Hello there!
Having completed my earlier travel posts on several interesting countries, such as Japan, Maldives, Indonesia and US, it's probably time to share about my recent Europe trip! If you are keen to find out which countries and cities I visited, you can read the quick summary here.
There is actually a back story behind this trip. My friend and I planned this trip a few years back and it was supposed to take place in Apr 2020, but as most of you would know, Covid 19 pandemic came and we had to cancel the trip due to all the travel restrictions and health advisories. So we planned for this trip in 2025 and it finally materialised!
Our first stop was Istanbul, Turkey. It was supposed to be a transit before we flew to Europe but due to unforeseen circumstances, our flight timings were adjusted and we ended up having an extra day in Istanbul, so we took a bus to the city for some sightseeing! This was not in our itinerary so it's quite interesting how we turned something "unfortunate" into a positive experience!
After a 11 hour flight, we finally reached the Istanbul Airport. For those who have been to Istanbul Airport, you would know it is really massive. It was so BIG and we had to walk endless to get from place to place. But of course, there are travelators to ease some of the walking. Haha.
Because it was an impromptu trip, I did a rough check online and the key attraction for Istanbul was the Blue Mosque so we just had to make our way there. The taxis were very expensive but fortunately we managed to find a bus at the airport that would fetch us to the city! It cost 275 TRL (~7 USD) per trip which was still manageable. And we finally arrived!
It looked so grand when we got near! It's amazing that this was built hundreds of years ago and it's no surprise that the mosque is considered a masterpiece of Ottoman architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It was free for visitors to enter so we made our way to admire the architecture. I was really awed because it's quite rare to find such buildings in where I live.
The crowd was still okay and the weather was cooling too. So we managed to walk around the compound and take some photos.
I think there was some prayers or some events inside, so we didn't venture further in.
One last look at the Blue Mosque before we headed out. Even though I am a free thinker, these religious places of worship were still interesting for me to see, as the architecture was so pretty to admire, and there was just so much culture and history to soak in.
As we exited the mosque, this was the exterior.
Just a few stones throw away was another mosque. It's the Hagia Sophia. Due to time constraint, we didn't visit so we just looked at it from the outside. The exterior was pretty similar to the Blue Mosque, but if you looked closely enough, there were differences between the two structures.
There's also the Hagia Sophia Museum nearby.
Our stomachs were growling so we relied for Google and AI to find us a recommended lunch place. In this trip, I realised various AI tools like ChatGPT and Grok were very useful for finding food places. I could just key in what type of cuisine I wanted, what price range I wanted, and ask them to recommend me some restaurants or cafes. So this was Grilled Meatballs and Grilled Lamb Kebap, paired with one of their local yoghurt drinks. While the food was tasty, we found it quite oily. Hehe.
After lunch, we went to the Grand Bazaar. It took a while of walking to get there and we had a little difficulty finding the place.
Once we were in, the entire bazaar felt like a maze. There were endless rows of shops, and many different intersections which branched out to new sections of the bazaar. I didn't buy anything because it felt like the things were priced on the higher side because it was a tourist attraction. Nonetheless, it was nice to take a look at their souvenirs, and of course, the wide range of Turkish delights!
After walking the whole afternoon, we found a nice rooftop restaurant (thanks to AI's recommendation once again) and enjoyed some Turkish coffee.
It was recommended because of the awesome view and ambience, but of course, the food and drinks were priced on the high side too. For the view, it was worth it in my view. Anyway, I realised the basic necessities such as food and drinks in Istanbul were not as affordable as I expected. With the rapid depreciation of the Lira and the high inflation in Turkey, I wonder how do the locals manage the situation.
And here's the view! Nice, isn't it?
Before we headed back to Istanbul Airport, we took a walk along the streets and saw that they also had tram lines within the city as well. We also managed to try it out for an experience too.
That's it for our quick one day tour in Istanbul, as we took the same bus number back to Istanbul Airport for an overnight stay, before we continued our journey the next day on a flight to Paris.
Overall I found Turkey and Istanbul to be an interesting place because the country is situated in both Asia and Europe and the location definitely had an impact to the culture and their food. Because it was just one day, there were many experiences that I didn't get to try, including their famous Turkish baths and hammam experience. Something to note if I ever have a chance to visit them again. :)
So that's all I have today! Have you been to Istanbul or Turkey? Let me know in the comments below!
Finally, thanks for reading my post in the community under World Map Pin!