29th August: Istanbul, Turkey

We visited the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) this morning, with its domes upon domes immediately impressing. The courtyard is also definitely worth spending time in, but I struggled to engage otherwise given the sheer number of people. I recalled my previous visit when there were only a few dozen visitors. Today, we queued with various tour groups and cruise passengers, something we usually try to studiously avoid. Our travel philosophy is generally to visit few major attractions, instead wandering the backstreets and eating lots of (preferably vegan) good local food.

We popped back to the room to get away from the crowds and found some potato borek and black olive acma for lunch from a local bakery. A burst water pipe outside meant no water in our room but thankfully this was all fixed by evening, with just some muddy water to flush out!

Ferries from Yenikapi to Kadikoy, on the Asian side of the city, no longer seem to be running, but a train took us under the Bosporus instead. On our way to the station, we stumbled across a lovely market full of incredibly vibrant fresh produce, and with a much more relaxed vibe than in the old town. Delicious figs and dried apricots perked us up for the next few hours in the heat of the day.

The old streets of Kadikoy were a hipsters paradise with coffee shops and art supply vendors. Freshly made lemonade was just the tonic for a hot afternoon. On the promenade, the festivities for tomorrow’s Victory Day had already started with a military band leading the crowd in renditions of various American pop songs. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get close to iconic Haydarpasa train station due to redevelopment, so had to make do with traversing the largest open air bus station I’ve ever laid eyes on. The other side of Kadikoy was a fantastic hubbub of pedestrianised streets, with outdoor dining. We found a place serving lahmacun (a thin bread with finely chopped veg, cooked quickly in an oven and rolled up to eat) with fresh parsley and lemon; a thyme, pomegranate molasses, walnut, and sumac salad, fresh ‘sherbet’ (kind of a cross between a lemonade and a compote); and a desert of sweet pumpkin with tahini and almonds.

I think the latter might be, without exaggeration, one of the best things I’ve ever eaten! The pumpkin looked and tasted as if it was mainly a delicious sugar syrup and made a mouthwatering combination with the tahini and almonds.

We hopped on the ferry back to Europe, Karakoy on the Golden Horn to be precise, just as sunset was approaching. The views were first industrial as we passed shipyards and then, as the sun dropped behind the Topkapi Palace, they were enough to make me a little emotional. I got the realisation that I’ve been waiting for during sunset. This is really happening!