Day 3 we decided to hop over the Bosphorous into the other side of Istanbul (though still on the European side). We realized trying to find our breakfast spot that Google maps didn’t always find the correct location and would have us bypass it by a few meters. After getting some coffee and a toastie, we were off to figure out how to get across the river to visit the Galata Tower. We tried getting a metro card but did not have any Turkish bills under 100 (machine was max 50) so decided we were going to walk across the bridge. Following the locals, we learned how to quickly dart across the streets when there was a clearing in the traffic or if traffic got congested. Once across the street to the riverside, we found a kiosk to obtain a metro card with our credit card so we grabbed two and hopped on the metro to the correct stop.

Once over the bridge, it was a quick 10-15 minute walk up the hill to the base of Galata Tower. We realized doing any touristy things in Istanbul is best to do in the morning to beat the crowds. Thankfully there was no line to get tickets and we were able to hop right in the elevator to the top. The elevator opened up on the 7th floor where they had a mock up of the city of Istanbul. The city is sprawling and we realized we probably only explored maybe 1% of the city (there are 15.5 million people there after all)! A few steps up the staircase opened up into a gallery where you could step outside and get a 360 degree view of Istanbul. Grant enjoyed another moment of photography and trying to get more panoramic views of Istanbul. Meanwhile, I would enjoy the views and head back in for some warmth. (When you have a weight limit for trip, there’s only so many warm clothes you can bring. I obviously didn’t bring enough to keep adequately warm). Grant laughed because he would turn around and I would be gone back inside or hiding behind a column for wind protection. But the views were great! Here’s some of the photos Grant took from the tower. (There’s more in our photos page for Istanbul).

Leaving the Galata Tower, the line had tripled and was now wrapped around the entrance of the tower. We decided to explore the neighborhoods around the tower and poked into one of the local coffee shops to grab a drink and a quick snack. There we looked into possible Bosphorous cruises for the evening and were able to book a sunset cruise with one company. Having a few hours to kill, we continued to explore the area and ended up on Istiklal street which is a notorious shopping avenue. This is also the area in which the bombing occurred back in November. There was definitely a heavy police presence while we were there which we later read was due to both the previous bombing but also the European embassies sending employees home as a precaution for heightened terrorism risk as a result of Koran burnings recently around parts of Europe (Istiklal is a huge westerner attraction so they heightened security there).

We were able to get a quick time to warm up back in the apartment and load some photos onto the blog before it was time to meet our tour guide for the sunset cruise. This ended up being a nice and relaxing way to see more of the city from the river’s point of view. And we were pleasantly surprised when the crew handed out two rounds of Turkish teas and several snacks throughout the cruise. The tour guide offered some historical tidbits about certain sites along the route, though it was kind of hard to hear him on the speakers sometimes so it was more about taking in the views.

We did enjoy chatting with a guy sitting next to us from Seattle. He was a nature photographer who was originally supposed to be in Budapest but due to missing his connecting flight and meeting, he decided to enjoy the weekend in Istanbul. We learned several tidbits about how he obtains some of the shots he gets and showed us some amazing photographs he had taken of various animals. The amount of effort it takes to achieve some of those photos was astounding to hear between laying down in a canoe at water level to laying sheets of foil down on the water in order to control where the egrets can fish. Hopefully we’ll be able to capture some great shots of animals during our Africa leg (when we mentioned we just did photography for fun he said Africa is so full of animals that it can make anyone look professional)! His Instagram is avin.ci if you want to take a look at some of his photos!

The sunset portion of the cruise was beautiful. Though it was cold and windy sitting on the front of the yacht, it was definitely worth the views. The sky background behind the historical buildings added another level to their beauty. Grant was able to capture some great night shots once we were headed back to the port (I let him do most of the shooting during this trip as I was just trying to stay warm…).

And this night we finally managed to stay up past 7pm! Though we ended up just enjoying the night in going through photos and trying to determine what to do with our last hours in Istanbul the next day.

Random tidbits:

• Turkish people are super nice and constantly offer Turkish tea or coffee (we felt bad saying no sometimes)