Visiting Istanbul: Turkey and Cake

“There are some corners of the world I wish to see time and time and time again.” – Old Sean

Revisiting Istanbul

And finally, half a decade later, I am returned.

I’ve missed Istanbul like crazy.  The massive city is among my top five favorite urban environments in the world, partially because I spend every day hopping between continents. 

After leaving Thessaloniki, I was fortunate to find a particularly comfy night bus into Istanbul. Once I arrived, I lounged on the side of the road waiting for my old university roommate, Mr. World, to come pick me up.

And arrive he did, missing his magnificent beard (which will grow back shortly). While I miss his beard, I did feel more secure in my masculinity with my rather thin patch of hair along my jaw.  Once greetings were done, we were off, ready to go forth and explore.

A Turkish Greetings

I’ll say this: no matter how much I enjoy a city, Mr. World has always doubled the enjoyment obtained with his sheer presence.

Currently, I’m in the unenviable position of tapping my foot while awaiting my next paycheck and travel reimbursements. My company has stalled in sending me money once again, so I’m essentially grounded in Istanbul until my cash-flow resumes.

However, if a traveler must be stuck somewhere, Istanbul is the place to be based. Especially with Mr. World. His house has a minimum of 12 cats, at least 3 of which are currently kittens.

Mr. World offered me a cozy room to myself and we quickly began wandering Istanbul together, often accompanied by his girlfriend. We enjoyed various work-meals when his office demanded his time, but also went on impromptu culinary tours.

There were evenings sampling Turkish dumplings, breakfasts of specially toasted sandwiches, a spectacular birthday cream-and-strawberry cake at the illustrious Art Café, an equally impressive chocolate dessert at the chocolate café J’Adore, followed by a hookah break, followed by a multitude of tea shops and more chocolate cake.

Finally, to cap off all our meals, Mr. World cooked a splendid barbeque dinner at Polonezkoy Tabiat Parki (Istanbul Polina House), which is a beautiful old Polish settlement somewhat outside the city.

Magic Carpet Meals

I was thoughouly stuffed. But there was still more food to come.

During a day when Mr. World was working, I explored a large swath of Istanbul on foot. I ended up, as I often do, at the Hagia Sophia. While I was attempting to take a photo, I was approached by a Kurdish man who asked if I wanted a better view of the building. I replied that I didn’t have any money, which was entirely true. In Turkey, for the time being, I was nearly penniless.

The Kurdish man said that was no problem, it was just a matter of showing me a different angle for the building. I agreed, reiterating that I wouldn’t be able to pay him. He waved me away and led me to a building where a tight spiral staircase reached a rooftop. I had a grand, unobstructed view of the Hagia Sophia and snapped a half-dozen photos. The man then asked if I would like to sit down for some tea.

Gratified and enjoying the conversation, I agreed. I was led into his uncle’s carpet-shop downstairs. While seated on stools, chatting amicably, I was fed Turkish kebabs with absolutely delicious apple-flavored tea.

Sales Pitch

That is, of course, when the trap’s jaws snapped shut. The young man’s uncle entered the room and showcased me a wide variety of carpets and jewelry options. I was given a strong, well-practiced sales pitch.

I sat through the whole spiel, steadfastly enjoying my kebabs and tea. Luckily, I was able to get in a word edgewise once in a while, protesting I didn’t have any money. I only had something like twenty lira on me, hidden in my boot for the subway home and nothing else. Undeterred, I was asked if I had a sister or an aunt back in the states who might like to purchase one of the carpets and have it shipped to them.

Grateful for the loophole, I requested a business card and told them I would ask my aunts and sisters, taking a few photos of the carpets to sell my own story.

Sadly, I know my family in the States rather well. I don’t think they’re personal styles would mesh well with the admittedly lovely carpets I saw.

Back to Walking

After escaping the sales pitch, I began wandering through Istanbul in earnest. For a full week, I would be exploring large swaths of the city and revisiting my favorite sights.

One of the foremost places I adore is the Grand Bazaar. Allow me to say, they’ve got everything short of an elephant passing out kebabs. 

There are Turkish crystal tea sets (always wanted one of those), ornate lamps, scarves, colored clothes, tracksuits, jumpsuits, hats, incense and a gradually increasing mountain of odd trinkets.  For example, Minyatur’s Nautical Instruments is a tiny little shop jam-packed with every steampunk ship-bearing nautical device one could imagine.

Once I finally tore myself away from the Grand Bazaar, I immediately delved into the Spice Bazaar, where I spent time sampling until my tongue had taken too many alien hits to do much more than flounder in overwhelmed dizziness. 

From there, it was a visit to the Blue Mosque.  It’s a fabulously impressive structure and the staff offers baggy cloths to wrap around a visitor’s legs for free if you happened to be wearing shorts (like my not-so-far-sighted-self).

Further Highlights

Next, I made my way through Guhane Park, where I chatted up some Russians, poked around some overlooks, watched some turtle statues and finally walked along the shoreline. 

Afterwards, it was a simple skip, hop and stumble to Galata Tower (great series of stores, trams and crowds) and from there, a twenty-five minute walk to Taksim Square. 

The only other thing I would recommend (which I only saw on my last visit) is the Basilica Cistern.  That’s a cool little tourist stop.

Along Mr. World

My tourism quota sated, the next few days of life were a bit broader. 

I ate a tower of pizza with Mr. World during a particularly intense rainy day and trimmed my way through the harrowing necessity of paperwork. 

I appraised a franchise location my company is considering in Turkey, enjoyed some impromptu boxing lessons (flailing), stopped by a castle on the Golden Horn (flailing in traffic) and prepped for my final day in the city.

My last day in Turkey was spent gathering everything I needed for the final leg of my trip. 

Mostly this just meant transferring my cash to a more international standard (the Turkish Lira has taken a hell of a hit) and buying conditioner and deodorant. 

The rest of the day was spent lurking in various coffee shops, using my remaining change to check out the city via ferry and metro. One of my last stops involved visiting a rather large mall complex for road-trip-snacks. 

Finally, I was finished visiting Istanbul. I shouldered my backpack (considerably lighter since I had to discard all of my clothes that have worn through) and headed toward Varna, Bulgaria.  There’s only two weeks left on my work itinerary, consisting of Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia.

So until I’m semi-settled again.

Best regards and excellent trails,

Old Sean

Written September 18th 2018

Read more about visiting Istanbul and seeing the world by visiting Leftfade Trails Destinations Page.

Affiliate Disclosure: Leftfade Trails contains affiliate links, so using services or products through these links supports the website, at no extra cost to the user. All links are to tested services and products designed to aid travelers on their journeys. Some links specifically connect to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate this website earns from qualifying purchases.