Turkey
Üsküdar

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    • Day 7

      day 4- Blue mosque, Sophia Hagia, Grand

      May 26 in Turkey ⋅ 🌬 21 °C

      What a beautiful full day we have had!!! walking, walking, walking - glorious weather and day one with our tour. So far we are really impressed. our tour guide is knowledgeable and communicates so much about türkiye easily. A really nice collection of people in the group too.
      we began our day being dropped off in the old town - traffic is horrific - not surprising given population in instanbul is over 20 million in a space slightly bigger than new york. We went to the beautiful hippodrome- a sporting and entertainment ground built in 203 AD - with a rich roman, greek and turkish history and many monuments including the monolithic obelisk which has bronze made from roman soldiers shields during battles!!! We visited the BEAUTIFUL Blue Mosque and learned so much about architecture, islam and Türkiye followed by a tour of the Sophia Hagia of 532 which has been the grand mosque, a church and museum and still a mosque now. The mosaics were amazing, the painting and rendering incredible especially the history of what lay beneath some paint - images of christ and angels faces and the history of architecture so interesting - ie dome design etc
      then we went to the basilica. unbelievable! a water filtration and storage system built underground by about 7000 slaves in 532 and held 80,000 cubic metres of water! it’s massive. it’s beautiful and obviously now empty except for the water under the walk way - the columns and arches are beautiful and now home to sculptures and art work. Amazingly over time the underground basilica was forgotten until an old lady kept complaining of hearing water dripping under her floor. they dug it up and found this basilica cistern. it has 336 columns - each one different - is referred to as the sunken palace. photos don’t do justice.
      then we walked forever and ever through the busy streets and bizarre to the golden horns bridges and caught a ferry. The ferry was amazing - rocky, windy, and choppy water owing to the fact that it connects the Black Sea with the Marmara Sea and Dardanelles Strait. on one side of ferry was europe and the other side asia. Lots of boats out including two tankers on the way to the Ukraine:(
      after our 1 1/2 hour ferry ride we walked to the grand spice bizarre - wow wow wow! words escape me- incredibly beautiful!
      Then we walked to a roof top restaurant for dinner and to watch the sunset over a grand mosque and the old city. We have had the fullest day and enjoyed it so much.
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    • Day 137

      Discovered rooftop restaurants

      September 21, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

      Since my last post we've been to a bunch of rooftop bars and restaurants. I didn't realise this for a fair while, but apparently a big portion of the buildings here have some sort of venue on the roof, it's so sick! Tonight we went to a bar called monkeyistanbul, it was the best one so far. We watched the sun set over the river and had a perfect, uninterupted view of the big istanbul flag, like 6 mosques, and all the cool houses and buildings that are stacked up on top of each other around the river. We went to the bar with basak and she gave us a bunch of presents to say thankyou for the fun month. We're gonna have to do something awesome for her before we go because she's been fab! Today we also went to a beach on the Asian side. It was a lovely hot day and the water was cool and refreshing. Not sure if I've mentioned this already, but one of the main things ive found interesting about istanbul is its unusual layout. It's so big theyve decided to have loads of mini cbd areas surrounded by houses instead of one gigantic area made up of a billion skyscrapers. We passed like 3 cbds on the way to the beach, there must be 100s over the while city. Yesterday we tried some fried seafood sticks for dinner and surprisingly didn't get sick! The actual food was kinda garbage tho. Spencer had a guy come over to record some vocals last night and I got to experience what Ethan's life has been like living next to me ahahaha.

      My phone died at the sunset bar. More pics to come when I get them sent to me :))
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    • Day 34

      Mui’s İstanbul Getaway

      October 6, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

      Mui has a group of friends in İstanbul … sometimes referred to as the “Mon Cher” Group. They are all high school buddies. This year, Mui made a concerted effort to get together with them for dinner … and more 😉

      He flew up on Wednesday … to Sabiha Gökçen Airport (SAW) on the Asian side of the Bosphorus. Using Marmaray, he made his way to the Fenerbahçe District where Selim, one of the group members — who lives in Virginia with his wife, Selen — invited Mui to stay with them at their condo. He also convinced Mui to stay two nights instead of just one night … which bought them some time for a bit of sightseeing as well.

      The group got together for dinner Wednesday night at the Turkish Divers Club. From what Mui described, it sounds like they had a great time … lots of catching up, lots of laughter, and lots of rakı (Turkish National Drink similar to Ouzo).

      The next day, following a relaxed morning, Selim and Mui went on a short public transport cruise on the Bosphorus from Üsküdar to Aşiyan. A waterfront stroll in the Bebek District took them to a shop to buy some of the marzipan candy the place has been making since 1904. Somehow a box (or two) of baklava from his favorite shop — Hafız Mustafa — also came back to İzmir with him 😉

      They concluded their outing at a coffee house overlooking the Bosphorus. Turkish coffee and fortune telling using the coffee grounds go hand in hand. But you need someone who knows how to interpret the grounds. Neither Selim nor Mui have that skill, but a local woman at the next table volunteered her services. She hit the nail on the head with her foretelling … including the suggestion that he’ll be traveling overseas soon!!!

      Dinner with Selim and Selen that night was the perfect wrap up to his short visit with them.

      Mui returned to İzmir this afternoon … a very happy camper … and ready to take me around İstanbul when we fly up to İstanbul on the 21st to embark the ship that will eventually return us to the USA! The only problem with his sightseeing plans? I don’t think we’ll have time to do everything on his list, so we’ll have to pick and choose.
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    • Day 4

      Gün 4: Komm, wir fahr’n nach Asien

      March 6, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 9 °C

      Heute sind wir mit der Fähre nach Kadıköy auf die asiatische Seite übergesetzt. Ein kurioses Gefühl mit einem 75 Cent Ticket und einem Çay in der Hand zwischen zwei Kontinenten hin- und herzufahren. In Kadıköy sind wir über einen herausragend sortierten Plattenladen mit vielen türkischen Platten gestolpert, von denen ein beachtlicher Teil mit uns zurück nach Berlin reisen wird.

      Wir waren am Moda Pier spazieren, wo man im Dunst des Horizontes die fast gespenstisch wirkenden Umrisse der Prinzeninsel erahnen konnte und haben die Stadt von oben auf dem Emaar SkyView aus 300 Metern Höhe bestaunt. Man hat dort wirklich wunderschöne Fotos von uns gemacht, fast hätten wir uns doch für das Foto-Mousepad entschieden.

      Im „Beatrice“, dem Rooftop Restaurant unseres Hotels, haben wir den Abend dann ebenso ausklingen lassen: mit einem atemberaubenden Ausblick auf die Moscheen im gegenüberliegenden Stadtteil Eminönü, bei erlesenen Speisen und vollendetem Service. Durchaus!
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    • Day 6

      5. Day Istanbul V

      August 5, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

      After we visited a live music club. We took the ferry from Kadiköy to Karaköy and from there across the Galata-Bridge from Eminönü with the Metro (T1) to Sultan Ahmed Station.

      Our residence is in the old town of Istanbul.Read more

    • Day 6

      5. Day Istanbul IV

      August 5, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      After our cruise trip, we took the ferry to Kadiköy to discover the asian side of Istanbul. A lot of fantastic restaurants, bars, businesses and people.

      The Ciya Restaurant is a must do, if you are in Kadiköy. I heard the first time from it on Netflix chef’s table.Read more

    • Day 10

      Point défis MELDO 🦄 & anecdote Istanbul

      May 10 in Turkey ⋅ 🌬 18 °C

      ANECDOTE DÉBUT MAI - ISTANBUL :

      Nous sommes arrivés hier à Istanbul. Après quelques kilomètres de marche dans la vieille ville, nous sommes arrivés au pied du Bosphore qui marque la fin de l’Europe - de l’autre côté du Bosphore s’étend l’Asie. C’était symbolique car c’était la toute première fois que Meldo voyait l’Asie et la première fois du voyage pour nous…
      En se rapprochant de l’eau, nous avons découvert qu’entre nous et l’Asie, une famille de dauphins nageait, sautait… ! - voir vidéo à l’appui. Autant Louis était stoïque (“bah oui, quoi… t’as jamais vu des dauphins?”), autant moi j’avais 5 ans ! C’était trop cool de les voir sauter dans tous les sens. Le seul dauphin sauvage que j’avais vu dans ma vie avant cela, c’était en Guyane avec des jumelles !
      Malheureusement ils étaient trop loin pour un selfie (autre défi à relever)…
      - Hélène-

      POINT DEFIS AVEC MELDO 🦄 :

      ❌ #1 - Photo à réaliser avec 5 inconnus et MELDO
      ✴️ #2 - Envoyer 4 cartes postales de 4 pays différents - 1 envoyée
      ✅ #3 - Prendre en photo le premier levé de soleil // Défi relevé ! (Voir photo à l’appui)
      ✴️ #4 - Prendre 10 transports différents // On est à 5/10 avec le bus (Angers-Budapest), le train (Budapest-Bucarest), la voiture (à Budapest), le tram et le ferry (à Istanbul)
      ❌ #5 - Traduire la phrase ci-dessous dans 4 langues (sauf langues européennes)
      —————————————————————————-
      > Si vous avez des propositions de phrases, commentez !
      ❌ #6 - Manger 4 insectes et cela dans un même repas
      ❌ #7 - Faire du stop sur la route
      ❌ #8 - Demander à des locaux un endroit « secret » (cela peut-être une vue imprenable, un restaurant clandestin, …)
      ❌ #9 - Photos avec 15 animaux différents. Lister les 15 animaux pris en « selfie » avec Hélène
      ❌ #10 - Boire 5 cocktails locaux « improbables »
      ❌ #11 - Dégustation à l’aveugle organisée par Louis
      ❌ #12 - Monter à plus de 3000m d’altitude
      ✅ #13 - L’acheminement à la 3ème étape de votre voyage devra se faire sans aide « GPS et plans » (on revient sur les méthodes plus traditionnelles) : Arrivés à Istanbul sans 4G/5G ou wifi. Métro, marche jusqu’à la rue qu’on nous avait indiquée et la photo de l’entrée de l’immeuble. Challenge succeeded !
      ❌ #14 - Une nuit insolite en habitat traditionnel
      ❌ #15 - Participer à des traditions locales
      ❌ #16 - Laissez place à l’improvisation, la cagnotte MLH est faite pour ça ! Se rendre à une gare routière et laissez-vous guider avec un billet choisi par la guichetière
      ✴️ #17 - Une anecdote de voyage, tous les 15 jours à tes collègues préférés : anecdote de la 1ère quinzaine de mai : voir ci-dessus
      ✅ #18 - Une photos de vous trois avec MELDO entre toi et Louis, impérativement devant un coucher de soleil
      ❌ #19 - Une semaine dans la peau de MELDO (VLOG)
      ❌ #20 - Prendre un cours d’art martial
      ❌ #21 - 10 lieux improbables pour aller au toilette
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    • Day 121

      Street food 2

      August 3, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

      Part 2…

      Then it was time for the traditional “Dale and India try something weird” moment so we headed to the next store for some sheep’s intestines - kokoreç - and rice stuffed mussels - midye dolma.
      Ariah was “already full” so she didn’t try these but Ind got into the mussels having a couple of free ones and Dale and her demolished the kokoreç. The trick it seems is not think as you eat……🫣

      Ariah’s stomach miraculously had more room though as we got to the gozleme shop. By then though Ind and Dale were already starting to struggle to fit more but luckily, along with pide, this was one of the top reasons Kylie had Türkiye on the itinerary in the first place. The Büyükanne making the gozleme didn’t disappoint either - it was very yum. However, when it came out we were surprised there was no lemon slices with it! Instead there was big chunk of butter that were were told to rub all over the steaming hot, fresh slices - cause gozleme is not all ready oily enough it seems 🤣
      Our guides were a bit taken back when Kylie suggested that some slices of lemon would be in order so it was a good thing that the butter tasted pretty good.

      Then, as a special vege addition we went to get some çig köfte - vegan kofta made from semolina.
      Ahmet told us that kofte came from a time long ago when the ancient King Nemrut banned fires in his kingdom after failing to burn the Prophet Ibrahim so the people would make these meatballs with spices and bulgur and kneeled for hours until ready.

      Barely able to walk we were so full, we crossed back over to the other side of the Bosphorus and went to a cafe to try knafeh and Turkish coffee.

      It was a great tour - we spent about 4 hours with Ahmet and Eren and learnt a lot about the city - but didn’t even have dinner that night when we got home. So. Much. Food!!!
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    • Day 1

      Europe to Asia to Europe

      October 21, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 72 °F

      Having recently spent a few days in İstanbul with his friends, Mui had our evening in İstanbul all planned out.

      We were to take a cruise across the Bosphorus to Üsküdar; take another cruise to Aşiyan for sightseeing; make our way to Kadıköy for dinner; return to Karaköy … traveling thus from Europe to Asia and back to Europe in the span of a couple of hours … using public transportation to get us there and back.

      We started out by taking the metro from the station near Galataport to the ferry terminal. A lovely sunset cruise to the Asian side of the Bosphorus. So far, so good. A few minutes later, however, we were jiggling our plans. No cruises to Aşiyan this evening. So, we hopped on a bus to go straight to Kadıköy instead.

      Hamsi Pub, the place Mui had in mind for dinner, is located in the historic shopping district. There are still lots of shops where one can spend money galore, but restaurants and cafes line the streets as well … the tables filled with patrons enjoying a night out on the town … music blaring from loudspeakers.

      I wasn’t sure we’d be able to get a table on a Saturday night without reservations. But our timing worked in our favor as 7:00p is still fairly early by Turkish dining standards. From the tray of mezes (Turkish tapas) we selected a couple of dishes … supplementing them with a shrimp casserole and fried calamari. We wrapped up our delicious meal with a very tasty semolina halva stuffed with vanilla ice cream. Can you say yummy?

      The return ferry ride to Karaköy gave us a scenic nighttime cruise that we enjoyed from the back deck of the ferry. The ferry landing wasn’t too far from Galataport, so we got some steps in on the way back to the ship.

      It was 9:30p by the time we were back in the cabin. It was very tempting to just go to bed and leave the unpacking until tomorrow. With a short day in port, however, we decided to forego a bit of sleep tonight instead of losing sightseeing time in İstanbul tomorrow.

      Oh! I almost forgot. On the way back to Oosterdam, we detoured into Mui’s favorite shop in İstanbul — Hafız Mustafa. Conveniently, there is a branch at Galataport. A box of baklava, thus made it onto the ship with us 😉
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    • Day 67

      Metro & sporvogne

      May 31 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

      De er super effektive, mange har air con.
      På perron er der angivet hvor døre vil være så man kan forberede sig.
      Og det er faktisk ret nemt at finde rundt. Og det er også billigt ca 5 dkr for en tur/linje.
      Nogle er en lang kupe andre normale.
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Üsküdar, UEskuedar, اسکدار, Ускюдар, USK

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