A city filled with Borek (Istanbul Oct 2024)

 And She’s Off

For this trip I booked flights and a hotel through BA. Worth doing as you get checked luggage included at no extra cost. I would normally have taken the underground to Heathrow as I just had a backpack and small case but it was an early flight and I didn’t want to take the risk if there were any delays. Booking a hotel a short bus ride from the airport was less than half the cost of a taxi so that’s what I did.

When I set out around 5am the rain was relentless. BA’s quick self-service bag drop - they really are getting rid of humans wherever they can. My bag was 12.5kg; you could tell I definitely wasn’t going to Barbados - you know where you’re quietly praying they’ll turn a blind eye to the 25kg of stuff you’ve packed for Mum.  One hour in the lounge and then I was off. 3 hours 20 mins to SAW airport. 

My first purchase was an Istanbulkart - equivalent to London’s Oyster except it can be used for up to 5 people and gives you about 40% off standard fares so it was well worth the £3 equivalent I paid.

Metro, a very scenic ferry and tram ride and I was at the hotel. (In my haste I didn’t realise I had jumped on the wrong ferry until it set sail. Not too much of a disaster, it just meant getting the tram from a slightly different stop)

Quick check in at the Holiday Inn and very satisfied with the room. Enough time to wander out for something to eat - the first of many Turkish meat feasts - and a quick stop at the supermarket to stock up on water and as always, some local delights; almond flavoured popcorn, hazelnut biscuits and some chocolate wafer looking things.

 Day 2

Happened upon a restaurant filled with locals and decided it was as good as a place as any to eat.

Waiter - “What can I get you?”

Me - “Is there a menu please?”

Waiter - “Only in Turkish.”

Me - “What do you have?”

He then proceeds to ramble of a list of items - I have no clue.

Waiter - “Turkish breakfast?”

Me - “What does it consist of?” (about 14 years since I last visited Turkey)

Another list; only thing I understood was, omelette’, so agreed to it. Several plates materialised about 15 minutes later.  Omelette, salad, yummy looking pastry thing (borek), cheeses and dips and spreads materialise about 15 minutes later. Could have fed 3 people in my opinion.

One of my careful rambling walks around the new neighbourhood, Topaki. Topped up on some fruit and took in the sites of locals going about their day.  

As nothing was really planned for today, I took the opportunity to catch up on some work and go for another walk. In the early evening I figured it was a good time to check out Taksim Square. Got there and back by bus - only bus journey on this trip. The area is a very popular tourist hangout with lots of shops, restaurants, cafes, bars and a generally busy nightlife. I had my first roasted corn - sold by street vendors everywhere.

I happened across The Republic Museum and as it was only a few quid entry I decided to check it out. Last year was 100 years since Turkiye became a republic. The museum was dedicated to Ataturk; the founding father of the republic. Very interesting.

Decided on fish for dinner and one of the restaurants was offering free baklava and Turkish tea (which to be fair was free with a lot of meals - not a big tea drinker).

I’d heard of all the stray dogs in Istanbul but thankfully I didn’t feel too threatened when out and about. Though I did come across a few, they seemed extremely docile - mostly just lying around and being petted by over-keen tourists. 

Day 3

Whenever I’m in a new city I make it a habit to do a walking tour. I tend to go for the free ones where you tip after - these are easier to cancel / rebook if plans change. As always, the guide was very knowledgeable. She talked about the main tourist sites as we passed them from the outside. She also gave useful tips on best times to visit them to avoid queues - was really grateful for that as some of the queues were insane. One of the strays knew her and decided to follow us on part of the tour. She was sensitive to my fear as were other members of the group which was lovely. They petted the dog and formed little barriers around it to keep it away from me.

This was one of those tours that ended with a gentle upsell; the company were doing a boat tour of the Bosphorus. It was a cruise I intended to take anyway and their price seemed fair. I had also met an older couple from Australia who I was getting on quite well with so was keen to converse with them a little longer.

There was also a recommendation of somewhere for lunch - had a kebab - and a bag store. Now this was a store where you had to say who sent you and they’d show you to the ‘secret’ lower level of the store. It was filled with knock off designer goods. Apparently these were the highest quality of knock offs. And here lay my greatest frustration on this holiday. 

All I wanted to purchase was a plain little leather backpack and a hoodie which said Istanbul. But could I get them? Nope. No plain bags, just shop after shop filled with know offs. One store owner even wanted me to explain what the problem with the knock off stuff was - why buy an unbranded, plain bag when I could get a fake designer brand that looked so good. 

And the same for the hoodie - nothing saying Istanbul but all the sport brands you cloud list. I searched and searched until my last day but eventually had to admit defeat.

Check out the video of me trying to purchase an ice-cream.

Apparently this is what they do, just as well I only one 1 in my time there. Couldn’t go through this palaver each time! The dense, stretchy nature of Turkish ice-cream makes these tricks possibility but I didn’t like the texture.

The weather turned shortly after the cruise set sail making it quite a cold cruise. The information was given in Spanish and English but I was so busy yapping with my new-found ‘mates’ that we missed a lot of it. Still, I managed to get some nice photos. We were given a mini tour around the Asian side of Istanbul with a taste of some local treats; sweet mini dough balls and muscles stuffed with flavoured rice. And my dinner - a fish sandwich from a recommended restaurant. Very bland in my opinion but hey.

Day 4

Taking the tour guide’s advice I arrived at the mosque nice and early - too early, 8am, 30 minutes prior to the actual opening time. Stray cats were more rampant in Istanbul than dogs and there were lots of them here; the most I had counted to date in one place. The queue grew quickly behind me but I was actually the first to step foot in the mosque. Despite the exterior of the building being grey, it’s named the blue mosque to represent the over 20,000 blue tiles that line part of the interior wall. I spent about 10 minutes in the interior. Longer outside in the courtyard area reading some of the many plaques that outlined the basics of the Islam faith. I took particular interest in the commands around the way elders are to be treated. 

By the time I left, about an hour later, the queue had alread wrapped around the building with what I estimated would be about 2 hours waiting time. 

The queue had also already built for entry to the Haigia Sophia so I made my way to the Basilica Cistern and walked straight in - after purchasing a ticket of course! Loved the ambience inside and was amazed at how this intricate waterway was thought of, planned and built so many centuries ago.

Less impressive, in my opinion,  was the Grand Bazaar. Having visited many souqs around the world I couldn’t see that this was much different. Big, noisy and lots of stalls selling the same items - fake designer goods, Turkish delights, clothes, spices and much more. Maybe my opinion is biassed based on the fact I couldn’t get the main item I wanted to purchase on this trip. My backpack from Israel had to be thrown out earlier this year and I so wanted to replace it with something from Turkiye. 

The tour guide had mentioned the bazaar locals went to - Mu….. - so I decided to check this out but again no luck. 

Decided to eat something other than Turkish. There was a Korean restaurant close to the hotel so had some Ganbian noodles. Not generally a fan of beef but these were really good!

Then jumped back on the tram to get to Hagia Sophia. The tram stop was literally outside the hotel so mega convenient for exploring and very cheap - about the equivalent of 50 pence per journey regardless of the number of stops. This didn't include interchanges though so on the occasions I interchanged it was charged as 2 or 3 fares - but really, who’s going to complain at 50 pence a pop? You could ride around for an entire day for half the price of one TFL journey!

Despite arriving at the time suggested by the guide the queue was still horrendously long and by the time I had purchased the entry tickets (one for mosque and the other for museum), there were 40 minutes left til closing time. Enough time to visit the mosque interior, leaving the museum for the next day as tickets were valid for 2 days (1 entry per location).

Day 5

Back to the restaurant I had my first breakfast at, this time for borek - 1 cheese and 1 potato. Way too much for so early in the morning. After brekkie I made my way back to the bazaars - I don’t give up easily but on this occasion I was disappointed as, yep, still couldn’t get the bag nor the hoodie.

Some minimal souvenir shopping before my next stop - Hagia Sophia museum which I really enjoyed. Video screens led you on a journey of the history of the building. I was saddened to see how it was taken from the Christians that had built it. 

Last visit to supermarket (so I thought) for some local eateries to take home. And then my last meat feast, lamb chops with chips. Proper home made chips that surprisingly both looked and tasted like the ones I made at home. Didn’t expect that from the fanciest restaurant I’d dined at this holiday. 

Day 6

I think I’m hooked on this borek!

This morning I had a meat borek from a different eatery. It was sooo good. 

Guess what? I actually passed a small store that was selling … unbranded small back-pack style bags! Finally! But…. the quality was so shockingly poor (I felt the zip would break off in my hand). Defeated, I returned to hotel to collect my stuff and make the scenic journey back to the airport. But not before my final slice of Istanbul cheesecake. Baked cheesecakes here were good.  And then a box of fancy Turkish Delights from supermarket.

Calculated the return fare to ensure I didn’t put anything extra on my Istabulkart as it’s non-refundable.

After packing up I headed to the airport. I always get to the airport ahead of time to chill in the lounge for an hour or so. Shouldn’t have bothered on this occasion - easily the worst airport lounge I’ve encountered to date. Saving grace? Amazing view of the runway. And just like that I was looking at the beautiful city of Istanbul beneath me as we soared away.

Next stop - New York