Sultanahmat Square, Istanbul

by docdivatraveller - 7/29/2016

Just outside The Sophia Apartments (our abode for 3 days)

Like everywhere else, we stayed in the city centre of Istanbul. The Sultanahmat Square is the heart of this ancient city and our apartments was in the centre. However the city centre was far from the airport and hence it was quite a task reaching there with tones of luggage (fashion blogger problems) by metro. The way to our apartments was downhill so it meant we had to climb up on our way back. The streets of Istanbul are cobbled and every building had flowers hanging from them. Even the light posts had baskets of flowers hanging. It was a pretty sight and very unusual for me.

I have always been fascinated with wooden houses!

We had covered the main parts like the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia on our very first day. For wandering in the streets, for shopping and for tram riding, we had kept our last day. Our last day (already nostalgic) started with a sumptuous breakfast at our apartments. Then I ran on the cobbled streets to the nearest tram station. WE had availed every mode of public transport in Istanbul (metro, tram and ferry) but had left out the bus :D So I made sure I clicked a picture of a beautifully painted bus :D

Getting into the tram..

We shopped for souvenirs first. Our agenda had excursion to the Basilica cistern on top. However there was a HUGE queue (something absolutely unimaginable on a Monday) and we had our flight back to India in the evening. So we could not take any chance and bade goodbye to it.

A never ending queue for entry to the Basilica Cistern (something unimaginable on a Monday)

We crossed the Sulaiyman Mosque on the way (the largest in Turkey) but did not go inside as we were running short of time. In short, we hopped from one place to another and struck them off our list without exploring them from inside. This however made us enjoy the city even more!

In front of the Sulayman Mosque...the largest mosque in Istanbul

Something or the other happens almost everyday when we are travelling. My husband left our shopping bags and our tripod in a money changer and that left me very stressed. He again went back again to pick them up while I waited at the tram station. The best part was that he got them back! We once left our shopping bag filled with stuff in our cab while returning from Jaipur but never got it back! L

After a whirwind tour of the city, we were headed towards the Spice Bazaar or the Misir Carsisi. Located in the Fatih District, its one of the largest bazaars of Istanbul and the second most covered shopping area after the Grand Bazaar. The word 'Misir' has a different meaning in Egyptian (it means maize). Since the Spice Bazaar is also called the Egyptian Bazaar, people mistake it as Corn Bazaar.

As soon as we entered, we were intoxicated by the strong aroma of the tonnes of spices present there. As much as I wanted to pack some for home, neither we had space nor money to do that. So we just roamed in the alleys to be mesmerised by the heaps of thousands of types of spices. My only memories being the unforgettable aroma and the countless photographs which I took!