Day five, the group met in the lobby to walk to the tram for a ride over the Galata Bride to the "New District" of Istanbul. After taking the tram over the bridge, we got on an underground train called the funicular, which took us to Taksim Square. Taksim Square is on one end of Istiklal Street, the main commercial street of the New District. It was a chilly and windy day that was occasionally rainy, and we spent a few minutes standing in this weather before the Republic Monument, which has a statue of Ataturk, the "father of modern Turkey," flanked by figures representing the people who supported him in proclaiming Turkey's existence as a country. After paying our respects to Ataturk, we proceeded down Istiklal Street, which still has very old architecture but is chock full of modern shops and restaurants. After walking for a while, we took a side street off Istiklal to wade through many outdoor restaurants, food stalls, and pubs. We were there an hour or so before lunch, so we didn't have to fight any crowds, except for a few delivery people. At one point, we stopped before a food stall owner who was frying small fish. He offered a sample to our group. As the fish was battered and deep fried, I figured I better refrain, but Elena tried one and said it was very good. We continued on and ended back on Istiklal Street.
We walked along the street until we reached a huge and grand gate, which was the entrance to the Galatasaray High School. At this point, Taylan said we were free to wander around the area and shop, for a grand total of…one hour. This brought a collective groan from the women in the group, who craved more shopping time. Taylan defended himself, saying that there would be free time later in the tour for members to return to this area to do more shopping. After an hour we would meet back at the high school gate.
So Elena and I walked around a bit, stopping first in a silk tie and scarf shop, and then continuing on until we found a fancy shop that sold nice t-shirts, which we wanted for souvenirs. Elena browsed t-shirts in the women's department, and soon we were joined by a beautiful young saleswoman who didn't speak much English. Elena tried on a few shirts, and she liked one but it was a bit snug. When Elena asked (mimed) that she wanted to try a larger size, the saleswoman basically refused; she said the size Elena had was perfect. (Yet again, confronted by assertive service people.) Elena purchased a shirt she liked, and I went up to the men's department and did the same. We then strolled some more down the street until we found a promising dessert shop, and we stopped in for Elena to have profiteroles (for the uninitiated, round pastries filled with vanilla cream or ice cream and topped with dark chocolate sauce). We walked a bit further and stopped in a café for some tea until it was time to rejoin the group.
The group continued walking, passing by more trendy shops and an area that had lots of musical instrument shops, and we eventually came to the Galata Tower. Taylan stopped at the base of the tower and said that we would take a half hour or so for anyone who wanted to ascend the tower and get a great view of the city. He didn't sound too enthused by the tower views, and since we had incredible views of the city right in our hotel, Elena and I decided to do some more shopping instead. First, we stopped for some pomegranate juice. One thing we noticed in our wandering around Istanbul was that there were many food places and stands providing fresh squeezed fruit juices, mainly orange and pomegranate. Elena loves pomegranates, so she couldn't resist getting a generous glass of fresh squeezed pomegranate juice, just for 2 Turkish lire (about a buck and thirty cents). I got one too and felt full of antioxidants and vitamins, so we walked on. We stopped in a souvenir/art shop that had many nice original paintings and prints, but these were a bit out of our price range, so we focused on post cards and some other small items. We met up with the group, most of which had gone up in the Galata Tower, and they said it was well worth it. This was because a few minutes after they reached the top, there was a call to prayer, and they said from their location they could hear calls from all over the city, and it was an amazing experience. Elena and I felt bad about missing out (she blamed me, of course). Well, something to plan for our next visit to Istanbul! (Elena later read on the Ricky Steves web site that a number of participants in different Istanbul tours recommended going up, not necessarily in the Galata Tower, but somewhere high, and to time it to coincide with a call to prayer, agreeing that hearing the various calls from throughout the city is an experience not to be missed.)
We continued on, stopping briefly in a small synagogue, until we made it back to the Galata Bridge. (Some of our members decided to visit the Museum of Turkish Jews and left us at this point.) We first went under the bridge for a bit, where there are a number of restaurants. Taylan pointed out that if we went further along the water, there were a couple of notable shops, one that he claimed served the best breakfast in Istanbul, another that was famous for its baklava (apparently even folks in Greece would purchase their baklava from this shop). Sadly, we never got to visit these places. (Next time!) But we finally made it to the surface of the bridge and walked across. It was very blustery, damp, and overcast at this point, but there were still many men fishing from the top of the bridge. After walking over the Galata Bridge, we picked up a tram back to near our hotel area and walked back to the hotel. After resting a bit, we shared a salad and a shish kabob at Buhara 93 and called it a day.
We walked along the street until we reached a huge and grand gate, which was the entrance to the Galatasaray High School. At this point, Taylan said we were free to wander around the area and shop, for a grand total of…one hour. This brought a collective groan from the women in the group, who craved more shopping time. Taylan defended himself, saying that there would be free time later in the tour for members to return to this area to do more shopping. After an hour we would meet back at the high school gate.
So Elena and I walked around a bit, stopping first in a silk tie and scarf shop, and then continuing on until we found a fancy shop that sold nice t-shirts, which we wanted for souvenirs. Elena browsed t-shirts in the women's department, and soon we were joined by a beautiful young saleswoman who didn't speak much English. Elena tried on a few shirts, and she liked one but it was a bit snug. When Elena asked (mimed) that she wanted to try a larger size, the saleswoman basically refused; she said the size Elena had was perfect. (Yet again, confronted by assertive service people.) Elena purchased a shirt she liked, and I went up to the men's department and did the same. We then strolled some more down the street until we found a promising dessert shop, and we stopped in for Elena to have profiteroles (for the uninitiated, round pastries filled with vanilla cream or ice cream and topped with dark chocolate sauce). We walked a bit further and stopped in a café for some tea until it was time to rejoin the group.
The group continued walking, passing by more trendy shops and an area that had lots of musical instrument shops, and we eventually came to the Galata Tower. Taylan stopped at the base of the tower and said that we would take a half hour or so for anyone who wanted to ascend the tower and get a great view of the city. He didn't sound too enthused by the tower views, and since we had incredible views of the city right in our hotel, Elena and I decided to do some more shopping instead. First, we stopped for some pomegranate juice. One thing we noticed in our wandering around Istanbul was that there were many food places and stands providing fresh squeezed fruit juices, mainly orange and pomegranate. Elena loves pomegranates, so she couldn't resist getting a generous glass of fresh squeezed pomegranate juice, just for 2 Turkish lire (about a buck and thirty cents). I got one too and felt full of antioxidants and vitamins, so we walked on. We stopped in a souvenir/art shop that had many nice original paintings and prints, but these were a bit out of our price range, so we focused on post cards and some other small items. We met up with the group, most of which had gone up in the Galata Tower, and they said it was well worth it. This was because a few minutes after they reached the top, there was a call to prayer, and they said from their location they could hear calls from all over the city, and it was an amazing experience. Elena and I felt bad about missing out (she blamed me, of course). Well, something to plan for our next visit to Istanbul! (Elena later read on the Ricky Steves web site that a number of participants in different Istanbul tours recommended going up, not necessarily in the Galata Tower, but somewhere high, and to time it to coincide with a call to prayer, agreeing that hearing the various calls from throughout the city is an experience not to be missed.)
We continued on, stopping briefly in a small synagogue, until we made it back to the Galata Bridge. (Some of our members decided to visit the Museum of Turkish Jews and left us at this point.) We first went under the bridge for a bit, where there are a number of restaurants. Taylan pointed out that if we went further along the water, there were a couple of notable shops, one that he claimed served the best breakfast in Istanbul, another that was famous for its baklava (apparently even folks in Greece would purchase their baklava from this shop). Sadly, we never got to visit these places. (Next time!) But we finally made it to the surface of the bridge and walked across. It was very blustery, damp, and overcast at this point, but there were still many men fishing from the top of the bridge. After walking over the Galata Bridge, we picked up a tram back to near our hotel area and walked back to the hotel. After resting a bit, we shared a salad and a shish kabob at Buhara 93 and called it a day.
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