Istanbul, Turkey Day 2

Istanbul, Turkey (Day 2) -- March 3, 2015

The weather on our second day in Istanbul turned out not in our favor. It was cloudy and a bit chilly to start with as we got up in the morning. After another scrumptious breakfast, we left the ship at 9:30 ready for another adventurous day in Istanbul.

Cruise terminal on the right, as we head out to the exit.

Now the terminal building is on the left hand side.

Walk straight through the gate to the right will get you to Findikli station.

Looking back at the gate and the terminal.

Findikli Tram Station. The token machine is on the right end of the station.

This morning, instead of taking the tram, we walked up to Taksim Square across the street between those two buildings. A very steep street right by the Nixon Borohorus Hotel. This is not for people with mobility issues. I believe there is a funicular that goes up if you take the tram to the Kabatas direction. As for ourselves, we just took it leisurely as we walked through this local neighborhood .

We did not climb those stairs.

Definitely an uphill climb all the way.

Taksim Square at the top of our walk.

This is the newer part of the city and we have heard about it on the news many times.

Most protests and demonstrations took place here, I believe.

Fresh local pretzels, 1TL each.

A passerby kindly pointed out to us that the main shopping street is over here.

That's the park that they planned on tearing down which caused the huge protests, I was told.

We just sat up there at the park near the Metro exit and people watched for a while.

Old historical trolley

Main shopping street--we later found out that this can lead to Galata Tower.

Apparently ChC did some research and told us this is the original local burger joint.

Of course, he had to try it, twice! I am not a wet burger person and I was still full from breakfast, so I passed.

Hmmm....

OK, that's how they got their roasted meat!

Everything looked delicious!

Oh my, so tempting!

Then we backtrack down to Findikli station. If we ever come back, I would try taking the funicular up and walk over to Galata Tower instead. 

Don't know what it means.

Elementary School

Back to the tram station.

Waiting for the next tram at Findikli.

This time we got seats.

It started to drizzle.

Tram station near the Galata Bridge.

The tram station at the New Mosque and Spice Maret.

A line was already forming at the entrance of the Cistern Basilica but it didn't take long to get through. Ticket was 20TL each.

It was dark, wet, and crowded in there but quite interesting.

Fish in the water.

The cafe inside the Cistern.

After getting out from the Cistern, we needed to find a restroom and we noticed from the day before that there was one in front of the Higia Sophia.

A clean, well-kept restroom for 1 TL.

The restroom was on the left of this picture going down a few steps.

Then we followed along the track and walked down to Spice Market passing the exit of the Cistern again.

Some restaurants have bread-making demonstration next to their windows.

Colorful treats

Only if I am not diabetic...

We made it to the New Mosque next to Spice Market in the drizzle.

People washing up outside the mosque to get ready for prayers.

I believe restrooms are down the escalators right next to Spice Market.

Spice Market entrance

We bought a couple kilos of Turkish Delights here where they vacuum-pack your pick right there instead of selling the prepackaged ones. This store has excellent reviews online.

By now, the Spice Market was filled with people because it was raining quite heavily outside so everybody else came inside to stay away from the rain. As it didn't look like the rain will stop any time soon, we braved the rain and ran across to the fish sandwich place next to Galata Bridge.

It was very crowded at the sandwich place and the seating was quite awkward. It was very difficult to sit in those tiny stools but the place was packed with locals enjoying their sandwiches.

I must say that I am not a fan of the 6TL mackerel sandwich. Mine was quite bony.

One of the fish sandwich boats.

We then walked through the lower level of Galata Bridge since it was still raining and noticed the restaurants there all selling the fish sandwich for the same price. They have much better seating with comfortable chairs and tables. I wonder why they are not as popular as the sandwich boats?! Do they have a cover charge or something?

Notice the fishing rods sticking out on the top level of the bridge.

We thought it was a good time to get back on board the Jade since it was still raining. There is a tram station right near the bridge so we caught the next tram back to Findikli and the cruise terminal. We were happy that we covered what we wanted in Istanbul in the two days here but we will surely return if there is a chance for more.

Back on the Jade, we enjoyed a late lunch at the buffet and then had a relaxing afternoon in our cabin. 

Before dinner we went up to Spinnaker to have the last glimpse of Istanbul as we sail away.

Seemed a little quiet at the Grand Pacific that evening.

We shall have another day at sea tomorrow.