The best city in the world

Intro

It all goes back 5 years ago when I first came to Turkey during my first ever Erasmus experience. I remember we came from Romania to Istanbul by bus, is not an extremely long road, about 18 hour tops. Borders usually are meant to look so boring and sometimes scary places to be in but I will never forget the border from Bulgaria into Turkey, there is an image it's always stuck in my mind, a welcoming greeting once you enter Turkey and it says something like ''welcome to Istanbul the greatest city in the world'.

These days I started to watch a new reality show which features rich kids around the globe, one of the stories is about this famous Turkish guy coming from the oldest families in Turkey. He is currently living in New York but his birthplace is Istanbul which he often returns during the first season of the show. Coincidence or not when I was watching him I remembered my trips to Istanbul and all the amazing places I visited. Plus that I got into my Booking.com app and planned my next gateway in Istanbul at the end of September.

There is something about Istanbul that makes this place out of this world and today I want to showcase one of my experience there and show you guys some of the top touristic sights.

A different city

Istanbul is a city which, in my personal opinion, is hard to be considered as part of Turkey. I mean, of course is in Turkey and back in the past was the capital of Turkey, but is so different from the rest of the country... it is a bit like Hong Kong independent in any way possible. Freedom to move, different people, variety of cultures and religion, it is all in all a free city looking more European than a Turkish or Muslim city.

As by now I have travelled and seen most of the cities in Turkey I can make a clear idea of how this place could be so different in any possible way. I never seen people so free, it gave me this idea of walking on the streets of Paris or New York, there is nothing that says you are in a Muslim country, I have seen gay people on the streets, I have seen people expressing them through fashion, I have seen happy people, I have seen all the nations of the world here.

But as nice it can be, I would never live in this city for a longer period of time. For a gateway or a short holiday of course it can be amazing with plenty of activities to do, but the city has so much life that people that over time can be exhausted and can have a toll on you. In a city with so much population traffic is the biggest issue and nowadays terrorism is at its highest rate in a city like this.

Revisiting old places

My first time I went together with Muhammet it was at beginning of this year i guess around end of January, i was suppose to get a connection flight from Istanbul to Bucharest so we spend 3 days in Istanbul. It was right after the first attack this year, the one close to the Blue Mosque in which like of several people from Germany I guess was lost.

We took a flight from Trabzon to Istanbul with Onur Air which is a Turkish low cost airline company who operate flights mostly local inside Turkey. I cannot say I was happy flying with them because it was extremely bad, they had bad service and long, long delays, we literally sat in the plane for more than 3 hours waiting the departure after another hour or so in the waiting area. I said to myself I would never fly with this company again. Just as a tip, use Pegasus Airline if you ever want to fly inside Turkey.

So back to the story, we arrived in Istanbul around noon and we headed to our hotel. We exchange up to 3 metro rides until we arrived at our destination. It was a cold winter day in January with lot of snow in Trabzon when we left but once we arrive in Istanbul was sunny and nice.

Our hotel was in Fatih area which is the most popular because you can find almost all the top touristic sights there. So it was a good choice. I usually don't like to spend too much in hotels, but I would never choose hostels for example, I could never share a room with another 4 or 8 people even if it's cheap. Al the time we get a double room or lately i am just booking apartment because is way more comfortable and i need my own space.

The name of the hotel is Sehir Old City and I remember it had a nice view over the Bosphorus and it was close to the sea. For 2 nights we paid 50 euros without breakfast. It had a shared bathroom at each floor. It was small but nice and clean which is very important, and a good WiFi connection!

After we settled down and rested for a while, we decided to get going, check the city and visit some surroundings. Said and done, in no time we were outside strolling through the city. Back then I did not had this museum card so I had to pay all the entree fees at every museum.

Make sure if you are an Erasmus student in Turkey to get this card which gives you for one year long free entrance to every museum and sights in the country, which is the bomb seriously. I cannot wait now to use it when I go back to Istanbul.

I bought it when I was in Aspendos at the ancient theatre, it was 20 TL but it was so worth it. Since then, I have visited a bunch of places in Alanya with this and it was amazing, because usually entry for Turkish people is cheaper than if you are a foreigner, so you don't want to pay that extra charge.

This is a bunch of the museums which are great to visit in Istanbul :

• Military Museum
• Navy Museum
• Toy Museum
• Modern Art Museum

They all have free entry if you have this museum card, if not, the price can be a bit higher, for example in the Modern Art Museum is 18 TL so it's too much. Use the museum card! Or also the student discount but I am not sure if they will accept it for foreigners. If you are going with a Turkish friend, they may let you as long as they do all the talking.

Of course, there are plenty of other museums but those are my favourites as I was writing about in a previous post, why I love army and military museums the most.

The Blue Mosque

This is the most important symbol of Istanbul and is the image of the city in the world. Every time you Google Istanbul you will see in most of the pictures this amazing architecture. It is amazing from outside as well as inside. Entry is free and women need to cover their head once inside. You do no need to have a veil with you, they will give you one inside.

It is facing the other amazing mosque Hagia Sophia, which is not so impressive as the Blue Mosque. The ticket is about 25 Tl if I am not wrong.

Hagia Sophia Mosque

It's behind the Blue Mosque. I want to show you guys some pictures from the inside. In my opinion, it's not something overwhelming... because I have travelled the world and seen many places and my expectations are higher, but overall I was not impressed by it.

And the Mosque is not blue at all!

Inside the Mosque

A layout of the entire Blue Mosque

The New Mosque

Since I am in the Mosque chapter I came across a more interesting mosque near to our hotel, it was actually called the New Mosque. It is near the spice bazaar or so Egyptian bazaar.

Best break when you out visiting all day new places and sights it's always to make a quick stop at Starbucks and enjoy a mint tea. Especially in the winter. My favourite spot in Istanbul is near the Taksim Square.

So yeah, even though my name is Latisha somehow this guy got it all wrong and confused me with Natasha, but thanks! The mint tea was amazing as always, I forgive you.

St. Antoine Kilisesi Church

An interesting place I came across, near the Taksim Square is a Catholic Church which amazed me beyond words, first by it's spectacular design it has a Notre Dame lookalike style and second by the items which were on display near the entrance. Unfortunately I did not took a picture but it's better that way because I keep recalling this in my head and it messes with my calm. There were a bunch of items belonging to the Syrian refugees who died in the Turkish waters trying to go across in Greece. Some of the items were a small jacket and toy of a little girl with her picture on display. Is not something you want to see during a holiday or trip but it's reality so sometimes we need to be aware of things happening around us.

The church is called Saint Antoine Kilisesi and inside I saw bunch of pictures with the Pope back in the day on his trip to Istanbul. Actually you can see his statue in the picture above showcasing him over a big rock brought from Elazig.

The Grand Bazaar

Moving on to iconic places to see in Istanbul, we also went to the grand bazaar which i think is a must once in Istanbul. It was my first time there but I can tell you this grand bazaar is not as grand as I taught. But they do have a lot of gold inside.

The main entrance in the bazaar.

Inside of the bazaar

As a tip, inside the bazaar you will find plenty of things you will want to buy, everything from gold to fake clothing brands to carpets, home decor and food. The most important thing if you are a foreigner is to always negotiate the price. Of course they will try to sell you stories of how this item is so special and the best but never fall for that, negotiate and negotiate, you can always get more than half of the original price.

The Galata Tower

Galata tower is one of the most historical places in Istanbul which can give you a great panorama view over the city. The tower is all made of rock and it has a medieval style. The entry fee is 18 TL full price and visiting hours from 9am to 8pm every day.

The Bosphorus

Overlooking the Bosphorus and the Marmaris sea is always such a cool place to do long walks and admire the view.

All in all Istanbul is a top destination for tourists all over the world, if it's for a weekend or a long holiday people are coming to Istanbul in order to see and find a different culture and customs. Nowadays unfortunately has become a major target for terrorism which I hope will not keep tourists away.

A lot of people from my country, Romania, they come weekly to Istanbul in order to make big purchasing of gold in order to keep their business going back home. Istanbul is well known for its cheap gold price and for the variety of products.

Either you come for business or leisure make sure you add this top city on your bucket list, who knows you may fall in love with Istanbul!