‘I wanna go back’ – the first words that came out of my mouth as soon as I arrived from Istanbul.
First thing – God, they’ve got so many shopping malls! I got there in the evening, around 18h, so there wasn’t much to do besides dinner and a walk – after all, I was on holiday 🙂
Aqua Florya – shopping mall near the sea. Perfect place to relax…
…and for something delicious (and sweet, ofc)…
Wet Heart-Shaped Chocolate Cake @ Pelit
…and for watching the incredible sunset.
The traffic in Istanbul sucks. What it’s like in Bucharest, oh well – there it’s like dying bit by bit! And I was told I shouldn’t be too surprised, it was holiday – Kurban Bayramı – and everybody’s was out of town so the traffic was like 1/3 of the usual. I was that close to driving in Istanbul, but apparently I had a fairy who made me think twice. As soon as we left the parking, going on a narrow-one-lane-for-every-direction-up-hill-street, there comes this crazy taxi driver. I really don’t know how I made it out of there alive, I jut closed my eyes and hoped for the best, and I thanked God I wasn’t the driving and that had this great driver!
Oh, and don’t get me started about taxi drivers! Again, Bucharest is crazy but these guys are loonatics! Yeah, they’ve got great infrastructure, lots of highways to make the traffic better, but really, you just can’t keep calm when driving. At some point, we were close to having an accident at 120km/h, just because one taxi driver thought of racing when changing the lanes, and hitting the brake every 5m.
About pedestrians, yeah, well there’s not smarter either. Why use the effin’ zebra crossing when it’s so much easier to just jump in front of the car and ask for priority?!
But, one thing that I appreciated was the special lane in the middle of the highway – for buses. It looked so well thought of and……………useful!
Istanbul is a city of cats – like you see stray dogs in Bucharest and maybe other cities, they’ve got stray cats. It’s not a problem for them to find a place, even if it’s a store, restaurant, art gallery or car.
I was looking at their registration plates and I was asking myself why do they use that number – 34 – and what’s the connection with the city.
And I found out that Istanbul is the 34th city of Turkey, in alphabetical order. The other numbers and letter are random or they can be personalized.
Oh, I almost forgot. The most delicious thing ever: it’s called Oreo Magnolia and it’s vanilla pudding and Oreo, from CookShop. It looks like this.
When it comes to sightseeing, well I’m not much into that. It’s not my style to stay in a line. And yes, Istanbul’s got a mosque everywhere you look. And honestly, they all kinda look the same to me.
Sultan Ahmet Mosque
But what really got my attention was Basilica Cistern, the largest covered cistern in the city, that dates back to the old Constantinople, built by Emperor Justinian in 537.
And there I took advantage of the tourists corner and I got dressed up in this Turkish costume, letting myself be photographed 😀
And if you are there, you really have to try this thing – UludaÄŸ, I’m only gonna mention it tastes like bubblegum!
In the end, here is a tiny dictionary with the words that I learned in my 5 days there:
Yakamoz (iacamoz) – Moon reflection on the surface of the sea
Harika (haarica) – Wonderful
AÈ™k (ashc) – Love
Çok yaÅŸa (cioc iasha) – Bless you
TeÅŸekkürler (teshechiurler) – Thank you
Rica ederim (rija ederim) – You’re welcome
Merhaba (meraba) – Hello
Günaydın (ghiunaidîn) – Good morning
Iyi günler (iii ghiunler) – Good day
Iyi geceler (iii gejeler) – Good night
Afiyet olsun (afiet olsun) – Enjoy your meal
Evet (evet) – Yes
Hayır (haiîr) – No
Efendim (efendim) – What? What did you say?
Yavaș (iavash) – Slow
Yıldız (iîldîz) – Star
Șerefe (sherefe) – Cheers
Su (su) – Water
Pasta (pasta) – Cake
Makarna (macarna) – Pasta
Satılık (satîlîc) – For sale
Kiralık (chiralîc) – For rent
Salak (salac) – Stupid
Havalimanı (havalimanî) – Airport
Canım (janîm) – My dear
And, because all of us wanna learn this stuff:
Sikecem (sichejem) – Fuck 🙂
Overall, it is a beautiful city, I’m gonna be back.
P.S.: You can find nicer and edited pics on my Instagram account.