With only one hour of sleep, I was off to the airport at 4am to catch a 7 o’clock flight. Surviving on one hour of sleep is not easy at all, I feel fatigued and my brain was not functioning properly. And then I got some issue at the security with my baggage as I was carrying too many bottles of liquid, basically just my skincare and haircare products, which are very essential to me. It took me awhile to throw away stuff I need so they would let me through. I was very annoyed, but well, I learnt my lesson and I will always check in my baggage, even if it’s just a carry-on size to avoid the same issue.
Anyway, I don’t want to ramble on about my problem with security, I would like to share the experience I had in Turkey. My first day in Istanbul, I faced problem with the hotel that I booked, apparently it closed for the dates but I was not informed. Fortunately, the staff was kind enough to arrange a new hotel for me, which was near and free of charges of course. After settling in at the different hotel, I was ready to head out and explore the Old City of Istanbul with my traveling buddy, my best friend for two years now. We were feeling hungry so we went to look for somewhere to have a light snack, we found the Blu Kitchen, which is also belong to the hotel I was supposed to be staying at. The staff there was super friendly, they joke around, smile and I snapped some pictures of and with the lovely staff.
After a quick snack, we head off to visit the Basilica Cistern, the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul. I was quite amazed with what we can achieve in the past. We then walk over to see the Blue Mosque, it’s grand and breath-taking from a distance. And the at the fountain in front of the Mosque, I realised that if you look carefully, you can see a little rainbow, which I thought was pretty amazing. I then took the 2 hours boat trip around the harbour of Istanbul, it was too windy and I felt a little cold sitting on the upper deck, so it was not such an enjoyable experience for me. Arriving back in the Old City, we went for dinner, and I had the lamb stew at this place calls Pasazade Restaurant Ottoman Cuisine, it was the best lamb I have ever eaten in my life!!! I loved it so much, I could go back there everyday and eat the same dish. If you’re ever visit Istanbul and stay in Old City, you should definitely visit the place, it is also ranked number 9 out of 10,890 restaurants in Istanbul, so it is quite reliable in their quality. After a great dinner, we went back to the hotel to get some rest for the early morning flight to Cappadocia.
And that marks the end of our first day in Istanbul, some ups and downs but overall it was good. Here are some of the pictures I captured throughout the day.
P.S. something that really puzzled me is the fact that there are many stray dogs and cats around the city and they are super friendly. They are so adorable, they are just hanging out in the park and layering on the grass, enjoying the sun. I just feel bad that they don’t really have a home, and just wander the streets, it just breaks my heart to see unfortunate situations.
