By Lindsay Katz
I spent just over a week in Turkey, and each day was wonderful and exciting in its own unique way – truth be told the particular day I am about to share with you was not necessarily the very best one I had in the country! Yet it was a delightful, unforgettable day nonetheless. And I can’t imagine an agenda with more amazing photo ops for the ancient and stunning city of Istanbul!
Since a wedding was the main inspiration for my visit, in addition to all of the must-do touristy things that I was sure to check off my list I also got to experience the country from a more ‘local’ perspective. The bride – having grown up in Istanbul – not only had a bounty of choice ‘insider’ suggestions for her visiting friends, but also set up some beautiful meals and special get-togethers where her American visitors got to have some fun mingling with her Turkish family and friends.
Our day began in the Ortaköy district. In a city that is (literally) 15 times the size of San Francisco in square miles, Istanbul feels like it is absolutely bursting with energy and history. Cobblestone side streets lead to several hundred year old bathhouses, gorgeous trellises of ivy drape over Victorian era flats with exposed brick, ancient ruins dot through the seven hills of the city. Long story short, Istanbul is breathtakingly beautiful and absolutely charming to boot, and the Ortaköy district is high on the list of super-cute areas that you must visit! We enjoyed a Traditional Turkish Breakfast with a view of the waters of the Bosphorus at local favorite Sade Khave – which in English translates to “black coffee.”
- Figs, olives, eggs and feta can be found in any good Turkish Breakfast
- Sade Khave - Proof that Ortaköy is super duper cute
To walk off our breakfast -and hangover from the previous night’s Raki & Nargile session (Raki is a Turkish anise flavored liquor, encouraged to be drunk in shots, Nargile is their word for Hookah) we took a hike around the ruins of the Rumeli Fortress. Built between 1393 and 1394, the massive stone towers and staircases of the fortress jut out right in the middle of the city. Being thoroughly American I never cease to be amazed by 1) the mere idea of ruins and 2) the idea of them still existing in the middle of a major metropolitan area!
- Imagine if THIS were in the middle of Northbeach!
After a few more hours spent strolling through the city we all reconvened back at… Ortaköy! This time to board a riverboat for a dinner cruise. Floating down the Bosphorus Strait affords you some amazing views of Istanbul that you wouldn’t be able to capture on land.
- Chillin’ on the cruise boat gave us all some quality time to get to know each-other :)
All geared up with Dramamine (I can get pretty motion sick if I’m not careful) I was able to enjoy at least 2 (maybe 3) deliciously fresh plates of Mediterranean food:
- Dolmas and eggplant and spinach – oh my! But really, this stuff is addictive.
After such a long, lovely cruise we were all pretty sleepy, and the scenery (apparently) started to look like this:
But we all managed to make it out for a quick Raki & Nargile nightcap before heading off to rest up for the big day.
Pretty dreamy.
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