Turkish Delight
"Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul not Constantinople"
♫
Ever since I first saw the yummy looking sweet called 'Turkish delight' in the movie Narnia, I had always wanted to try it. But being an extra kind of person that I am, I needed to try it only in Turkey. And well, I finally did it. I tried Turkish delight in Turkey!
I went on this trip with my 2 girl friends in May. It was during ramadan but everything was opened during the day and it didn't affect our trip at all. We spent 2 days in Istanbul and 3 days in Cappadocia. Both cities are very different - Istanbul is very traditional and unique with its many mosques and markets in the old town, while Cappadocia is more laidback and offers beautiful landscape, perfect for nature lover.
We arrived at our hotel around late afternoon. We stayed right by Taksim Square which is the city center. The metro station is less than 5-minute walk from the hotel and it's located on the main shopping street as well. We dropped our bags, changed and went out to explore the city right away.
We walked along the main street until we reached Galata Tower and then onto Karakoy. It is a nice little area by the water with many shops and restaurants nearby, good for evening strolls. We then had dinner in a restaurant near Galata Tower. The food was so good! We finished off our evening with some Profiteroles covered in Chocolate. Yum.
The next day our plan was to explore the old town. We took a tram there and once we reached the old town, we just walked around the whole area because all the attractions are all close together. We started at Sultan Ahmed Mosque or Blue Mosque as we tourists know it.
Next we went to Hagia Sophia. This was the place I wanted to see the most in Istanbul. Having studied about it in uni, I was so excited to see it in real life. I was not disappointed because it is beautiful! and to think that I was at the place that's filled with so much history was just amazing.
After that we went to have lunch with a view at Seven Hills Restaurant. It's a rooftop restaurant with great views of Hagia Sophia and Blue mosque. The food was not too overpriced and there was no queue, but of course everyone wanted to sit right by the terrace to take pictures.
The spice market, on the other hand, is much smaller and almost every shop sells the same things - tea and Turkish delight. lol. Naturally, all of us got shit tons of Turkish delight as a souvenir for our friends and family.
That evening it was time to leave Istanbul. Our journey continues to Cappadocia!
We stayed in one of the cave hotels named Mithra Cave Hotel. It was the best decision ever because while we were checking in, the staff brought out FOUR PUPPIES for us to hold and basically let us hold them while they were showing us around the hotel too. I honestly felt like I won a million dollars lol nothing makes me happier than dogs. I love them to bits.
The staffs were so great too! They were super friendly and ready to help us with anything we needed. Extra points for letting me play with the pups anytime too! haha
I spent more time in the lobby than in my own room
mama tired from feeding all day
Unfortunately I did not take a picture of our room, or the hotel at all since I was so busy obsessing over those puppies. Our room was huge. It has double bed and one extra foldable bed (which was not that comfortable but could be worse), a fireplace, and a bathtub which is excluded from the bathroom itself. Most cave hotels don't have AC though so just keep that in mind if you want to visit during summer. I can imagine it being quite unpleasant.
hey I did take a picture of where we had breakfast
We had booked the Red Tour for the next day. The tour is from 9am until 5pm and is led by a local guide, together with 10-12 people (one van, basically).
First stop was Uchisar Castle.
The landscape in Cappadocia is beautiful. To tell the truth, all the places you go you will probably see the same looking caves and rocks, but it's still so amazing to see because they are so unique!
This next one was my favorite of the day! Goreme open air museum. This museum holds some cave churches that have beautiful paintings from the Middle Ages inside.
We are not allowed to take any pictures inside the churches but the paintings are amazing. It's so unbelievable that they were painted over a thousand years ago. The details are incredible.
After that we also stopped at a pottery shop and a carpet manufacturer. We sat through various of carpets demonstration while sipping on our complimentary drink of choice.
The genuine Turkish carpet is so expensive! I had my eyes on one of them until I found out that it was $1,900! It was just not meant to be lol
Then we made a couple more stops before getting back to the hotel. We chose to spend the evening relaxing at the hotel bar with some drinks and shisha (which was sooo good!).
We had to wake up at 3am the next morning for the pick up for our hot air balloon ride! We paid a lot of money for that 1-hour ride but seeing the effort and process of getting those balloons up in the air, I say just give them the money.
The view was incredible and the whole experience was well worth the cost. When we were back on ground, we each got a glass of complimentary champaign to celebrate!
If I could do one thing differently, I would have gone for a balloon that took off earlier that ours did. We took off at 6am and by the time we were in the air, most of the balloons were back on ground already. So we missed the opportunity for that 'sky full of balloons' kind of picture.
When that was done, we of course went back to bed immediately lol. We got up again around late afternoon, ready for our next activity - Sunset horse riding!
I was a little nervous, that being the first time I ever rode a horse on my own, but it was pretty easy once you get the hang of it. So all beginners, fear not. If I can do it, you can too.
that helmet makes it look like I'm riding off to fight the war
It was surprisingly so much fun! We rode through some valleys that I honestly can't remember the names of but were beautiful. The sunset also added just the perfect touch to the whole experience. I would highly recommend anyone to do it!
Our last day in Cappadocia, we woke up early again to take the famous balloon shot from our hotel balcony. The hotel set up a table with some food as a prop for everyone to use. I recommend you to practice your picture angle beforehand and tell your photographer exactly how you want your picture because you only get a few minutes to get the perfect shot since everyone will be waiting for their turn too.
I will leave this post here with a bonus picture of this cutie pie. How can anyone not love that face?
safe travels! x
