During the COVID-19 pandemic, we spent one week in Istanbul.

With only a few days remaining in October, we flew from Zagreb, Croatia to Istanbul, Turkey.

The biggest reason we went to Istanbul was so we could ultimately fly direct back to Florida, where we were living.

With the everchanging border restrictions, we wanted to avoid booking a flight itinerary that transits through a country with a ban on American travelers.

In fact, around this time, several European countries were re-implementing lockdowns and more border restrictions.  We wanted to keep our travel simple and not have to worry about border closings, etc.

Expect the Unexpected

International travel is complicated.  International travel during a pandemic is extra complicated.

To make the situation even MORE complicated…

A couple days after we booked our airfare and accommodations, the US government issued the following warning for foreign nationals in Turkey.  They also announced the temporary closing of all embassies and consulates in Turkey.

At first, this news gave us pause for concern.  Several friends and family who knew we were heading there voiced concern and suggested we should cancel our plans.

We took to the internet to read and research the current situation and understand more about these warnings.  There was a lot of content online, especially in various travel blogs and forums.  We found a lot of relevant and reliable content in Trip Advisor’s travel forums.

After reading up on the current situation and hearing from other travelers and expats, we felt this announcement by the US was political posturing due to recent events near the border of Turkey and Syria.

Therefore, we continued with our travel as planned.

The Unexpected

Incidentally, it wasn’t terrorist attacks or kidnapping we had to worry about…

Two days after arriving in Istanbul, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the Aegean Sea, off the coast of Turkey.

The epicenter was about 250 miles from Istanbul but many people reported feeling aftershocks in Istanbul.  Luckily, we didn’t.

Of course, our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by this devastating earthquake.

Geography of Istanbul

The Bosphorus Strait divides the city of Istanbul across two continents:  Europe and Asia.   It also connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara and ultimately the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas.

The Golden Horn waterway is an inlet of the Bosphorus that divides the European side into two areas:  the Old City (aka Constantinople) and the Beyoğlu district.

Our Airbnb was perfectly situated in the Beyoğlu District, a few blocks away from the Galata Tower and one block off of Istiklal Avenue.

The famous mosques (Blue Mosque & Hagia Sophia) are located in the Old City.

We never made it to the Asian side of the city.

Now, on to some pictures…

Pictures Around Istanbul

1) Galata Tower (Beyoğlu District)

The Galata Tower is an iconic stone tower in Istanbul built in the mid 1300’s.

It was a key structure in protecting Constantinople from attackers along the Golden Horn waterway.  An ingenious  iron chain measuring 750 meters in length extended across the Golden Horn from the outside wall of the Old City to the Galata Tower.   This chain could be raised and lowered as needed to protect the city from attack on it’s weaker side.

Here are pics from different street views of the Galata Tower:

2) Istiklal Avenue (Beyoğlu District)

Istiklal Avenue is a famous pedestrian street in Istanbul that runs from Taksim Square to the Galata Tower.  It is a bustling, tourist area with lots of stores, restaurants, live music, bars, and cafes.

Here is a picture during the day time when we were there on Republic Day 2020:

Notice the tracks running through the middle of the street.  A red, nostalgic trolley still runs from Taksim Square to the Galata Tower.  We did not actually ride the trolley but we saw it decorated and full of musicians playing live music while it ran on Republic Day.

Here is a picture of Istiklal Avenue at night.  This is just an example of how pretty & lit up this street gets at night:

Here’s a picture of a Turkish man making us traditional Turkish coffee at a café just off Istiklal Avenue:

I LOVED the Turkish coffee in Istanbul, along with the delicious Turkish delights that came with them.  I bet I had drank 3-4 Turkish coffees every day.  Maybe that partially explains why I didn’t sleep so well there – LOL:

3) Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Old City)

This mosque is located in the old city center, next to the Byzantine Hippodrome and across from the Hagia Sophia.

It is more commonly known as the Blue Mosque because of the bluish interior.

The Blue Mosque is the only mosque in Istanbul with 6 minarets which have balconies that call Muslims to prayer five times per day.

Here is a picture of the Blue Mosque from the plaza between it and the Hagia Sophia:

What you don’t see above are the aggressive rug salesmen following you around trying to lure you into their stores.  I guess they’re just a squirrel trying to get a nut, huh?

We were hoping to be outside the Blue Mosque for the sunrise call to prayer but for some reason it didn’t happen per the online schedule we found.  Therefore, we were there before opening and had to loiter around waiting for it to open at 8 am.  I this made us a nice target for the rug salesmen – haha!

Here is a picture of outside the entry of the Blue Mosque before it opened for the day:

Here is a picture just inside the entry of the Blue Mosque.  Just past this entry, women must cover their head with a shawl and everyone takes of their shoes and carries them inside in a plastic bag that is provided.

Once inside the Blue Mosque, it was very large in size with very stout stone (marble?) pillars.  Honestly, it wasn’t as ornate with gold and jewels as I expected (compared to the various Christian cathedrals, Roman Catholic churches and Buddhist temples I’ve seen).

It also seemed like there was a lot of construction happening inside and out.  Perhaps they were taking advantage of the low tourism to fix things…

Here is a picture inside the Blue Mosque:

4) Hagia Sophia Mosque (Old City)

The Hagia Sophia originally was the largest Christian church of the Eastern Roman Empire and inspired the architecture of many other Turkish and Greek structures, including the nearby Blue Mosque.

After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman empire, Sultan Mehmet converted the Christian church to a Muslim mosque.  It remained a mosque until 1931 when it was closed for a few years and later re-opened as a museum.

In July 2020, Turkish officials decided to reclassify it as a mosque again which has caused some controversy amongst several different organizations, including UNESCO.

When we were there in Nov 2020, they were clearly working on removing or covering up all the Christian elements so much of the mosque was covered up and/or under construction.

Below is a picture of the Hagia Sophia with its 4 minarets taken from the plaza between it and the Blue Mosque:

Here is a picture more close-up of the outside of the Hagia Sophia:

We entered through the Southwest entrance to this mosaic we suspect they will be covering up soon:

Here is a picture of the sign below the mosaic describing it.  Basically, it is a mosaic of Mary sitting on a throne with baby Jesus in her lap, emperor Constantine on her left presenting her with the plans for the city and emperor Justinian I on her right presenting the plans for the Hagia Sophia.

Here are some pictures from inside the Hagia Sophia:

  

5) Pictures From the Old City

Here’s a picture taken right after we crossed the Galata Bridge to the Old City and looking back at the Galata Tower and the Beyoglu district.  The clouds look pretty cool too!

Here’s a picture of the Old City right after we crossed the Galata Bridge.  It was very cool to see a bustling city with gigantic mosques in the background:

One afternoon, we grabbed coffee and dessert on a rooftop restaurant in the Old City, hoping to hear the call to prayer.

We did.

Here’s the picture we took from the rooftop and you can see Galata Tower in the background across the Golden Horn:

Taken from the Old City, you can see all the fishermen lined up.  In this picture, you can see the Galata Tower in the background along with the Galata Bridge along the left that crosses the Golden Horn:

Here’s a picture of the Old City taken as we were crossing the Golden Horn Metro Bridge.  There are cool mosques all over the place here:

6) Pictures from the Beyoğlu District

Here’s a picture of the street we walked that goes between our apartment and the Galata Tower.  I took this picture as we were walking away from the Galata Tower and heading towards our apartment:

I liked all the Turkish flags that adorned the city near these government buildings:

Here’s the Golden Horn Metro Bridge taken from the Galata Bridge:

This is another picture of the Golden Horn Metro Bridge but this time from almost underneath it and looking back across the Golden Horn at the Old City:

Conclusion

It is unlikely we will go back to Istanbul.

We very much appreciated the history, affordability, and exceptional food but were disappointed by the language barrier in light of the tourist scams and aggressive sales tactics.

However, we want to go back to Turkey to explore the other areas such as the amazing beaches in Antalya, the caves and hot air balloons in Cappadocia, and thermal hot springs in Pamukkale.

I’d love to hear your questions or thoughts in the comments below.