Uncategorized / March 15, 2026

Istanbul

We spent a week exploring this fantastic city. It was a bit of a shock to visit such a large city but it was also great to experience this exciting vibe. My parents joined us for this week and we also had friends from Australia, that we are travelling with for the next few weeks, join us.

After coming from a small village where items were cheap (and in eastern Europe), it was a shock to see the prices in Istanbul – food was comparable to western Europe (eg Belgium, Germany, France) and the entry tickets to the tourist sites were sooo expensive that we needed to really pick and choose what we wanted to see!

Bazaars

Anyone who knows me well knows that I LOVE walking around bazaars (souks). Istanbul is full of them so I really enjoyed walking around every day and exploring.

Topkapi Palace

For 400 years or so, this was the residence of the Sultans of the Ottomon empire. The palace was pretty impressive and it took us several hours to walk around exploring it. The ticket price was pretty steep (67 euros per person) and no children’s discount for foreigners!

Hagia Sofia

For over a thousand years, this was the largest church in the world. It was built around 500AD. When the Ottoman’s took control of Istanbul in the 1400s, they converted it to a mosque. Again, the ticket price for the Hagia Sofia was really expensive. We ended up getting the combo ticket for both the church/mosque and the museum for 50 euros per person (again, no child discounts). The Hagia Sofia was being renovated so there was scaffolding both outside and inside the church which unfortunately made it a bit difficult to see. However, the mosaics were still nice and I’m glad I saw it. Also, the museum was fairly interesting giving an ‘interactive’ experience with videos and images of the history of the church/mosque.

Blue Mosque

The famous Blue Mosque was beautiful on both the outside and the inside. What I didn’t realize about Istanbul until I got there is that the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque are right next to each other. One evening we sat in the park between the two and heard them doing the call to prayer. It was really pretty and the two mosques were sharing the call and playing off each other.

Since we visited during Ramadan, a lot of the mosques were doing extra prayers. While we were in the Blue Mosque, a man sat down with a microphone and started reading some prayers from the Koran. He had a beautiful voice so I took a short video.

Rustem Pasa Mosque

This mosque is much smaller, but just as beautiful and located near the spice bazaar. It was covered in beautiful tiles.

Kariye Mosque (Chora Church)

I didn’t make it to this church/mosque but C and my dad went. Like the Hagia Sofia, this church was built in the 4th century, was converted to a mosque in the 15th century, and it known for its mosaics. It is located near the Instanbul walls.

Around Istanbul

Here are some other photos from around Istanbul, mostly from the Roman Hippodrome area outside of the Blue Mosque.

Fabulous Dinners

My parents spoiled us and took us out for 2 fabulous dinners. At the first dinner, we had a gorgeous view over the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia and we celebrated K’s birthday. At the second dinner, we had a view over the Sea of Marmara and tried a fish dish cooked in a clay pot. At both dinners the food and views were fabulous – thanks mom and dad!!