EU 2015 (i): Istanbul, aku datang

Well, hello all! I just got back from my European holiday, so it's time for some blogging. I'm still tanned and a little bit jet-lagged, but I guess I should start putting up some posts before I get lazy ;). Good thing I jotted down some notes while waiting at the airport and taking the trains, so it saved me some time. However, I just managed to cover as far as Berlin. There was nothing but blank pages for Prague, Firenze, Cinque Terre and Amsterdam! :D

Also to note, some of the pictures were taken by my friends, with their better cameras. I was just using my mobile phone and PnS camera. You'd be able to tell which is which :)

Places that were covered during this year's EU trip

Phrases uttered:
- Merhaba: Hello
- Teşekkür ederim: Thanks 
- Ne kadar?: How much?

Day 1
The outbound flight, which was scheduled to depart at midnight, was delayed for half an hour but we would still get to Istanbul Ataturk airport on time. The airline would incur penalty if they were to arrive earlier. I didn't even get to the middle of the Gone Girl movie before I dozed off. But I did get to finish it when I woke up for breakfast a couple of hours before we landed. Great movie.

Anyways, we safely arrived at our hotel by 8 am considering how our taxi driver drove. It was too early to get a room but the hotel was super kind to offer us breakfast. We got to taste some of the local delicacies. Some were really good.

The 'Old City' area

After breakfast we made a short trek to Hagia Sophia, our first stop. Weather was nice and the line was not that long.

The queue to the ticket counter before it opened at 9. The buses weren't here yet.

A cat in Hagia Sophia making its presence felt

 

Then we walked to the nearby Blue Mosque. Minutes before they closed the doors for public visit an hour before the Zuhr prayers.

The public area

Nice ain't it?

 Close to 1 pm we headed back to our hotel hoping that our room would be ready. Indeed it was. The room was of a good size. Perhaps a bit small but its location in Sirkeci and near the Eminönü docks was a big advantage.

Later in the afternoon, we made our way to the Grand Bazaar. A roofed building with alleys lined up with shops selling jewelries, turkish delights & local sweets, t-shirts, pashmina, colourful lamps and what not. We didn't buy anything but we did try the kebab and turkish tea from one of the shops. The tea was a bit bitter. I prefer my teh tarik kurang manis anytime :)

Jewelries alley

Love the colours! Too bad they're too fragile and bulky to bring back

From the Grand Bazaar we continued on walking towards the Cemberlitas tram station, made a left turn towards Hagia Sophia and then on to our hotel. Along the way I sampled my first freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. A bit kelat (bitter), tasty nonetheless.

Day 2
We started our day with a breakfast for champions :D.

Today's itinerary was to checkout the Beyoğlu neighbourhood. We walked to Eminönü to purchase an Istanbulkart so that it'd be easier and cheaper to get around. Of course nothing beats walking. From Eminönü we took the tram to Kabataş and transferred to the funicular train to get to Taksim Square.

The Galata Tower in the distance, viewed from Eminonu

Taksim Square

At Taksim Square

From Taksim we walked down the Istiklal Street towards the Galata Tower.

Istiklal Street

Then we made our way back to Eminönü to get a cab to the Pierre Loti cafe near Eyüp Sultan Mosque. We stayed and enjoyed the view of the Golden Horn and Istanbul from far until sunset. We had taken the teleferik (cable car) up so we decided to walk down following the path that goes through the cemetery. We were a bit hesitant at first. Yelah tak pernah dibuat orang jalan kat kubur bila hari nak maghrib kat Malaysia. Lol. Seeing lots of people walking up and down the path calmed us down. It was interesting to see and compare the cemetery with the ones we have at home.

A packed Pierre Loti cafe

Enjoying a cuppa

Awesome view! You could see the Eyup Sultan Mosque and the cemetery on the right

Tak salah kan? :D

Cat at the cemetery. They pretty much littered (pun intended) the city

Eyup Sultan Mosque: I didn't get to check it out

[updated]

I wasn't going to post this video because it was slightly embarrassing. But my colleagues said it was cute and blog-worthy :-}

We caught a ferry back to Eminönü. Seeing the fish sandwich restaurants were bustling I didn't pass up the chance to try out one. It was okay at best. Maybe it's the Malaysian in me that I really think it needed some spices and spiciness. Hehehe.

The Suleymaniye Cami at night

To end the day we went to try out the Turkish Bath or Hammam. *Shucks* :) Truth be told part of me was having some kind of reservation. I've never gone for a hammam or massage before so I didn't know what to expect. I find it a little bit awkward to be half naked (or even more) while somebody's putting their hands all over me. And I don't have a nice body you see :D. Plus I'm a bit ticklish, so I don't want to be laughing through out (or part of) the massage. Lol.

Pictures taken from the Cemberlitas Hamami website; guys and girls have separated chambers of course ;)

After paying for the fee, we were each given a towel and shown to our room to get changed. After wrapping up ourselves in towels, we were ushered to the steam room. After 15 minutes and drenched in sweat, the attendant did his thing. He bathed me, used the small towel to soap and scrub me. First the front, and then the back. With a little bone breaking thingy in between. After that's done, he led me to another room, sat me by the sink and bathe me again. When we were done, he asked me "All good? Problem?" When I said No Problem, he pointed me to a round plastic tag pinned to his towel by the waist and did the money signal. Aah, point taken. I did read in the forums before about tipping your attendant but didn't know of the signal. Hehe. We were free to hang around back in the steam room but we didn't stay long because we'd be sweating all over again.

After we had changed back to our own clothes, we went downstairs and decided to have  mixed pomegranate and orange drinks. The combo was excellent. Then we noticed our guys were standing nearby. Fully clothed, of course. Hint taken :) We tipped them and finished off our drinks. All in all it was a good experience. A friend texted saying "It's either go once and never again. Or go once and more afterwards. So now can go massage already and not feel awkward". We shall see :)

The top floors

By the entrance and the cafe. The hot room is in the other room

I've never been so clean :D

If you ask me, I believe Istanbul deserves at least another full day to try out the Bosphorus cruise tour as well as to visit the Topkapi Palace, Suleymani mosque and Ortakoy, among others. I'll use the if-only-I-had-extra-vacation-days excuse :)

A word of caution, be extra careful of irresponsible cab drivers, who could take advantage of you and take you for a ride. I would recommend taking the public transportation. Istanbulkart could be used on buses, trams, metros and ferries, and they're cheaper with the card.