Gemma & Jason's Gypsy Journal: Merhaba Istanbul!

We headed to the Old Town to try to catch the walking tour that we missed yesterday. We waited and waited, but no guide turned up. So instead, we took a couple of photos of the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque (again, yes), then headed to the Grand Bazaar.

Quick selfie in front of the Hagia Sophia.

As we suspected, the Grand Bazaar was definitely geared towards tourists. A little overrated, but good to have a wander around.

One of the stores at the Grand Bazaar

Wandering through the Grand Bazaar

Next, we decided to head to the Spice Bazaar. First, we needed to get some cash out. Wait. The credit card is missing. We may or may not have left it in the last ATM we used. We are both cranky, hot and stressed. Quick trip home it is! And by quick, we mean a tram > walk > funicular > walk > train > walk > home. We cancel the credit card, have lunch, then head back out. Back to the Old Town to the Spice Bazaar. This was better than the Grand Bazaar, but still quite touristy.

The Spice Bazaar

Then we headed to the Galata Tower for awesome views of the city. It is here that we can see just how dense and populated Istanbul is. It is an enormous city. So big, it spans across two continents; Europe and Asia.

Views of the city from the Galata Tower

You can see lots of cool rooftop bars and terraces from the Galata Tower

More views from the Galata Tower

Making our way down the stairs of the Galata Tower. Thankfully only a few flights, and the rest in an elevator!

After the Galata Tower, we found a cute cafe called Dem in the Karakoy neighbourhood. They serve over 60 varieties of tea. We have a tea each and share a simit (like a bagel and covered in sesame seeds, very popular in Turkey) with a salsa and cheese, and a wild mushroom tart with truffle oil (don't be surprised if this blog becomes all about the food!).

Cay (tea) at Dem Cafe with cute little tea bag biscuits

Inside the cafe Dem

Wild mushroom tart with truffle oil

Polishing off the rest of the simit

To finish off the day we jumped on a ferry which took us along the Bosphorus, the strait that runs between the Asian and European sides of the city of Istanbul. It was lovely, as it was as the sun was going down!