Istanbul, Turkey

Turkey was the final destination of the four countries we travelled to and proved to be a good way to end the South Eastern Europe trip. Rather than train in as we had originally planned, we flew instead which opened up an entire extra day for our stay here. That extra day proved to be useful as the number of sites to see were more than any of us had originally anticipated.

We start this adventure on the bridge that connects new and old Istanbul with a ridiculous number of people fishing on it. Never had I seen so many fishing lines at one time, especially in such an urban area.

I soon learned that successful catches went either straight to the fish market or were picked off by restaurant owners as a very literal “catch of the day”. What’s incredible is that the seafood restaurant district is located directly below the bridge — doesn’t get more fresh than that!

The afternoon consisted of street exploration, trying the local cuisine and hanging out in various lounges. The day conclused by watching the mosque-filled skyline light up with the colours of sundown.

Our second day in Istanbul consisted of two main events; a ferry and the market. The ferry goes along the Bosphorus (Turkish Strait) that heads toward the Black Sea but turns back once it passes the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge (the second Bosphorus bridge). It’s an excellent 1-hour ride that not only gives you a great view of homes and historical buildings along the riverside, but gives you the chance to brag that you rode along the border that separates Europe from Asia! Here are some photo highlights:

There are many marketplaces in Istanbul but one of the best to visit is the Spice Bazaar since it serves a vast assortment of traditional snack foods and desserts. And baklava — sweet, sweet baklava.

The third and final day in Istanbul was our power day where we visited all of the major sites. The first was a visit to the top of the Galata tower overseeing the city at a height of 51.65 meters.

Spoiler: the view is pretty great.

The next main attraction was a visit to one of the most recognized mosques in the world: the Blue Mosque. An important consideration we weren’t aware of before visiting the Blue Mosque is that you need to meet certain clothing requirements if you wish to enter… meaning the shorts we were all wearing were not permitted. The final visiting hours of the day were late enough that it would be possible to head out, purchase some pants and return in the evening before they locked the doors.

So we took a couple pictures in the courtyard (where it was permitted) and made a dash to find a suitable pair of trousers!

We rushed to the Grand Bazaar, the largest marketplace in Istanbul, and earnestly searched for a pair of sweatpants we could throw over our shorts. It took us at least 45 minutes to find a pants dealer though, and proved just how difficult it is to find things when you’re actually in need for something specific. We’d return in proper attire later in the day once visiting hours resumed. In the meantime, we continued to explore the city.

The next site we visited was the Cisterna Sotteranea, which is an underground water reservoir; not something that sounded super interesting and we almost passed it up. That would have been tragic given how incredible and unique the experience was. The open underground field is covered in still water with a myriad column supports throughout. The space is dead silent with drips of water and light chatter being the only sounds audible. There’s a concrete walkway that takes you to the end of the reservoir where you’ll find two giant stone heads of medusa waiting for you. The whole walk only takes a few minutes but you’ll spend significantly more time than that observing this fascinating complex.

Topkapi Palace is a massive site full of Islamic history and architecture, but at a high admission price. There were a lot of artifacts within the Palace as well as some impressive rooms, but it was hard to enjoy with the large crowds that were visiting as well. And to see other parts of the Palace, there were additional fees, so be prepared to spend a bit when you’re here.

We didn’t stay long at Topkapi Palace because we still wanted to make it in time for the Blue Mosque visiting hours so we headed back in a rush, tossed on the sweatpants, removed our shoes and walked into this enormous place of worship. It was quite a change being in a mosque for the first time rather than a church, which I’ve seen dozens of by this point in my journey. Tall ceilings with detailed murals, low hanging lights suspended by countless cords and carpet flooring throughout are the main attributes of this beautiful place. Walking in socks within a place of worship was new to me, and a pleasant change too. Visiting the interior of this iconic building was very much worth it, even with the wild chase to find pants in order to gain entrance.

So now that it was dark and the final day of the journey was coming to a close, it was time to commence the one activity everyone was looking forward to these past 12 days: the Turkish bath. We entered this 500+ year old bathhouse that’s famous for giving traditional scrub downs. You start by lying on this burning hot slab of marble as you wait for your masseuse to enter… which end up being these old guys who’ve been doing it for years. Your masseuse sits you down, pours warm bowls of water on you and then lays you back on the marble. Starting off with a ferocious crack of my back and arms, he grabs a sponge that’s worn as a glove and scrubs every exposed area of me. Keep in mind that the only thing I’m wearing is a short towel around my waist. Things can get pretty awkward if you give your guy too much freedom, but it was hilarious for this very reason. The whole time you think, “is this actually happening?”. Once the 20 minutes of massage and scrub are over, you yet again get covered in bowls of water to wash the soap off and then proceed to the sauna. I tell you, I miss saunas. My dad built a sauna room in our old house and I had massive flashbacks to those days of extreme heat and humidity.

The final station is a small pool located in a cavern with a temperature that’s juuuust cold enough. The beauty of the sauna and pool is that you can stretch out your time here as long as you want; no one is rushing you out once you’ve completed your scrub down. Upon leaving the bathhouse, I felt cleaner than I’ve ever been. It’s definitely a weird experience but I’d totally do it again. I felt so rejuvenated and alive! And after all the places we visited, it was a much needed cleanse.

So now that all four countries of the South Eastern Europe trip have been visited, how do they rank? Well, each wins in its own category and before revealing my list, let me award each of the countries with their biggest strengths.

Greece’s reasons to visit: Best food and best history.
Macedonia’s reasons to visit: Cheapest, most glamorous and fantastic natural features.
Serbia’s reasons to visit: Best nightlife and nicest people.
Turkey’s reasons to visit: Most to see and most culturally deviant.

Now for the overall rankings. I rank these countries for best overall experience and that encompasses many different elements such as food, drinks, nightlife, quality, cleanliness, living, people, transportation, history, buildings, landscapes, etc. This is my ranking for the countries that offered the best package in regard to all these aspects:

1st Macedonia
2nd Greece
3rd Serbia
4th Turkey

The beautiful architecture, natural landscapes, and low prices made Macedonia my top pick, but that’s not to take away from all the other places we went to. Each of these countries were incredible travel destinations on their own but if asked what gave me the most out of my time there, I would list the countries in that order. All deserve a revisit though!

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This blog entry is part of the publication Robert Cekan Travels & was originally written on November 20, 2012

Robert Cekan is a young entrepreneur and proud Hamiltonian. He is the founder of the Hamilton discovery website True Resident, as well as Cekan Group, a property management group. He is also a Hamilton REALTOR® with Ambitious Realty Advisors Inc., Brokerage and an active blogger.

For all of Robert’s projects, please visit robertcekan.com