Our Start in Istanbul

Istanbul

We entered Turkey on June 7th through Istanbul and spent about 4 days touring this fascinating city. I have to admit, I did not know what to expect coming to Istanbul. I read the guide books and listened to podcasts, but even still it was completely different than I imagined. First of all, the city is huge!, almost overwhelmingly so. It is split right down the middle by the Bosphorus strait, one half belonging to Europe and the other to Asia. In addition, the European side is split into two parts by the Golden Horn (which connects to the Sea of Marmara)-needless to say you can always see the water! It is almost impossible to see everything within all 3 sides of the city in only 4 days, but I think we did it.

After our Couchsurfing host canceled on us last minute, we headed from the airport to the center of the city with no real idea of where to go or where we were going to stay that night. We figured the Sultanahmet area, where the two famous mosques are located as well as a plethora of hostels/hotels, was the best place to start. Luckily, with the help of some nice Turkish men along the way, we found the area and a hostel pretty quickly.

The Sultanahmet is a bit touristy, its streets lined with hotels, bars, restaurants, and men outside calling and trying to get you to come eat at their restaurant, not so different than Little Italy in New York. However, the colors are beautiful and the cobblestone streets give it a nice historic feel.

We had a nice surprise upon arriving in Istanbul, in addition to finding out we had no place to stay, and that was rain! Who would have thought that it would be raining mid-June in Turkey. We found out it is not common, but the first three days we were there it poured...I don't think the Istanbul experience is the same in the rain. However, we got to buy these very chic clear plastic umbrellas which everyone has- including us in all of our pictures!