Two Days in Istanbul

Turkey was a very special trip.

After six weeks studying abroad in the U.K. I made my way to London Heathrow to fly to Istanbul. Ben stayed home in New Mexico while I was in Oxford, and it was the longest we had been apart since we got married. But instead of reuniting at home, we decided he would fly out to meet me, and we would make a trip out of it. To make the trip even more special, we reunited on our anniversary. You can picture us running through the airport to meet each other, me leaping into his arms in the middle of the terminal like in a rom-com.

Actually, he found me while I was standing in line to get into the lounge, and my backpack was way too heavy to do any leaping, but you get the idea.

Turkey had been on my bucket list for a while. Based on its history and geographical location, I was rightly anticipating that we would find a mix of Mediterranean, Asian, and Middle Eastern cultures in Turkey. I mean, Istanbul is literally split over two continents. I was excited to experience this fusion of different influences, and we had a whirlwind ten days planned to see lots of different parts of the country. Our first stop: Istanbul.

Arriving in Istanbul

Our arrival in Istanbul was a little chaotic. From the airport, we took a bus to Taksim Square, and had a thirty-ish minute walk to our Airbnb in the Galata area. Now, thirty minutes really isn’t bad, but I think I’ve gotten soft, and my backpack was feeling pretty heavy—so heavy, in fact, that I decided as soon as I got home, I would invest in a wheelie bag. As if carrying the heavy bags wasn’t bad enough, the route that Google maps suggested for us just happened to go through the busiest street in Galata at the busiest time of day. The crowds were so thick, I had to hang onto Ben’s backpack so I didn’t lose him. Luckily, we made it to our Airbnb in time for a good night’s sleep before setting off to explore the next morning.

Galata Tower

Our first stop in Istanbul was Galata Tower, mostly because it was about a two minute walk from where we were staying. This tower dates back to the Middle Ages, and I think it looks just like Rapunzel’s tower in Tangled. You can pay to go up to the top of the tower, where the views of Istanbul are meant to be stunning, but we only admired it from ground level before heading across the Golden Horn to do some more sightseeing.

The Hagia Sophia

Our next stop was the Hagia Sophia, which was one of the things I was most excited to see in Istanbul. When it was built in the first century, the Hagia Sophia was one of the most important churches in the world. It has had a long and complicated history, being used first as an Orthodox cathedral, then a Catholic cathedral, then back to an Orthodox cathedral, then it became a mosque, then a museum, and now back to a mosque. The Hagia Sophia is absolutely beautiful, and a great way to kick off our first day in Istanbul.

The Blue Mosque

Right next to the Hagia Sophia sits the Blue Mosque. Now, the Blue Mosque is beautiful, no question, but it had been going through extensive renovations over the last few years, and at the time of our visit, the interior was mostly covered up by scaffolding. I’m still glad we got to see it, but I imagine travelers who are visiting after the renovation work is done will be more impressed by this stop than we were.

Istanbul Food Tour

After visiting these two mosques, we spent most of our day on a food tour. Now, Ben and I have done several food tours in several different cities, but this food tour was hands down the best one we have ever done! We ate so much food, I couldn’t possibly remember all of it, including simit, Turkish coffee, possibly the best breakfast of my whole life, baklava, Turkish ice cream, pickle juice, stuffed mussels, some kind of sandwich made with lamb intestines, and on and on and on. We ate at least a thousand things, and it was awesome! We also got to visit both the European and the Asian sides of Istanbul, which was really cool. We booked the food tour through Airbnb, and I’ll link it here. I highly, highly recommend this tour. Just be sure to come hungry!

Suleymaniye Mosque

After eating until we were fit to burst, we had to walk off our full stomachs, so we decided to make one more stop before heading back to our Airbnb. We visited Suleymaniye Mosque, which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful mosques in the city. It was beautiful, but we were both tired and full and didn’t stay long. We skipped dinner and went to bed early.

Seven Hills Restaurant

The next morning, we went for breakfast at one of Istanbul’s most popular restaurants, Seven Hills. This restaurant has a beautiful rooftop restaurant that looks over the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. The views are undoubtedly stunning, but we both felt that the food, while plentiful, was only mediocre. Perhaps it’s just unfair because we were comparing it to the breakfast we had on our food tour the day before, but we agreed it was the kind of place you went for the ambience, not the meal. Still, we enjoyed ourselves, and ate up before a big second day of exploring.

Topkapi Palace

We ended up spending our entire day at Topkapi Palace. We hadn’t originally intended to spend the whole day here, but we were enjoying ourselves so much, we didn’t want to leave. For history lovers, this place really is a gem, with tons of things to see and learn about. We paid extra for the ticket to go into the harem, and it was 100% worth every penny! The harem was the most beautiful part of the palace hands down, but there were lots of cool things to see. Just make sure to go early or be ready to battle the crowds in some of the smaller rooms.

Somehow, just like that, our two days in Istanbul already ended. We would have loved to stay longer and see more of the city, but we think we made the most of our short time. Luckily, even though we were leaving Istanbul, our adventure in Turkey was only just beginning.