Istanbul - General Overview

With this being my second summer in a row in Turkey, I decided I couldn't leave the country without visiting its biggest, most discussed city, Istanbul. Luckily, the coordinators opened up a three day weekend for us to explore the region on our own so I was able to make the trip happen. I booked a ticket on the high-speed rail line from Ankara to Istanbul and was able to share a hotel room with some friends from the program that put me right in the middle of the most historic part of the city, Sultanahmet. I have been told several times since my arrival in Ankara that the best part about that city is the high-speed train to Istanbul. While I may not be ready to give up on Ankara, I can now vouch for the fact that both the train and Istanbul give it plenty of competition.

We left for our Istanbul vacation on Thursday afternoon, which would allow us to settle in by Thursday night and free up Friday, Saturday, and part of Sunday to explore the city. While this sounds like a good amount of time, Istanbul rivals Rome for its size and the density of its historic sights, and having spent at least 10 days in Rome without putting a solid dent in my knowledge of the city, I knew I was in for a whirlwind tour. One advantage I had this time around was that the sights that I most wanted to see were concentrated in a fairly small area around my hotel and, now that my Turkish is much better than my Italian, even those things that were less easily accessible to the average tourist were within my grasp. I planned out an itinerary for the first day that took me to the Aya Sofya, Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii), Suleymaniyye Camii, innumerable smaller mosques and tombs of Ottoman Sultans, the Islamic Arts museum and the Istanbul Archeological museum. Day two was taken up with exploring the massive Topkapı Sarayı and taking a boat tour up the Bosphorus before hitting the Grand Bazaar and settling in for some relaxation before my final day. In between all of this there was plenty of time to enjoy the small cafes and restaurants scattered throughout the city and to partake of some nargileh (water pipe) and Efes (Turkey's best beer) while catching a World Cup match or two.

Sultanahmet can be a little overwhelming for more than just its historical monuments and museums. All of these attractions also bring in tourists and backpackers by the hundreds, most of whom appeared to be staying on the same street as my hotel. As a result, I heard more English spoken in the two days I stayed there than in the previous month of staying in Ankara. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that if I still tried to use my Turkish the response from the local waiters, bartenders, and shopowners was positive and I ended up having a great time hanging out with the guys that ran the bar across the street from the hotel. I am still pretty glad that I'm spending the summer in Ankara, but I've caught the Istanbul bug and I can't wait to make it back there. There are still plenty more areas of the city calling for my attention and I look forward to exploring them all. I've decided to break up the descriptions of the places I visited so I can include more pictures of each, so I hope you enjoy the guided tour of my two days in the city.

Pictures: (1) The view of Aya Sofya from my breakfast table.
(2) A view of the Blue Mosque from the Islamic Arts Museum.
(3) View of Galata Tower and Bridge from Eminönü.
(4) Me and the Bosphorus from Topkapı.
(5) The gateway to İstanbul Üniversitesi.