We managed to visit four out of five of those attractions, starting with the Blue Mosque. Our hotel was located near Taksim Square. We took the the F1 furnicular train to Kabatas and switched to the T1 tram towards Zeytiburnu. Each entry to the train or tram costs 1.50 Turkish Lira regardless of distance and passengers need to present entry tokens at the entrance turnstyles.
The stop for the Blue Mosque is Sultanahmet. Contrary to what I had thought earlier, the Blue Mosque got its name from the blue Iznik tiles that decorate its interior, rather than from the exterior colour of its domes. On the way there, we spotted a few other mosques with blue domes and kept assuming it was the Sultan Ahmet Mosque. It can be differentiated from the other mosques by its size. When it was built in 1609, it was designed to have extensive grounds to be able to host a medrese, tomb (of Sultan Ahmet), hospital, primary school, public kitchen and market.
The imperial mosque has so become an icon of Istanbul because it represents classical Turkish architecture (designed by Sedefkar Mehmet Aga, a student of the greatest architect in the Ottoman Empire) and is the only mosque that was originally built with six minarets.
Entrance to the mosque is free and open to visitors outside prayer hours. Visitors are provided with plastic bags to keep their shoes (shoes are required to be removed when entering the mosque) and cloth to cover their shoulders (for those without sleeves).
Opposite the Blue Mosque is the Hagia Sophia Museum. It was originally built as a church of the Patriarch of Constantinople and was the mothership of the Eastern Ortodox Church for nearly a thousand years. It was converted into a mosque in 1453 by order of Sultan Mehmed II when the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople, and is now a museum. There is a small entry fee and because of the long tourist queue (it was a weekend), we decided to give it a pass and move on.
We made our way on foot from Sultanahmet to the Grand Bazaar, located near the Beyazit station, only two stops away from Sultanahmet. The Grand Bazaar was indeed grand. It is housed in a huge indoor complex that has 60 lanes and 5,000 shops (many owned by the same person, I suspect). It was a relief to be indoors after a few hours in the Turkish heat.
The Grand Bazaar sells everything a tourist would want to buy - Turkish ceremics, lamps, carpets, textiles, jewellery, shoes, bags, leather goods. It is a great place for one to practise the arts of bargaining. The immediate impression for first-timers is "Wow!" followed by click click click. After about ten minutes, one would find that most of the shops are quite similar. It is nevertheless a worthwhile place to spend some time in Istanbul.
The Spice Bazaar was our next target and it was also within walking distance, located near the
Eminonu station. The lanes between the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar were filled with street peddlers selling everything from home improvement items to mobile phone accessories
and fruits.
The Spice Bazaar was only about a quarter the size of the Grand Bazaar, but just as colourful.
One of the oldest bazaars in the city, it is a place where locals came to shop for spices. Here, spices, dried fruits, nuts and Turkish sweets are sold. Traders are happy to offer visitors tasting portions and bargaining is not so much and issue here. Somehow, we felt less like we were being slaughtered.
The sun was beginning to set and we spent some time observing the activity around the Eminonu-Kadikoy Quay. Many locals were busy commuting across the Golden Horn, while some hung around the quay, fishing. It was quite odd to see people fishing right next to the ferry terminal. I would have throught that fumes and oil leakage would be a concern.
We made our way back to Taksim Square for dinner. The trains were packed, like City Hall on a weekend. Taksim Square is situated in what is known as the European part of Istanbul and is a major shopping and leisure area. That aside, Taksim Square has also been an important venue for demonstrations and protests.
The "Orhard Road" of Istanbul was simply packed that Saturday evening!
Dinner was at a restaurant in a little lane that reminded me of Singapore's Emerald Hill. We ordered a several starters and a mixed meat kebab platter. It was delightful. I could have done with just the starters and the bread.
Other Turkish highlights:
Roasted chesnuts and corn. The chesnuts have bright yellow flesh and are sweet. A small cone containing approximately twelve chesnuts costs 5 Lira.
Dondurma, Turkish ice cream. It can be distinguished from normal ice cream by its texture and resistence to melting. Salep and mastic resin (from the Pistachio tree) are used as thickening agents, give it a much tougher texture than gelato. It felt like melted marshmallow to the tongue. A double-scoop cone costed us 6 Lira, although I suspect it was a tourist price.
Pomegranate juice. Not a fan of the fruit because of all the chewing involved, but the juice was refreshing (and rich in antioxidants!). It took about three large pomegranates to fill a medium-sized cup, 3 Lira.
Elma Çay, Apple tea. Caffeine-free, this brewed tea is recognized as the national soft drink of Turkey. It is consumed in far greater quantities than coffee or other beverages. It is consumed hot over over ice during summer. It was 3 Lira in a cafe in the Grand Bazaar.
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