Hello Europe and Asia, it’s nice to be back! This was a two for one continent stop due to Istanbul’s location.
Thanks to another free stopover, we had 13 hours in the city. We landed at 4am, took a quick nap at the airport, explored the city with the free stopover tour, and then at 5pm we boarded our flight and flew to Lithuania. What a whirlwind!
Turkey wasn’t on original plan, but after learning about the free stopover with Turkish Airlines and the free city tour we had to add it!
As we entered the city, we learned that Istanbul is a city built on the hills with every inch of space filled with houses and structures and sprinkled with mosques. There were minarets and domes everywhere!
We started the tour with breakfast from a local restaurant followed by a stop at the Blue Mosque. Unfortunately since it was Friday, the mosque was closed to visitors. We’ve really been striking out with these! We were able to peek inside the Tomb of Sultan Ahmet which was something.
We also learned about the structures in the Sultanahmet Square with the Egyptian obelisk being the most interesting due to the 1400 BC hieroglyphics.
During our free time, we wandered by Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque where we grabbed a simit which was essentially a round pretzel covered in sesame seeds and a slice of bread that looked like my family’s special Povitica bread. We washed those down with a sample of Turkish coffee and tea at a local cafe. It turns out we could use a lesson on how to drink the Turkish coffee... we were given what we thought was an espresso and small cup of water. Sipping the insanely strong and gritty coffee, we realized we needed to do something with the water but weren’t sure what… the tea was much easier and more enjoyable to drink.
Next up was a boat cruise around the Bosphorus Strait and Golden Horn with spectacular views of the city. We floated between Europe and Asia while taking in the sights and watching the large ships traveling between the Black Sea and Mediterranean. We ogled at the numerous jellyfish floating in the water, and just after 12pm, we listened to the Azan or Muslim call to prayer playing throughout the city.
Following the cruise, we debated continuing the tour to lunch, but with the return time cutting it close to our boarding time, we opted to grab an Uber and head back to the airport early. Plus, it gave us a chance to check out the fancy airport lounge. Glad we did as it was a good one!
This was our quickest stopover of the trip, but we’re so glad it worked out! As the Asian proverb states, “It’s better to see something once, than to hear about it a thousand times”. We enjoyed the sample and will keep the city on our list for future visits. We have more exploring to do and need to sample more of the cuisine!
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