When I was planning this trip several months ago, I wanted to pack at least one day trip into our time in Istanbul. The Princes’ Islands, and most notably the island of Buyukada, stood out as a must-see. Buyukada is not far from Istanbul, taking only 90 minutes by ferry through the Sea of Marmara.
We [...]
Although Turkey is a predominantly Muslim country, many shops are closed on Sundays. We had planned to visit the Grand Bazaar on Sunday, since I had incorrectly thought that most of the bazaar would be closed on Friday instead. And that’s how we found ourselves standing in front of a closed gate on a Sunday [...]
Having acquainted ourselves with the heart of the city’s historical sites in Sultanahmet, my family and I now set out to spend a day in Istanbul’s Galata district, home to Galata Tower and the ever trendy and happening Taksim Square. So happening, in fact, that as soon as we stepped off the tram, we walked [...]
Having spent our first day in Istanbul trying to resecure accomodations and our second day recovering from the fiasco of the first, my family and I fully geared into tourism mode on the third day. I had a busy day planned, and we started by taking the tram to Sultanahmet district, where most of the [...]
After a stopover in Frankfurt, we arrived at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul at two in the morning. Sleepy and jet-lagged, my family and I gathered our luggage and waited for the person sent to pick us up from the apartment rental agency I’d arranged a flat with.
We waited an hour and then we began trying [...]