From Europe to Asia – All In One Day!

Eating breakfast in the hotel terrace overlooking mosques and watching the seagulls splatter their “white stuff” down below is really a great way to start your day. Breakfast buffet with eggs to order. Turkish breakfast consists of a lot of pickled stuff, cold cuts, vegetables, breads, and olives.

Our guided tour did not start until 1300 so off we went exploring the city.  Constantinople (the English name for Istanbul) is densely populated compared to that of other European metropolitan cities – 15 million plus inhabitants! The activity all around you is electrifying. Both sides of the streets are lined with all sorts of businesses – cafés, restaurants, pastry shops, spices, electronics, appliances, souvenirs, you name it they have it.

Trini spotted the famous Grand Bazaar – a covered shopping outlet where the gold and expensive jewelries seemed to have converged. Of course, they also have other items that you can take home like, scarves, watches, handbags and other souvenirs.

Our guided tour started at 1300 and the bus took us around the city highlights. Then we boarded a boat that cruised along the Sea of Marmara. Marmara joins the Black Sea on the eastern side of the country and is quite busy with many tankers and different ships crossing to get to the Mediterranean Sea.

There are three iconic bridges that cuts the Sea of Marmara – the famous Bosphorus Bridge, the Galata which spans Europe and Asia and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet. After the boat cruise – which was amazing – we went back to the bus and we got a glimpse of the two long underwater tunnels connecting the two continents! We had a spectacular view of the European Istanbul from the high vantage point.

After the photo ops we went to the cable cars to go down from the vista point to meet our bus and end our tour. We asked to be dropped off near the Blue Mosque as it was within walking distance from our hotel. We went inside the mosque which was currently undergoing some renovation so we did not see the blue interior (reason why it’s called Blue Mosque).

Famished, we made our way to the restaurant row and allowed ourselves to be subjected to the many “sales talk” along the way. Trini promised a gentleman last night that we would eat in their restaurant. He saw us and gave us a wide smile and simply said, “you’re back”. Tonight we ordered a huge sea food platter (all grilled) – trout, salmon, tuna, and shrimps. We had the house white wine and the waiter brought us this big inflated bread on steroids. When I popped it it deflated and turned into a wimpy flat bread but it was delicious. The bread came with assorted spreads that really made the bread taste differently with each spread and cheese.

We ended the fabulous dinner with little cups of the tangy black tea. I asked the waiter why he was not serving us the raki (a strong anise-flavored liquor) when the restaurant across the street served it for free. He glanced at the owner and the owner gave a thumbs up so he quickly served me one that I downed instantly (like tequila).