Day 89/90: Rest & Taksim Square Istanbul

We landed in Istanbul at 2:30AM and caught a cab to our hotel. The skyscrapers were lit up in rainbow colors and it reminded us of Hong Kong in both Godzilla and Pacific Rim. We let our hotel know ahead of time that we would arrive around 3:30am and got nervous after they didn’t answer the door for 30 mins. Luckily a local neighbor got the security guard and we finally checked in at 5:30. Kieran didn’t feel well again so day 89 became de facto rest day.

Next day we walked around the Taksim square neighborhood, viewing the various mosques, water promenade, and huge shopping district (similar to Times Square). It was the end of Ramadan (Eid al-Fitr) which is celebrated by buying new clothes so the streets were super crowded. We took the metro to our next hotel stay and decided to eat local, which actually was an Uzbekistanian neighborhood. The food was delicious, but the restaurant owners and customers definitely kept looking at us and asked us where we were from (more like, “what the hell are you doing here ya weirdos”)

Hotel: Taksim Cool Suits

Restaurants:
Susam Cafe
Özbegim Milliy Taomları

Food:
Cucumber Mint Drink
Bazalama Bread with Egg, Pastrami
Turkish Ravioli
Doner wrap
Pilavi
Summer Salad
Chuchvara Soup

Spots:
Taksim Square
Galataport Promenade
Nusretiye Mosque
Galata TowerRead more