It's the 4th part of my post about our exploration of Istanbul!
It had a lot of time already passed since our walk started, so we had to go to a place to eat. We made our way into a typical Turkey themed cafe, which was really interesting. It was like entering the Sultan Süleyman harem. The red cushions on the floor, small tables, and the main thing - black Turkish CAY (tea). Carpets with those patterns, the lounges, the colourful lamps. Probably one of the main things there were the people, dressed like it was that century. Their national costumes were really attracting the tourists to come inside.
The great process of preparation of the Lavash 😆
So we got seated on the cushions, and i noticed that they were giving a big red "crown" to the customers. So we also asked, and after i put it on, i really felt like the Hürrem Sultan, who was that main woman in the Harem. Even though below i had a t-shirt on, it really suited 😄.
But my mom was really the Valide Sultan (the mom of the sultan, main woman in the Harem)
I'm not really a big fan of Turkish cuisine, especially since I'm vegetarian, and most of Turkish cuisine is based on meat. So i ordered a pasta, and a mercimek çorbası (lentil soup) which is my always to go dish at any restaurant here. Besides of that we ordered sarma (rice wrapped in grapes leaves, which is really similar to our Ukrainian holubtsi), potatoes with which came also bread and special Turkish additions like sour cream with some greens, a vegetables mixture, and also maybe some çiğ köfte ( it's probably made of some spices and bulgur molded together) with a leaf of lettuce.
After the dinner, we started walking back home, which was very magical. Istanbul is a overalls a magical city, and at night it is covered with an atmosphere of even greater magic and mystery. When the sunlight turns off and the city lights turn on, it seems as if the streets begin to be covered with new colors. Mysterious streets that go far into the depths of this large and ancient city. Walking back after exploring the center of Istanbul, we could not help but notice the incredible infrastructure. This is the main street of European Istanbul - Istiklal Street. It received this name after the declaration of the Republic on October 29, 1923. By the way, surprisingly, my sister and I and my mother fell on the 100th anniversary of the republic, in 2023, which was truly exciting) Then the first president Kemal Ataturk began his reign, after which Turkey became a better place.
And so, on this street, the houses still look like they are from the 900s, and have not changed since then. When you look at the photos from those years, you can see the same elegant architecture, but now it may be a little modernized. These houses surround the street like walls on all sides. In fact, I would say that many streets in Istanbul are like that, but only this one has such beautiful ancient architecture and a light breath of those times when a new era of changes and a new page in history began. Such interesting carvings, simply decorate the street better than any decorations.
I walked and enjoyed the bustling but magical night. Everywhere there were stalls with talented and playful ice cream sellers. They lure you in with loud inviting sounds, and then they make virtuoso-like movements that leave you hypnotized. Their nimble movements don't let you rest for a moment, and they definitely don't let you grab the cone. Their skill really makes your head spin, and for some reason something tells me that one day they could also pull more than just ice cream out of your hands.
Walking further we see lots of shops with Turkish delight and baklava, which beckoned with their smells! We were drawn into one of these shops as if by hypnosis, and we bought several pieces of different baklava! There were various baklavas such as Fıstıklı Sarma Buket - small round nests, made of thin crispy dough threads, generously decorated with pistachios. They look like tiny flowers.
The most important and most common is the classic baklava (Baklava Dilimi in Turkish) - cut into diamonds. Its color is golden-amber, and the dough layers are even, soaked in butter and honey. Inside there is a nut filling.
Also, very interesting, what I like the most in appearance - green rolls Fıstıklı sarma (like that food made from grape leaves) - soft, made entirely of pistachios. They have a bright green color thanks to pistachios from Gaziantep.
The rainy November night in Istanbul wasn't very warm, so seeing all these designer fur coat shops made us want to go inside and try them on, because I've been wanting to buy one for a while. It was so fluffy and nice (I'm against real fur coats) but it wasn't the time for shopping, so we had to leave it and proceed in our exploring!
Further, while walking, we noticed that also the garlands decorations really added to the atmosphere, because they burned with warm white light, that was reflecting in the black glossy floor tiles, wet from the raining before.
Yes, we visited last year in November, close to the New Year of 2025)
While going back on a metro, we decided to make a stop, and take a look at the legendary Dolmabahçe Palace. That is such an incredible architectural place, but sadly, it was really late at night, so we could only see it through the gate, it was still looking magically though.
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Dolmabahçe Palace
Near the palace there was also fairytale looking Dolmabahçe Clock Tower
I've never seen architecture so elegant and charming.
Also a bit further we saw the Dolmabahçe Mosque, and it's as majestic as all the other two buildings. Taking these three photos was like collecting pieces from the same collection 😄.
We also saw the Bosfor river, but the photos are much better from our last visit, so i will probably write a separate post about it 😉.
Later on we probably came to the main square, which is called the Taksim Square. The view on this square was breathtaking. The big mosque in the middle is the Taskim mosque. Its highlighted, which makes it look even more majestic. The big dome is goes perfectly with different shaped exquisite windows. The two minarets, sharp like spears, seem to guard the city 😌. The Taksim Mosque in the middle was comlimented by the statue of The founders of Turkish republic, with Atatürk Kemal in the lead. It looks really powerful, i imagine how respected he was in his days, while he was actively ruling, if he's so respected now. The statue is in blueish colour, just like the Statue of liberty. The red Turkey flag is hanging beautifully on the side, and all of that just becomes even better with a part of nature near the square.
And like that, I'm ending my series of posts about the Istanbul visit! But that's definitely not the last visit, so stay tuned for more travels and historical explorations of mine!
Bye bye, everyone! 🕌🌃🏛️🇹🇷