To Istanbul from Kharkov on your own (2019)
Summer was not over yet, so I wanted to go somewhere else, but there was not enough money left... And we decided to buy tickets for the Pegasus low-cost airline to Istanbul (July-August - the cheapest prices) and rush together, without children, to a few days to see this ancient city of Constantinople, about which so much is written in history books.
We got 4.5 days - quite normal for visiting the main attractions. It is very close to fly from Kharkov - 2 hours - and you are already in Asia, at the Sabiha Gokcen Airport. At first, this fact strained me that we were not arriving at the Kemal Ataturk airport, but it turned out to be even more interesting: firstly, you immediately found yourself in Asia, secondly, you immediately sail on a ferry across the Bosphorus, thirdly, the Internet is full of information on how to get to the historical center - the Sultanahmet area, where we booked the hotel.
Istanbul was founded in 330, that is, the city is more than 1.5 thousand years old, and it is noticeable! The city is huge, and everywhere is so beautiful, so civilized! The plane landed at dawn, at 5.15. We bought an Istanbulkart - a travel card for all types of transport, and went to the Kadikoy pier on the E 11 bus. The city was empty and we rushed over in 40 minutes. Ferries go to the pier all the time, and sitting in them, it is very pleasant to drink a glass of tea, for example, with semit, which are sold everywhere, and at this early hour they were only baked! The ferry took us to the pier of the Old City of Eminonu, where we boarded a tram and after 3 stops we were there.
My husband is well versed in the navigator, so we quickly found a hotel. And thanks to our good orientation, we did not need to ride a tourist bus - everything we wanted to see, we entered into the novator and drove where we needed. Thus, we visited the area of modern Istanbul and its skyscrapers (Levent), drove along the Bosphorus to the second bridge (Besiktas), and also went to the beach of the Marmara Sea (Yesilkoy).
In general, in the morning we were refused accommodation, like, it's still early, check-in from 13.00. We left everything except money and went for a walk (although we really hoped to take a nap for a couple of hours after a sleepless night). Of course, we immediately went to the Blue Mosque. It is such a pleasure to be in the mosque! All visitors must take off their shoes. How nice it is to walk barefoot on a thick carpet!
Turks constantly vacuum it. In any mosque, you can sit on the carpet, relax, wait out the rain and even take a nap! Also, at the entrance to the mosque, all women are given headscarves and skirts, so it is not necessary to bring them with you.
After that, we went to Gulhane Park, everything is nearby. The park is very beautiful: silence, fountains, flowers. . . Directly from the park there is a passage to the sea, to the embankment. Beauties! It is always windy in Istanbul, so even in summer I would advise you to take a sweater and a baseball cap (and an umbrella). It was time to refresh ourselves, and along the seashore we went to the Eminenu pier.
There were no signs of rain, it was not in any weather forecast, my husband did not even take a jumper, and I was only in light sandals. But around 12:00 pm, such a riot of elements began that we had to run somewhere where there were a lot of people waiting, and we got stuck there for half a day. By coincidence, it turned out to be the famous Sikregi station, to which the famous "Orient Express" Paris - Istanbul came, the murder in which was described by Agatha Christie in the detective story of the same name. There was a railway museum. But then we didn’t know about it, the guess came later... It became damp, cold, we were hungry, but we couldn’t go anywhere, the downpour poured like a bucket.
We were not far from the Balkan Lokantasi cafe, where we were heading for a snack (according to reviews, you can eat there cheaply and tasty), but it was not known exactly where it was and in which direction to run in the downpour. People crowded visibly, invisibly, there was nowhere to sit down, you just stand and wait for the end of the elements. I was as hungry as a pack of wolves put together, and around 3 pm we decided to run in the rain. Wet to the skin, but still found their cafe. By the time we were eating, the rain had stopped. But we were in wet clothes, in wet shoes, and to go far, through the puddles... but there is nothing to do, we go, we consider everything. I still suffer from parting with children, because this parting was the first in our life...
In general, due to late check-in, the whole day went awry. In our hotel it turned out that there were no places! We, wet, waited for about 30 more minutes while the manager ran around the nearby hotels, asking where we could be accommodated. I wonder how they post on Booking that there are free rooms, if in fact there are none?
We were taken to the Hagia Sophia Hotel, which outwardly we liked more and was located closer to Sultanahmet Square. We settled in and fell into a heroic sleep. While my husband slept, I read reviews about this hotel and found that there is a terrace upstairs. In the evening we went there and it turned out that it was half-abandoned, that is, no one goes there, but there is a table and chairs, as well as a beautiful, bewitching view of the sea and numerous fat gulls. This place has become ours! We came there to drink tea and coffee in the morning and in the evening (the rest of the time we were not at the hotel).
In the evening we went to Sultanahmet Square, it is very beautiful both during the day and in the evening in the lights. I decided to try roasted chestnuts. The price of 100 grams is 10 liras (50 UAH! ). Enterprising Turks collect chestnuts from trees without spending a penny, roast them on the grill, and do not roast them, they turn out hard, burnt on one side, completely tasteless. If they were soft, they would be tastier. In general, I do not advise.
On the second day, we planned a trip to the Galata Bridge, Eminonu Pier, along the way we visited the magnificent Suleymaniye Palace...
. . . Egyptian Bazaar, walked along the entire Galata Bridge to the Galata Tower, to Istiklal Street and on foot to Taksim Square. We thought to return by tram, but with pleasure we walked on foot and back. It was Sunday, so there was a wild line at the Galata Tower.
But there is nothing to do, we defended for 1 hour. The view from the Galata Tower is amazing! It's a must to get up! In general, there are many observation platforms in Istanbul that offer a magnificent view, but the tower is the coolest.
I do not recommend going to Istanbul for the weekend, as many people go to Istanbul for excursions exactly for 2 days of the weekend, so there are huge queues for all the sights. In terms of bazaars, the Egyptian bazaar is the most inexpensive, prices differ by 2-3 times, it is also very conveniently located and has a large territory. At this bazaar, I tasted coffee that I had never drunk in my life. I realized: what we drink is some kind of liquid, burnt muck. Also, near the Galata Bridge, we tasted balyk-ekmek - baked mackerel in a baguette with vegetables. I like it. On the other side of the bridge, near the Galata Tower, they make balyk-ekmek in lavash. But here it's for an amateur. I personally liked it more in the banana. The price is 15 lire, you can find it for 10.
Yes, I even forgot already that in the morning we also visited the Basilica Cistern, a reservoir of water, where it was supplied through pipes from Belgrade (by the way, there is really good drinking water in Belgrade, we were there 2 months ago). There is an impression, you can visit once, but not more. On weekends there is also a queue, the price is 18 lira.
How to embrace the immensity? There are so many things to see! On the third day, my husband wanted to see the newest districts of Istanbul, with skyscrapers. Although this was not part of my plans (Topkapi Palace was for today), I, of course, shoved this thing into my sightseeing plan)).
In the morning of that day, I woke up wildly hungry, and realized that it was time to eat kumpyur - a large baked potato with various fillings. In our area, it was sold at a price of 25 lire (125 UAH! ), but you need to try it once! Istanbul wakes up late, and the Turkish seller was surprised to see such early buyers. But he offered to shoot it on video and set to work. Olivier-type salad is tasteless, do not put it in potatoes, who will go. Better more sausages with mushrooms and corn. For today, we were scheduled to visit the Topkapi Palace, where Sultan Suleiman lived and where the shooting of the series “The Magnificent Century” took place.
We were very lucky that it was not a day off and there was almost no queue! There are still a lot of people here and at first it’s not clear where to go, the territory is huge, it’s better to take an audio guide. Having run around the entire territory up and down 2 times (first to shoot a video, then for myself), I went to the harem. Entrance to the harem for a fee. In total it turns out 20 dollars. Harem is exactly what you should come here for! Harem is a whole city! With streets, various rooms, bedrooms, baths and a yard for walking. I really liked the baths - white marble with gold!
Next we went to modern Istanbul. It is easy to get from Sultanahmet: there are 3 tram stops from our Chamberlitash to the metro. And the metro is about 8 stops to the Levent 4 station, and that's it. There, Istanbul is beautiful in its own way. Mirror black and mirror blue skyscrapers seem to fall on you. We got to the Kanyon shopping center and decided to stop by and take a look. At the entrance, as elsewhere, screening of bags and a metal detector. But it's even good when safety is taken care of. Wow! There are fountains and hanging gardens everywhere. The middle looks to the sky, there is no roof. In a dark area, an installation of a starry sky made of spotlights. Benches in the form of honeycombs. Beauty!
After walking, we took the metro again and drove to the Rumelikhasar fortress. True, it turned out to be a decently long walk, we were already very tired, the phone was almost discharged. We saw some gate under the fortress and decided to shorten the path. But ended up in a cemetery! The fortress and the sea were nearby, but we could not find a passage down. I had to go back with a spoiled mood (I somehow remembered that I found a cracked mirror in my purse yesterday, it was not very good in this cemetery). In general, we barely crawled to the fortress, the entrance is paid, as usual, 18 liras (90 UAH) per person. The fortress is normal, breathes history, but somehow it didn’t work for us. Whether its abandonment, or our fatigue affected. There are very beautiful views from the fortress to the Bosphorus. The fortress itself is located on the very shore of the Bosphorus and you can relax on the embankment.
Opposite Rumelihasar, on the Asian side, is the wonderful Otatepe Park, which I would like to visit. It was an unpleasant fact that the phone was dead and we don’t have the Internet, so we don’t know how to get there... And we only had to drive across the Bosphorus on the bridge... But I never lose heart, I remembered that somewhere nearby there is a beautiful Bebek park where movie and television stars spend their time. Time still allowed for a walk, and I began to ask passers-by where this park was, improving my spoken English. It turned out that this embankment is the beginning of the Bebek district! Indeed, we passed through such beautiful houses, quarters, that my husband immediately noticed that this was a rich area. Having worked up, on the 22nd trolleybus we reached the Kabatas district and transferred to our own T1 tram, which took us home. But you won’t drive me home so easily! )) We also went to buy gifts: earrings for my daughter, apple tea for my brother, etc.
On the fourth day, we visited Ibragma Pasha's palace in the morning, and decided that it was enough to run and it was time to start resting (ha ha), and went to the beach of the Sea of Marmara. By the way, along with the paid beach of Floria (where you can not take any drinks or food), before reaching it, there is a free Yesilkey beach.
It is crowded here on weekends, after all, there are 16 million people in Istanbul, and we were on Tuesday - beauty: the promenade, the park, the big beach, there are few people, you can sit anywhere - even near the water, even in the shade of trees. There are no changing rooms, but there is a toilet (1 lira), where everyone goes to change clothes. Vendors carry coffee, tea and water, corn (by the way, corn is very tasty, they roast it a little). The beach is small pebbles, good entry into the water, clean. It was wonderful, we didn't want to leave! By the way, we took lunch with us - kokorech - fried offal of animals (I wanted exotic) in a loaf, with vegetables. But we didn't like it. Maybe because we did not eat it immediately, but an hour after cooking.
Tomorrow we were leaving, and today evening was free, and I wanted to spend it on the Galata Bridge. From here one could see both Europe and Asia, all the famous mosques, and the Bosphorus, and the Sea of Marmara, and the Golden Horn Strait.
We watched the evening descend on Istanbul, the lights lit up everywhere, how great it became when it got completely dark, and Istanbul lit up with lights in all its glory. Oh, what a pity that everything ended so quickly!
My dear husband remembered that he wanted to buy sneakers. And in the passage under the Galata Bridge there are many shoe sellers, and we bought him sneakers for 60 lire. But the next day we saw a lot of sneakers at the Egyptian Bazaar for 35 lire! So I recommend the Egyptian Bazaar!
On the fifth day - the day of departure - we packed our backpacks and went to have a bite to eat at the Mevlana cafe. This cafe is located in the Sultanahmet area, at the Chamberlitas tram stop and further down from the Column of Constantine (Emperor Constantine erected it in honor of the conquest of this city in 328). In Mevlana you can eat three dishes - soup, rice, vegetables with meat - for 15 liras. And it's delicious! Adjika is served as an aperitif before meals. Since we visited them several times, on this last day we were treated to chocolate pudding as a compliment from the establishment when we learned that we were already flying out today. In general, I recommend.
Then we went to say goodbye to my beloved Hagia Sophia and Sultanahmet Square. Then to the Egyptian Bazaar for sweets for children (along the way I could not deny myself the pleasure of visiting the New Mosque). And - on the ferry to the Asian side, where we planned to walk the rest of the time before the plane in the Kadikoy area and Mod street.
As luck would have it, there were also terrible clouds that day and it was raining. But we were armed - we had 2 umbrellas and my husband's sneakers! It was decided to tie bags on his feet so as not to fly with wet feet. And in this vidos we walked around Asia, but it was fun. As elsewhere in Istanbul, it was beautiful, well-groomed, there was a promenade with views of the endless sea... In general, we took a walk, we went too far! We started to be late. We ran to look for the T10 bus to the airport, and there were about 100 of them at the station. Kind Turks sincerely tried to help us and sent us in all directions. So we ran for another half an hour with 10-kilogram backpacks on our backs!
We weren't too worried when we calculated that it would take us 40 minutes to get there. But this bus crawled so slowly, it also started to rain, in short, it drove for about an hour and a half. We really missed the plane! Then we decided to jump out of the bus and hail a taxi. 20 minutes before the plane's departure, we burst into the airport and, jumping all the lines, went through passport control and customs, and barely found our plane. Surprisingly, there was still a queue for landing, which we were very surprised at. Some other airport employee told us that it was useless to go to the plane, like time was up. . . So you need to go to the airport in advance, 4 hours before the plane departure. It is better to calmly walk around duty free than to be so nervous and run around. And the bus actually travels to Sabiha Gokcen Airport for 1.5 hours during the day, given traffic jams and numerous stops.
By the way, we didn’t hand over the Istanbulkart card, because we didn’t know where, and whether they were accepted at the airport.
Happy travels, bright impressions and good weather!
