (Free admission)
Leaving the courtyard of the Blue Mosque, we got to the Hippodrome Square. The field of the Hippodrome was divided in length by a back - a long elevation, decorated with monuments and statues brought from all over the Empire. Only three of them have survived. The first and oldest monument is the Egyptian obelisk (Dikilitaş ) of the 16th century BC, brought from Luxor by order of Constantine the Great (this is the oldest object in Istanbul). Another ancient monument is the ancient Serpent Column (Yı lanlı Sutun) from the Temple of Apollo at Delphi (5th century BC). And the third monument is the so-called Colossus (Orme Sutun).
Having seen enough of these delights, we decided to finally visit the most important historical mosque in Istanbul: Hagia Sophia (AyaSofya). The entrance to this mosque is strictly guarded, because. periodically there are terrorist attacks with an attempt to blow it up. But SHE stands and pleases tourists and residents of the city. Truly a great building! In front of the mosque itself there is a small square with a fountain, many flowers (pansies), in the summer tulips are planted there. (Entrance to Sofia 20 lire)
When you enter the church itself, it takes your breath away - it is so large and spacious and so fantastically lit. Somewhat spoil the picture of the forest of restorers, who have been resting against the dome for many years. However, as a consolation, you can see that these forests themselves are a real engineering miracle. It is simply impossible to describe the beauty of the building! This is a must see! The dome, the Virgin Mary, the names of the prophet Mohammed, Allah and other Islamic saints, quotes from the Koran, a prayer niche - mihrab....all this art that connected Islam and Orthodoxy... all this is so mesmerizing!! ! After wandering with gaping mouths, we found the stairs to the second floor....the stairs are of course loud! It was just a stone helical (square) climb, the stones were skived to such a level that you just slide on them as if on ice, there are no windows, no handrails, and it is not clear when there will be a gap. Only going down back we found the second exit more "cultivated". On the second floor, we found galleries with icons of the Mosque, and we were also able to admire the beauty of Sofia from above.
Wandered further to explore sunny November Istanbul. As I thought then, we were going to the Topkapi Palace, but now I know that it was not so. Lost. (we got to Topkapi already on the next visit)
Having rounded Sofia on the right, we walked along the narrow streets, on which tram tracks, a carriageway, a pedestrian road fit, and all this on a 5-meter-wide street. Sometimes it seemed that the tram will run over you! So we made our way to Gü lhane Parkı , a continuation of Topkapı 's first courtyard. Seeing the sign of the Archaeological Museum, they dragged me to the museum. (Entrance 20 lire) Entering one of the courtyards of Topkapi, we saw a small square with many ancient monuments. The first on our way was the Museum of the Ancient East. There were many boring figures in it, funny mosaics of Lions and Dragons brought from Babylon. The second was the Archaeological Museum. Sculptures, monuments....boring. But in another hall, my heart began to jump! Mummies!! ! Ancient sarcophagi! And so huge! Marble, wood, gilded. Skeletons of mummies, the remains of the pharaohs. The halls, decorated in burgundy colors, with minimal lighting, gave all this a mystery and mysticism.
Returning to the tram station, we decided to go to the Grand Bazaar. The vast quarter consists of several shopping areas that have grown together over the centuries. The covered market is countless vaulted galleries and two large bedestena halls. All this only at first seems like a chaotic labyrinth, but in fact it is arranged quite regularly: the galleries intersect at right angles and, as befits real streets, are equipped with signs. Getting lost in the Covered Market, unlike the shopping streets surrounding it, is a difficult, purely voluntary matter. But of course we got lost! Later we realized that each entrance has its own number, and on the Market itself there are many signs with exit numbers !!
The market itself is very bright and beautiful, like any oriental market. You can just walk. Here, of course, you can buy an excellent fake of designer bags and shoes, the Turks will run after you, and drop the price until you like it.
The next morning was overcast and rainy. The plan for the day was as follows - visit the famous bridge across the Bosphorus. Having learned in advance from the manager of the "hotel" how to get to the bridge, we headed to the tram we loved. By the way, there is only one tram in Istanbul - number 38. And the metro lines are not interconnected at all. The pun is complete! Having reached the final station of Kabatas (Kabatas), we jumped into the bus heading to Ortakö y (Ortakö y), a small old village. Of course, we missed our stop, but it gave us the opportunity to walk along the Bosphorus highway, find a park, an embankment with ships, walk under the bridge itself and appreciate its greatness and get into the very heart of Ortakö y - a small but very spectacular square (İ skele Meydanı ) . Tables of cozy outdoor cafes, the splashing Bosphorus, restored old mansions of the Asian side and the pompous Mecidiye Camii mosque.
Immediately on the nearest square there were several restaurants with fish, we decided to try it. Looking ahead, I will say that this fish turned out to be just bullshit! Then we continued walking along the Bosphorus highway, past the park of the Yildiz Palace (Yı ldı z Sarayı , Star Palace) and the Ciragan Palace (Ç ı rağ an Sarayı ). We jumped on the bus heading to Taksim Square - the center of Beyoglu and all European Istanbul.
Our next destination was the Spice Bazaar! We jumped into our favorite tram at the first available station and after crossing the Golden Horn we got off at the Eminö nü station. The Golden Horn itself is worth a lot of attention, but more on that later.
The next day we again had to go to Taksim. This time, we decided to get from the tram terminal not by bus (it takes longer), but by funicular. This funicular can not be compared with Kiev. Big, new, automated. (travel 1.5 lira) Preliminary photo shoot on Taksim Square was successful, but upon returning to the hotel, a friend of some unthinkable actions of a full blonde - deleted the photos. To restore what was lost, we went to take pictures again! So....the photo session began with pigeons. By the way, there are a lot of pigeons in Istanbul! Elderly people walk around all the squares and for a fee of 1 lire they give you a bowl of millet. Pigeons surround you and you can take photos while feeding. The photos from the first session were just amazing. The next day there were not so many pigeons! Having found ourselves in the very center of Istanbul, we decided to take a walk along the central Istiklal Street (İ stiklal Caddesi). The most unusual thing about it is that among all the budiks, restaurants and cafes, crowds of people, an old red tram appears, followed by schoolchildren, and ignoring the cries of the driver, they cling to the handrails and go without tickets.
Last day. We decided not to walk a lot, just shoot the lost footage and take a walk along the Golden Horn. Got up early. We immediately rushed to the Bosphorus bridge, then to Taksim. We filmed the necessary shots, and dived to the funicular and went to the Golden Horn. The Golden Horn Bay, which cuts the European part of Istanbul in two, is called Halic (Haliç ) in Turkish - “mouth”. However, the name "Golden Horn" (Chryzokeras) is older than any Turks: they say that the water played here at sunset with some special golden highlights. We decided to start the tour from the other side, got off at Karakö y station. This is an old port area. Now, however, only the fish market on the embankment and the ferry pier remain from the former fishing pier; further begins the sea passenger port. We went to the fish market. The fish market itself is small, but bright enough. Vendors shout noisily, fish splash in bowls of water, many seagulls wait for the remains of fish that descend into the drain that goes straight into the bay. To be honest, of all the fish that were there, I recognized only red fish, well, squid and shrimp as well. There were also several dirty cafes where you could try freshly caught fish. The sight of these "cafes" made me sick. Dirty plastic tables and chairs, oilcloth, tables are right on the pier - no culture. But we were tempted by fish and ordered one big fish (we don't even know what it's called). God! ! I have NEVER eaten such delicious food in my life! I forgot about the uncleanliness that was around, about screaming seagulls overhead, and ferries mooring at the pier 3 meters from us. I just enjoyed!
Further walking step we crossed the bridge over the bay. There are many fishermen on the bridge, in each bucket you can see living creatures: from squid for bait to huge fish. On the other side of the bay, we reached Eminö nü Square. This place is fantastic in itself. Here the waters of the Golden Horn meet the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara; in the background is the confusion of Galata crowned with a pencil of the Genoese tower, and in the distance the Asian hills are blue. Ferries depart from the embankment to all parts of the city. We never managed to ride through the water expanses of Istanbul, but on the next visit, we made up for it.
To be continued…
