Not Constantinople

Istanbul, Turkey
41.0082°N, 28.9784°E

Like Fiji and Malaysia, Turkey was a “layover country” for us, one of the places recommended by our Airtreks consultant Dan because it was along our flight path.

While we didn’t originally have Turkey on our list of countries to visit, we were glad we took Dan’s advice to stay in Istanbul for a few days en route to Boston from Cape Town. Istanbul would be our last stop before a few weeks back home, and we were excited to visit a place that has been described to us by many of our friends and fellow travelers as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Istanbul was Constantinople

Istanbul is Turkey’s largest city (roughly 15 million people) and the center of its cultural and economic activity. More than anything, Istanbul is known for its rich history, which is reflected throughout the city in ancient mosques, churches, castles, and palaces.

Formerly known as Constantinople (and before that Byzantium), Istanbul is divided by the Bosphorus Strait which separates the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara. It’s one of a few cities in the world that crosses two continents – Europe and Asia – divided by the Bosphorus. Learning about “Eurasia” in high school geography was always confusing to me, and having now been there in person I still don’t get it (pick a continent dammit!).

We stayed on the European side of the city where most tourist attractions are located, in an area known as Sultanahmet. Our hotel was on a street lined with small souvenir shops, cafes, restaurants and rug stores….lots of rug stores. Sarah and I didn’t have a great appreciation for the popularity of Turkish rugs before arriving in Istanbul, but the rugs are sold everywhere in Istanbul. Nearly every block we walked in Sultanahmet someone would (very politely) approach us and make small talk before inviting us into their shop for tea. Within minutes, talk would turn to handmade rugs and we’d have to explain that we probably wouldn’t be able to squeeze a rug into our backpacks.

Occasionally I get songs stuck in my head while we are traveling (e.g., Toto’s Africa while climbing Kilimanjaro), and as soon as we touched down in Istanbul the song Istanbul (Not Constantinople) entered my dome and never left. It’s a song that was written in the 1950s, but the version stuck in my head was the 1990 cover by the band They Might Be Giants. Unlike Toto’s Africa, Istanbul (Not Constantinople) is a really, really annoying song. But I couldn’t shake it and the song played on internal repeat for nearly all of our time in Turkey. Sadly, the song is back in my head as I’m writing this now. Someone needs to write a catchy new song about Istanbul, asap.

Coming off our extended stay in Cape Town, which allowed us to take our sweet time seeing the sights, we were ready to throw on our fanny packs and be hardcore tourists. We wanted to see as much as we could see (and eat as much as we could eat) in the 72 hours we had in Istanbul. A friend of mine who grew up in Istanbul gave us some great recommendations (thanks Nesrin!), and with her advice and our own research, we came up with a long list of places to visit. (Side note: Once we were in Turkey, researching places posed a bit of a challenge as earlier this year the Turkish government prohibited access to Wikipedia. You can read more about the ban on this Wikipedia entry, unless of course, you are reading this in Turkey).

Istanbul is a stunning city. It’s buildings – both new and old – are ornate and incredibly colorful, and the streets smell of spices and freshly roasting lamb. For anyone with even a modest interest in history, its a fascinating place. Few other cities can compete with Istanbul in the area of recorded human history. Here are some of the places we visited:

Sultan’s of Bling

One of our favorite visits was to the Dolmabahce Palace, which was built in the 19th century for the sultans that ruled over the Ottoman Empire. We were told by our tour guide that if you convert its 19th-century building costs into today’s dollars, the cost of construction would be well over a billion US dollars (yes, billion). The 285 room palace is filled with gold painted ceilings and walls, hand-made wooden floors, and massive chandeliers (including one that weighs 4.5 tons, the world’s largest).

Pictures are unfortunately not allowed within Dolmabahce Palace. Ironically, it was probably the most picturesque building we visited in Istanbul. We were, however, able to take photos of the outside of the palace.

Cooking Again

We had some great meals in Istanbul, and it wasn’t hard to find delicious food. Our favorite dinner was at a restaurant called Kucukoglu, a few blocks from our hotel. We had a chicken and lamb dish called “Testi Kebap” that is cooked in an enclosed clay pot over a table-side fire. The waiter then breaks the clay pot with a stick and pours the meat and veggies onto the diner’s plate. Walking around Istanbul you see these clay pots outside of many restaurants, so we figured we had to try it out…and it didn’t disappoint!

As she’s done in every country we’ve visited, Sarah took a cooking class to learn more about Turkish cuisine. She won’t let me post any pictures of what she had to wear for the class, but essentially the oversized hat and chef’s apron she was given made it look like her attire was borrowed from the Swedish Chef’s closet.

Attire aside, Sarah really enjoyed the class. She made Julienne-style chicken and vegetables with gavurdagi salad, a Turkish dish made with tomatoes, onions, walnuts, spices, and pomegranate molasses.

Four Continents in Five Days

We wished we had more time in Istanbul, but after running around the city for three days, eating and sightseeing, we were excited to be heading to the airport to catch our Turkish Airlines flight to Boston. After flying from Cape Town to Istanbul, and then being on both the European and Asian sides of the city, North America would be our fourth continent in only five days!

After we arrived at the Istanbul airport and checked in, we had our first almost major airport fail. The Turkish Airlines staff told us that our flight was overbooked and we’d likely have to fly out the next day..or the day after. They printed our standby tickets and basically told us “good luck”. We were bummed about the potential delay, but at the last minute two people didn’t show up for the flight and we were able to take their seats. Even better, the seats were in business class!  (We totally played it cool.. kinda).