Alyson Gagne

We spend a couple of days in Istanbul on our way to Thailand. Saw some mosques, pet some street cats, had some good food.

Blue Mosque

One of two famous mosques in Istanbul, the Blue Mosque was built in the early 1600s and is still an active house of worship today.

The Egyptian Spice Market, Galata Bridge, Karakoy and Galata Tower

We wander through Istanbul from the old city across the Golden Horn to the neighborhood of Karakoy.

Basilica Cistern

In the middle of Istanbul is the ancient Roman cistern, which has held water under the streets of the city since the 400sAD.

Sunset Cruise on the Bosphorus Strait

An evening sunset cruise down the Bosphorous Strait, with views of the old city, Maiden’s Tower, the Asian side of Istanbul, and more.

Hagia Sophia

The other of the two main mosques in the old city, the Hagia Sophia was originally built as a Christian cathedral by the Byzantine Empire in the 500s AD and was converted into a Mosque in the 1400s.

Cats!

I read once that all cities are “some animal” forward. Some cities are “rat forward” or “raccoon forward” or “squirrel forward.” Istanbul is “cat forward.” The people of Istanbul actually love their stray cats and feed them and take care of them, so even though they’re all technically wild animals, they mostly are very healthy and very friendly. I pet so many cats that I ended up getting a bag of cat treats to feed them. Was this my favorite part of Istanbul??