Istanbul...a few more things

Blue Mosque at night

As you can tell, our long weekend in Istanbul was packed full of seeing beautiful sights, eating great food and lots of walking. The weather cooperated as well; the forecast called for rain all weekend, but it ended up being pretty sunny all weekend. I told BK I was pretty sure this was because I packed my rain boots, and would now be taking them anywhere we wanted sun.

Saturday we covered all of the really well-known sights with a tour guide. I liked that this was our first day because it also gave us the chance to ask lots of questions we had about the history, city, and culture. As in most of the cities we visit, BK and I found a babysitter, so he and I were able to go out to dinner every night while there. Yay for couple time!

In case you didn't know, Istanbul is the gateway from Europe to Asia. The Intercontinental Bridge connects the two continents, with 60 percent of the population living on European side, and 40 percent living on the Asian side. 

Intercontinental Bridge between Europe and Asia

Sunday we took a Bosporus River cruise so that we could see both sides of the city. The cruise is on a public ferry, but it wasn't too crowded and I would guess most people there were tourists. I would recommend doing a river cruise if you're there; you can see some of the city that you probably wouldn't get to see otherwise.

Restaurant boats near the dock

Fishing in the Bosporus

Lulled to sleep on the boat cruise

Additionally, we went to the spice market, which was similar to the Grand Bazaar, but smaller and with more spices (obviously). After our river cruise we stopped for lunch, then did some walking around a part of the city we hadn't seen yet, just north of the Golden Horn. We stopped at the Galata Tower, but at the time the line was too long and we were ready to move along. We did some shopping (way cheaper than Switzerland), stopped to feed Baby K dinner, then headed back to the hotel.

Spice market

Monday we only had half a day, so we decided to go back to Galata Tower; it was sunny and the day was perfect to get a great view of the city. This was a great time to visit, as we didn't have to wait in line at all, and took the elevator straight to the top. The tower was built in 1348, and has been maintained and redone very well. Monday also happened to be my birthday, so we stopped at the cafe in the tower, which just also happened to have Black Forest Cake, which is my favorite and something I try to have every year.

Galata Tower

Enjoying my birthday Black Forest Cake

A few other details that I thought I would share, in case you're planning a visit...

We stayed at TomTom Suites; it was a great hotel that used to be a Franciscan house. It has a really convenient location and very helpful staff. Our room wasn't perfect for Baby K, but only in the sense that I didn't book one with a separate area for her. She slept in the (very large) bathroom...don't judge- it worked for us.

Friday night we ate at the restaurant in the hotel, Nicole. It is rated one of the best restaurants in Istanbul, and rightly so. We were very pleasantly surprised, as sometimes you don't really know what you'll get with restaurants in hotels. They have a set menu of modern takes on Turkish food, with wine pairings from Turkey. All really good- highly recommend.

Yum!

I wish I could remember where we ate lunch on Saturday, but I just took a picture of the food, and forgot to get the name. Also, Saturday night we ate a restaurant that was recommended to us. Unfortunately, it was one of the worst dining experiences we've had in a long time. The view of the Intercontinental Bridge was great, but that's about it.

Intercontinental Bridge at night

Our Sunday night meal was also a meal full of traditional Turkish dishes. It was a bit hard to find, in a neighborhood close to the Blue Mosque. When we travel you always try to find some places that offer traditional food from the region.

BK with our cold appetizers

So, I guess that about wraps our trip to Istanbul up. We had about 10 days at home, then were off to Spain and Portugal for 10 days. Good times...that I hope to write about soon!

View from Galata Tower