Istanbul: Ferry to Kadikoy, Rustem Pasa Mosque & Kilims

We awoke to beautiful sunny weather for our final day in Istanbul. It was our first day without a guide and now that Istanbul was becoming familiar, we decided to set off across the Bosphorus for a day in Asia. We’d had recommendations to take a trip to Kadikoy and it’s also where a restaurant […]

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Istanbul: Food Culture, Turkish Delight & Whirling Dervishes

Our guide for a tour of Istanbul’s food culture was Hasan. We were lucky when he arrived at our hotel to learn we were his only travellers for the day. A mini bus would take the four of us – including Hasan – across the Galata Bridge to the Asian side of Istanbul and our […]

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Istanbul: The Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia & the Grand Bazaar

The first day was full on with a guided tour to take us to the major classic sights of Istanbul. It was a perfect day: warm and sunny and a clear blue sky acting as a backdrop to the amazing architecture and towering minarets that dominate Istanbul’s skyline and is at once so familiar to […]

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Night-time Arrival in Istanbul.

I met George and Linda at Gatwick. We’d arrived early so we had time to eat in Jamie’s Italian in north terminal. Friends seem to be a bit worried about eating with me in Jamie’s since I wrote the review of his latest TV show but I was actually quite complimentary about this particular branch […]

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