Istanbul felt exceptionally old and expansive; overwhelming to take in initially. On our first day, I had to keep reminding myself "we can do this, we can do this." Starting a two month journey in a brand new, very big very old city was a brave choice I think. With the jet lag, working on the energy to leave our suite, I admit, was an effort. But we did and I'm so glad we did. My usual technique is to just follow my feet and my stomach and see where we end up.
A cruise up the Bosphorus seemed like a good place to start. We didn't quite end up on the one I planned but it didn't matter much For 12 Turkey Lira (about $4), we had a lovely 1.5 hour tour. The weather was beautiful, the sea bright blue and the scenery beautiful.
Back from the cruise, we followed our feet up into old town to the Sultanahmet neighborhood in search of keftes (meat balls) and the Hagia Sophia. Both were found quickly and we enjoyed our late lunch in a little spot across from the Sultanahmet Square (no pictures we ate too quick! It was delicious!).
We walked directly into the Hagia Sophia with thankfully for us, no lines. Turkey has significantly less tourists this year than in years past. It made for a quiet city for us, but the locals kept telling us how much it was hurting the local economy to not have many tourists this year. The former orthodox church, turned mosque, now museum was a stunning site. Over 1500 years old, it's amazing this structure still stands.
Oh and another thing, of small note, there was a ridiculous variety of marble throughout the building, much of it quarried from around the region and some as far as Egypt and France. The floors were largely covered in white marble quarried from a special place, Marmara Island, where my family is from.
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