First trip of 2023 and it’s a mother daughter adventure. Previous trips with my mom were me tagging along to her business trips, and though I am very close with my mom, I really wasn’t sure what to expect spending an extended time together with just the two of us. At the airport, my dad sent us off at the gate with worried looks, reminding me to take care of mom while we’re away.

We landed in Istanbul in the evening after a 9 hour flight, hurried to our airbnb near Galata Tower, and were eager to go out to explore on our first night in Turkey. After a quick meal with some mulled wine, we spotted some cuties on our walk home. Needless to say I was very excited for all the cat sightings in the city over the next few days.

Sultanahmet

Watching sunrise in Istanbul must be easy this time of the year as sun rises well past 8AM (8:14AM in February). We got breakfast at Federal Coffee Company in the Galata neighborhood and tried Turkish coffee and menemen, a traditional Turkish dish similar to shakshuka, for the first time.

We took our time at breakfast, and walked over to the tram station for the tram to Sultanahmet. I struggled a little bit getting our tram tickets (it might be a product people thing but I like testing out how easy or complex the UX is on the machine), and made our way across the Golden Horn heading to Hagia Sophia.

At 9:30AM in the morning there’s already a line to enter the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque. Built between 532 and 537 (1486 years ago!), the Grand Mosque had been the world’s largest domed template for more than a thousand years. More than ten thousand people worked on the construction of Hagia Sophia and it took five years and ten months. It went from being an Orthodox church —> Catholic Cathedral —> back to an Orthodox Church —> mosque —> museum and then finally back to a mosque in July 2020.

The line to enter the mosque was long but moved quickly. After a security check and stowing away our shoes, we entered the building immediately looked up to all the hanging chandeliers illuminating the space. The sheer size of each of the chandeliers show just how big this mosque is.

Calligraphic roundels of blessed names are hung around the space, and with the main dome at 55.6 meters tall, pointing your camera from the ground up gets you some nice shots with the hanging lights.

Mosaics of Mary and Jesus inside the mosque have been covered, but on the Vestibule Gate shows an offering mosaic dated to the 10th century.

We toured the tombs outside of the mosque and headed out to the Hagia Sophia Square as the sun came out.

The Blue Mosque is on the opposite side of the square but it was closed for renovations till April 2023, so we could only get a view of the outside. We decided on lunch at Seven Hills Restaurant, one of my finds from Instagram where their rooftop offers a great view of both the mosques and the harbor. Food was just okay for the price, but I really came to feed the seagulls and enjoy the views.

Balat

In the afternoon we took the tram and then bus to Balat, a former Greek Orthodox and Armenian neighborhood on the western shore of the Golden Horn. I discovered this neighborhood while doing research online - it’s a neighborhood with local shops, cafes and antique stores. The Private Fener Greek High School, the oldest surviving and most prestigious Greek Orthodox school in Istanbul, is located on the top of a very steep street. It has a nickname of The Red Castle for it’s castle-like shape.

The cat sightings continue in Balat and this time I was the chosen one.

We finished our neighborhood walks with a stop for postcards, and took the bus back to take a short break at our airbnb.

Dinner at Mikla

Our last activity for the day was a dinner at Mikla, a Michelin-starred restaurant located on the eighteenth floor of the Marmara Pera hotel. We did the 6-course tasting menu, enjoying an amazing view of Istanbul at sunset. My favorites were the octopus and braised lamb!

Just before heading out, we braved the strong winds and stepped outside onto the terrace to take in the night view.

Istanbul Foodie Walk - European Side

On day 3 of our stay in Istanbul we booked a half day foodie tour to explore the neighborhoods of Istanbul with a local. I’ve had great experiences with Airbnb Experiences and this one was no exception. We met our tour guide Latif at the harborside Eminönü, ‘in front of justice’ in Turkish for the courts and custom houses that operated by the harbor for all the spice trades coming from Egypt. Latif took us through the L shaped Egyptian Bazaar, built in the 1600s with the new mosque. The market inside (as well as outside) sells a variety of local products like hazelnut, Turkish delights and spices, and we picked up our Turkish breakfast items from Muratbey Peynircilik, a local cheese shop, and a street cart selling Turkish simit, a circular bread with sesame seeds. Simit used to be 1.75TL each, but since the recent economic downturn and crazy inflation they are now 5TL each, which is an 185% increase.

We got to our local breakfast spot located in a very old building - Küçük Hayal Çay Evi, and had menemen and tea along with the cheeses, olives, various hazelnut jams and spreads, pastrami and simit we picked up on our way. I think I found a new love for olives and Turkish breakfast!

After our breakfast stop, we headed over to take the ferry crossing over to the Asian side of Istanbul - and it was at the ferry station where I spotted a cat at the turnstile! Isn’t this the cutest thing?!

Istanbul Foodie Walk - Asian Side

After a 20 min ferry ride, we crossed the harbor and made it to Kadıköy, a residential neighborhood on Istanbul’s Asian shore. We stopped by a local shop Kadikoy Borekcisi to try some Borek, a savory pastry, then sampled some Turkish coffee before stopping at Çiya Sofrası, a restaurant that specializes in homestyle Turkish food. This place is so famous that they have their own magazine in circulation. There is actually no menu - the dishes change daily and you just point to what catches your eye and everything is done by weight. Our tour guide Latif asked us for what we’re interested in trying, and we sampled some couscous, thyme salad and hummus, a lamb dish with garlic, as well as a meatball dish with quince, a fruit that is somewhere in between apple and pear. This restaurant was definitely my favorite of all the spots we visited and it’s not to be missed!

Continuing our foodie tour we sampled some pickled veggies, midye (clams, stuffed and fried), tantuni and a bubbly yogurt drink (Latif says it’s not everyone’s taste but I quite enjoyed it), baklava, kokrec (lamb intestines), and finally kebapci iskender, a style of kebab so famous that it takes the name of its founder. I cannot believe we tried so many different dishes in the span of a few hours - our tour guide did not hold back on making sure we were stuffed before sending us back on the ferry heading back. I love discovering more about the culture through foods and this was a great Airbnb experience.

Sunset on the Bosphorus

We stopped by our airbnb for a quick outfit change and headed to the pier for our sunset Bosphorus tour. This was a last minute Airbnb experience booking as the weather forecast wasn’t looking so great for the rest of our stay and I am so glad we did because the sunset was beautiful! Our guide Mert pointed out all the historic buildings along the riverfront as we sail our way through the Bosphorus Strait, traveling between Asia and Europe. We started out the trip with a glass of wine and snack on the upper deck, and moved down to the lower deck for a warm cup of tea after the sun sets. It was such a great way to end the first leg of our Istanbul stay!

Cappadocia Day 1

On the day I turned 33, we took an early flight out of the other international airport in Istanbul - Sabiha Gökçen International Airport - for the Cappadocia portion of our trip. I did some research and found that this airport, located on the Asian side of the bi-continental city, was named after the first female fighter pilot in the world. We boarded our really packed flight to Kayseri, a large industrialized city in central Türkiye. Our hotel is in Göreme, one of the larger villages in the Cappadocia region about an hour away from the airport. We arranged for an airport shuttle to take us to our hotel in Göreme, leaving behind the town with medium-rise buildings for the villages.

The airport shuttle dropped us off at the foot of a steep hill, and after a short but steep walk up, we reached the front steps of our cave hotel. Our host Hünkar showed us to our room and helped us book our hot air ballon flight for tomorrow. The sun came out for a little bit as we head to the main town area for lunch, trying out Chef Kebap which was recommended to us by a few others. We tried a traditional clay pot dish (delicious!) and shared another beef dish and rice pudding dessert.

After lunch we took a walk in town and up a hill to the viewpoint, where a large Turkish flag stood. To the left we got a view of the town of Göreme and all of its boutique cave hotels and restaurants, while the other end when you look to the right was a view into an open field of rock formations far into the distance. Göreme first became popular from the hot air balloon rides, in 1996, but the town itself is small with only about 1,000 residents total. It amazing to see how houses and towns were developed amongst these eroded rock formations.

We made our way back to town and did some souvenir shopping - the one benefit of traveling off season is there are no crowds! When we got back to the hotel Hünkar informed us that the balloons would not flying tomorrow due to weather, and we could try again in maybe 2 days. Our schedules in Cappadocia were kept flexible anyway because of the unpredictable weather and the possibility of snow, and with this new information we decided to do the full day Green Tour for the next day, covering the well-known sights in Cappadocia. This plan allows us to do the hot air balloons and the Red Tour together if the weather permits, though I was not very hopeful for any balloon flights as no balloons have been flying for the last 7 days straight. The aviation authorities must provide permission for balloons to fly and the webpage (here) gets updated in the afternoon the day before. Either way it’ll still be an amazing time here in Cappadocia!

For dinner we headed to Topdeck Cave Restaurant, a family restaurant inside a cave (of course) that used to be a stable. We sat tatami style on the floor at a low table, ordered ourselves some wine, and enjoyed the meze (which was amazing!) and a braised lamb dish to close out our first night in Cappadocia. This was such a simple meal but so delicious and I highly recommend!

Cappadocia Day 2 - Green Tour

Day 2 in Cappadocia started off with a breakfast with a view at our hotel terrace. Just look at this spread!

After our breakfast at the hotel Ayhan our tour guide came to pick us up from our hotel and other guests in nearby hotels, and we’re off in our mini tour bus for the Green Tour. Our first stop was Göreme Panorama, a scenic viewpoint in Göreme. Different from the viewpoint yesterday, this one looks out to much larger eroded rock formations and my first reaction was - WOW. These rock formations are nicknamed fairy chimneys - when a Frenchman first discovered the area and drew out the landscape, no one believed that this could be a natural scenery. The Uchisar Castle - the 60 meter tall natural rock formation in the background - was once the home to over 1,000 residents but is no longer inhibited today. You can, however, climb to the summit and enjoy a great view on a nice day.

On our ride to the next stop, Ayhan explained Cappadocia is a region in the center of Turkey, and the name refers to the land of beautiful horses. This central part of Turkey is mainly agricultural - it’s part of the silk road and produces mostly potatoes, pumpkin (for pumpkin seeds only - I was told the pumpkins themsselves do not taste good). They also have their own wine which is more dry due to the climate.

Underground City - Kaymaklı Yeraltı Şehri

At the Underground City - Kaymaklı Yeraltı Şehri, we explored the underground tunnels and multiple cellars forming multiple underground cities. There are 28 underground cities discovered so far, but archeologists estimate there to be about 5,000. The underground spaces were designed to be hideouts and storages that go 5 stories deep, with designated rooms for lodging, wine making and even praying. The tunnels are all connected but designed to be confusing and like a maze - so that when enemies enter they can trap them in specific spaces and close off the entrances with large round stones. At one point we lost the rest of the tour group and thankfully another tour guide provided us directions to rejoin the rest of the group.

Selime Monastery

On the car ride to the next sight we passed by Mount Hasan - a dormant volcano covered in snow with 2 summits. Both summits are above 10.000 ft high, almost a whole kilometer above the surrounding terrain. We arrived at Selime Monastery, an outdoor cave that served as a church, with paintings on the walls of the caves from 12th century. In order to get to the various rooms, one must go up the steep hills and stairs.

Belisırma and Ihlara Valley

Lunch was in Belisirma, a canon village. The Turkish food wasn’t bad and we had cats to keep us company. The restaurant is right at the bottom of the canon along the river so I imagine there are outdoor dining by the riverfront in the summer!

From Belisirma it is a short walk over to Ihlara Valley for a… walk? since we can’t really hike the valley in the winter time when the grounds are still covered in snow. Ihlara Valley features river canyon with steep walls and a tree-lined trail. The caves used to be for people, and the even smaller caves for pigeons (their droppings are used for fertilizers).

Pigeon Valley

As with all organized tours there is an unspoken rule about shopping stops - we made a stop at gemstone store to check out zultanite - a gemstone that contains titanium and changes colors under different lights, as well as a souvenir shop for snacks (this one is more up my alley). Our final stop on the tour was Pigeon Valley, a pinkish valley formation that used to be homes, and later turned into homes for pigeons. There were no pigeons here in the winter, but still an amazing view of the area with Uchisar Castle in the distance.

We parted with the tour group at the end of the day and had a small meal at a restaurant in Göreme before heading back to the hotel. No balloons again for tomorrow so Red Tour it is! Hopefully the weather won’t be too bad as snow is in the forecast.

Cappadocia Day 3 - Red Tour

The morning started off with a literal shaky start. We were woken up by a phone call from my dad at 5 in the morning about a huge earthquake in Southern Turkey. It was an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 but we were away from the epicenter so we didn’t feel anything. It didn’t occur to me just how serious the earthquake was till we got up for breakfast and the news started pouring in. We received messages and phone calls of family and friends checking in on us.

Snow also started falling heavily in Cappadocia and we got about 6 inches of snow - enough to make walking around steep hills very difficult without salting and proper footwear. At least breakfast with the view was nice.

The first stop on the Red Tour (which we had to make some changes due to inclement weather) was the town of Uchisar to see the castle up close, but in the snowy weather we couldn’t really see far away. Living in NYC where the snow is only pretty for the first half hour before it turns into dirty slush, this snowy view was definitely refreshing. A cat friend kept us company while we tried hard not to slip and fall with our normal footwear.

Paşabağları Archaeological Site

Onto the next stop! Paşabağları Archaeological Site ‘Paşabağı’, also known as Monk’s Valley, got its name from monks living in isolation within the compounds of the fairy chimneys. These chimneys have a ‘hat’, formed at different times and from different materials. The entire open space was covered in snow, creating a winter wonderland different from the typical fairy chimney photos you see online.

On our way out we saw the most adorable cats chilling by the souvenir fairy chimneys!

Zelve Open Air Museum

Just when we think the winter scenery can’t get any more dreamy, we arrived at Zelve Open Air Museum, an open valley with a large cave settlement. We hiked along the snowy path towards the Byzantine-era cave churches, and had the whole area to our group since there were no other groups out here after the snowstorm.

We spent the rest of the morning at the open air museum, and as we exited, the guards let us know that a 7.5 magnitude aftershock actually hit while we were inside the park. We actually didn’t feel anything as we were on the move, but imagine how scary it would be if we happened to be inside one of the cave churches…

We made a quick stop at Imagination Valley, where can picture rock formations that look like a penguin, a camel and a snail. During lunch, I was catching up on the news of the earthquake and responding to family and friends checking in, when I noticed our guide Aysel doing the same. We talked about the unfortunate event and she said while Turkey is at the intersection of tectonic plates and the country is no stranger to earthquakes, she personally has never experienced anything remotely similar. In order to become a tour guide in Turkey, one must study and pass a series of exams, and complete a tour around the country for training. Aysel told me that there were four of these tour buses touring Southern Turkey, and only three had been accounted for so far. It was indeed a very heavy day for the country, and for us temporarily traveling through in this beautiful country.

The aftershocks kept on coming in the afternoon and I finally felt one of them while we were at the clay workshop and showroom. The displays and lights shifted in a gentle movement as we were far away from the epicenter. Nontheless it was a scary feeling.

Overnight buses - our only way of returning to Istanbul in this weather.

Due to the inclement weather our Red Tour ended a little early, and we returned to the hotel to find that our return flight to Istanbul the next morning had been cancelled. I headed over to the hotel front desk to ask Hünkar for his recommendation, and he suggested catching the overnight bus instead as there is no guarantee on whether the flights would be back the next few days (remember we’re in a remote part of the country after a huge natural disaster). Since all the balloon rides have already been cancelled and we finished all the tours, we followed Hünkar’s advice and got the overnight bus tickets leaving in the evening. The ride is about 13 hours but was probably our best option.

Since roads are still pretty bad and all the snow have turned into slush, we slowly brought our luggages down to the bus terminal, had a small meal and got some snacks for the road, and boarded the overnight bus back to Istanbul. It was late in the evening but the skies weren’t completely dark. Perhaps it was the snow reflecting the light but I could see the fairy chimneys out the bus window as we drove away from Central Turkey heading northwest.

Back to Istanbul

The bus made a few more stops around Century Turkey picking up passengers before heading onto the highway. Like any long haul journeys I dozed off and woke myself throughout the night, checking on Google maps in between to see how much longer of a drive we have ahead of us. Closer to 9AM in the morning, we finally made it to the Istanbul bus terminal and got on a taxi to our second airbnb in Istanbul. The previous guests at the airbnb had departed early and we arrived just as the cleaning lady was finishing up - perfect timing because we really needed a shower and a quick nap.

We have two more days in the country and we had a few more sights we wanted to see and things we wanted to do - first up was to get mom some proper footwear for this snow. She had only one pair of sneakers and they were not adequate for this weather. Pro tip: it snows in Turkey. Think NYC but not as efficient with the shoveling and salting. And given how hilly Istanbul is and how much cobblestones there are, the best choice of footwear would probably be waterproof hiking boots.

With a fresh pair of boots and a full stomach, we got the Istanbul travel card and used it to take the Tünel tramway down to Karaköy, and then transfer for the tram to Grand Bazaar for some souvenir shopping. It is the best place to show off your bargaining skills and shop for anything and everything - needless to say my mom had a great time buying Turkish towels, Turkish figs and other souvenirs to bring home.

Also - I think my mom’s photography skills are improving. Here’s a case in point with the rule of thirds. She probably still prefers taking selfies though.

Our original plan was to check out Basilica Cistern but it closed earlier at 4PM that day, so we stopped by a grocery store for some local treats - I got some hazelnut spread and pistachio spread I really liked from breakfast the other day to bring home. We had a pretty chill night having dinner at Pera Antakya near our airbnb and the meze were amazing. You honestly cannot go wrong with any meze here in Turkey.

Kılıc Ali Pasa Hamam

The next morning was a gloomy one as we head to our traditional Turkish bath experience and massage at a hamam. I had made our reservation at Kılıc Ali Pasa Hamam almost a month prior as I was really excited to check out a hamam and get a full body scrub towards the end of our stay in Turkey, and we get to do it under a majestic dome built in the 1580’s!

Unlike the weather outside, the hamam was warm and welcoming. The operating hours are different for the different genders so it’s best to make the reservation ahead of time. We were welcomed by staff members and sat down for a refreshing welcome drink of sherbet before we were handed our slippers to get changed in the changing rooms upstairs. The experience starts back on the ground floor with a warm water bath, then laying down on a large, heated marble slab in the middle of the room. Looking up at the impressive large dome, you can see the light filtering through its little windows. As I let my body relax, my mind wondered and I thought about how this dome was built in the first place, and what an experience this was being able to enjoy the hamam, temporarily separating myself from the cold February winter.

After the steam part of the experience, we went on to the full body scrub. I watched all my dead skin peel away from my body as my lady scrubbed me with a loofah. After rinsing me off with warm water, she got a bar of soap, a towel and a bucket of water. With one move with the towel she formed one giant bubble enough to cover my entire body. As I admire her bubble forming skill she made even more bubbles - I felt like I was in a bubble bath with just bubbles and no water. My lady gave me a thorough rub and a hair wash before a dry off.

We slipped back into our robes afterwards and relaxed in the main area before we headed for our royal massage. This part was an add on - I had to do it because the prices were very reasonable, and I just wanted to treat myself since I am on vacation :)

Overall this was a great experience and a great way to wind down towards the end of the trip, totaling to just about $100 USD per person for everything.

The original plan for the evening was a dinner at a Michelin star restaurant that I had added myself to a waitlist for and ended up securing a spot the week prior, but because of the earthquake the restaurant decided to cancel their reservations and instead have their staff cook for those impacted by the natural disaster. We returned to our airbnb to cook up a quick meal while I stepped out to the post office to mail our postcards, just off of Taksim.

Basilica Cistern

To squeeze in one last sight before the end of the trip we got tickets for Basilica Cistern, the largest of several hundred ancient waterproof receptacle beneath the city of Istanbul. It was built in the 6th century and originally a basilica. There are a total of 336 marble columns, and the bases of two of the columns feature the face of Medusa. No one is sure why the faces are not upright - more likely because they were reused and not originally meant to be viewed. The cistern underwent massive restoration (to protect it from earthquakes) and now there are art installations throughout the space. Definitely a cool spot to check out - and the gift shop too because I got a really cute tee shirt there for a great price!

On our way back we tried some corn and chestnuts from the cart (two of my favorite things from a street vendor!), stopped by Hafiz Mustafa Confectionery, before heading back near our airbnb for dinner. We closed out our stay in Istanbul with a photo on the tram as the next morning we leave for our flight for Budapest!

Türkiye. February 2023