Istanbul

Matt had to head back to Jakarta, so we parted ways in Athens.  He flew to London to finish out his round trip ticket, and the kids and I went back to Istanbul.  This time we stopped for 3 days to enjoy the city! It's a huge city - probably 20 million people - and straddles Europe and Asia, so we knew we'd never see everything we should, but it was worth it to experience a few days.

We were pretty worn out by the time we reached our hotel, so we relaxed for a little while before we walked out to explore in the afternoon. Taksim park was a great area to stay up on top of hill.

I'd seen a documentary on the street cats of Istanbul and they are really treated like everyone's shared pets.  They are healthy and happy and welcomed pretty much everywhere, including McDonald's!

Some green spaces had little cities for the cats to live together.

We wandered down to the river and Dolmabache Palace.  It looked incredible from the outside but we couldn't see much past the gate.  I was hoping for more to see along the river but there really weren't sidewalks along the waterfront in our area.

We noticed immediately how rarely local people smiled.  It was actually a little unsettling coming from Indonesia where most people are friendly and will always return a smile. Alex decided he wouldn't smile for any pictures while we were there.  He is actually having a good time whether his face shows it or not.

The palace walls blocked the view of everything but the street was beautiful and looked and felt like fall. We enjoyed our afternoon wandering around our neighborhood and enjoyed a quiet evening in the hotel.  After such busy days in Athens, it was really nice to have a little downtime.

On Thursday morning, we made our way back down to the river and enjoyed more cats along the way.

We had booked a boat tour along the Bosporus Strait, which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and divides the city into European and Asian halves. Our boat was pretty comfy!

We got a much better view of the palace from the water.

We had perfect weather with warm sunshine and cool wind. We sat up top protected from the wind and enjoyed the snacks the staff shared around.

The architecture of the mosques in the area is so pretty.

There were several of the massive flags flying on both sides of the strait.

Only a handful of bridges and tunnels connect the two sides.

I was really excited to see the old Constantinople city walls. They protected the city for nearly a thousand years until it finally fell to the Ottomans in the 1400's.

We crossed the strait and had a little time to hop off on the Asian side for a few minutes before we returned back to Europe.

Back on the boat and this time we hopped up front.  Still no smiles, even though we were loving it!

The bridges across the strait are truly massive.

A smaller palace on the Asian side for important guests.

We warmed ourselves in the sunshine while the breeze kept us cool. Such amazing weather! And such a change from the tropics.

There are container ships that traverse the strait daily but there is only one lane and the direction changes every few hours to prevent accidents.

The mix of old and new really makes Istanbul unique and beautiful.

We docked near Taksim again and made our way to the Old City for some real sightseeing.  It was also our first introduction to taxis, some of which are honest and use their meter, and some who are ready to rip you off for sure.  So frustrating!

We barely went into the Grand Bazaar, the oldest and biggest indoor market in the world, and decided very quickly we didn't need to see a whole lot more of it! It was pretty nuts.

Roof cat near the market sign, reminding us it started in 1461.

The crowds were a little overwhelming and the streets were so busy.  We found a lovely little restaurant for lunch and happily sat indoors in the basement for much-needed peace and quiet and exceptional food.

We explored the Basilica Cistern, one of several hundred ancient Byzantine cisterns that used to hold water for the city residents.

There were many different types of columns and materials used, probably pilfered from places the empire conquered in the years during the cistern's construction.  Legend has it that this column shows tears to commemorate the hundreds of slaves that died building the cistern.

No one is exactly sure what these medusa heads represent.  They are likely from Rome and hold up two columns in the corner.

The boys did get Subway for dinner because it's their favorite and SO much better than the "subway" that recently opened in Jakarta. They did learn that a footlong is not an option in a metric country - it's a 30cm!

Our room had a fantastic view over the water.

I loved seeing how the colors changed during the day.

Since I didn't join the boys at Subway, I had a sunset dinner on the top floor restaurant and enjoyed a quiet evening.

The morning view was beautiful as well!

Istanbul has some steep hills and we got our workouts walking up and down to the river.  Thank goodness my foot was a lot stronger by the end of the week.

So many cats to greet in the morning!

After our awesome e-bike tour in Athens, Ben suggested we look for something similar in Istanbul and I was pretty excited to try segways for the first time.  It was an awesome way to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time and they were really fun.  It only took a few minutes to get used to them and we were weaving through crowds and traffic in no time.

Our tour guide Tarik took us past beautiful mosques and schools.  It was tough to get pictures because I was trying to make sure I didn't die on the segway but the experience was so worthwhile.

Clearly teenage boys are better at multitasking!

We stopped at the Hagia Sophia to learn a little and enjoyed the public fountain. 

The amazing Hagia Sophia, built as a church in 500AD, later converted to a mosque, then a museum, and currently a mosque again.  Our guide explained that it's very sad for its preservation to be an active mosque because it's not subject to nearly as many rules now and will likely not be well-maintained.  Since it was a Friday and prayers were happening, we didn't go inside.

We had a little time in Gulhane Park for me to sit and have a hot tea while the kids played on the segways some more.

My favorite part of the tour was rolling along the water's edge and seeing more of the ancient city walls.

I finally managed my own selfie! On a straight path with no one around and going so slowly I had to race to catch up.

Our last stop was on the Galata Koprusu bridge, where hundreds of people were fishing and one level down they were eating fresh seafood at little cafes. It was busy and fascinating.

Istanbul is an incredible city.  It was a lot more tiring than I expected but I had no idea the sheer number of tourists we'd see or how much time it would take to figure out transportation to go short distances.  Even my pre-booked car to the airport showed up 45 minutes late to make our last trip stressful! But thankfully the airport was quiet on a Friday evening and we had an easy flight back to Jakarta and got home Saturday afternoon. I'm so thankful we got to experience a few days here where East meets West.