Last updated on October 25, 2018
This was one of the most beautiful trips I have ever had the chance to experience!
The best part is it was spontaneous and with very little planning. The only thing we booked were the basics such as airplane tickets and hotels.
You know what, once upon a time…before I had kids… I used to buy travel books and research online for hours before going on a vacation about everything such as what to see, where to eat, what activities to do during that time, the festivals, the best views and so on.
Clearly if you are going somewhere far away that you might not visit again, then you really want to see the best of the best or the main attractions.
Well, this Summer we did not stop traveling, I had 3 big trips with only a few weeks or even only 1 week in between so needless to say, I kept everything to a minimum except for my meticulous planning on what to pack (such as putting outfits together to reduce the amount of stuff and buying mini travel size of my favourite products).
I actually wasn’t supposed to go to Tunisia, however my partner Kais had some family matters that he urgently needed to settle over there so he was going. My parents were in the area this Summer (they live across the country) so being the opportunist person he is, Kais suggested that I go with him and bring our baby girl and leave our 2 1/2 year old son with my parents (he loves being with them). I hesitated since I had never left my son. I felt incredibly guilty but thought that I rarely get this chance to have some quality time with my love away from our busy daily grind and work. So what started as a 1 week trip ended being a 17 day 3 continent-3 country mega trip!!
How I am living my best life.
Simply put, with the help of my partner we jump at every opportunity we have to do what we love. Why save for a rainy day when we can never be certain what tomorrow will bring. We have our health, our kids, our love, our legs, our breath, our eyes, our sense of smell, this is the time to do what our heart desires and jump into that open door when it opens! See some of our other travel destinations here. So let’s get started with my post about the most beautiful and friendly city I have ever visited…
ISTANBUL – One of the greatest cities in the world
where the West (Europe) meets the East (Asia).
A special thank you to Ugur from Istanbul Portraits for taking these photos of us during our stay in Istanbul. It is such a great way to remember our trip together.
Istanbul is a city I have had on my bucket list for years since I found it culturally different and beautiful. In Istanbul, most people can understand either some english, Arabic or Russian. Istanbul is one of the most visited cities in the world next to Paris, Hong Kong, Dubai, New York, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, London to only name a few of the 2017 most visited cities. Kais did most of the talking in what he knew of Arabic and if they did not understand I spoke English.
We stayed in the heart of the city, the Old Town which was walking distance to all of the main tourist attractions such as the Blue Mosque, the Bosphorus Cruise, the Hagia Sophia (a beautiful church turned mosque turned museum) and most importantly the Grand Bazaar!!! While this city basically has a mosque every few street, the culture is very open to non-muslims and most people dress casually.
While most of the main attractions were open but in full restoration mode such as the Blue Mosque and the Topkapi Palace, we did not get to see much. These places did not accept strollers inside and we had left our baby carrier at the hotel that day thinking we could use the stroller (we bought a stroller here because it was so hot and hills everywhere that Daphne, Kais and I were sweating like crazy carrying her) so we only did a quick walk around and left. The most beautiful views of the city we saw were at the Suleymaniye Mosque near our hotel which had very few tourists, was hidden among the streets and seemed under the radar from every other one. This mosque known as the Magnificent, it is one of the biggest Mosque in the city and was built by the famous and talented imperial architect Sinan.
I felt at ease and very comfortable walking in this new city which resembles quite a bit to San Francisco. The street cars are everywhere and the metro is very accessible, easy to use and even technologically more advanced then most of our cities in Canada. The only part that we disliked was taking a taxi. The taxi drivers tried to make you pay much more once at destination and during peak hour (after work, during traffic) none of the taxi drivers accepted to take us back to our hotel with our baby in 30+degrees which was a 40 minutes walk uphill! I loved the exercise but still could not believe that the taxi drivers had the ability to choose their customers and not the other way around. For example, once we manage to find an empty taxi, we would tell him the address (about 5-7 minutes by car), which he would laugh at us, refuse or simply just continue driving while we thought that he was waiting for us to get in. If you thought getting a taxi in NYC is difficult, well at least they don’t tell you no once you find one.
Let’s talk about the shopping and the food.
Forget plastic cups to go, Turks sit to drink their turkish espresso in the most beautiful cups…similar to what most of us would only use for special guests or birthdays. Even if it basically takes less then 5 sips to finish a cup, at least you take the time to enjoy coffee break instead of rushing to the next place with it.
Fresh!
What I really loved during the day was the fresh squeezed orange and pomegranate juices. Oh my goodness, it is ripe, dark and stronger then accepted. Nevertheless, it was easier to find a shop with a juice machine then to find manufactured bottled juices to go. Even our little boat cruise on the Bosphore river had a juice machine. You eat for cheap but you eat very well in Istanbul. The food is flavourful and the portions are normal.
Due to the current unstable economy in Istanbul, the cost is extremely low (if not cheap) for us in North America. Being a Canadian, this was particularly great! We ate incredibly well, like kings and queens (2 drinks, 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and 2 dessert with tea or coffee) for about $30 dollars sometimes less. Lets not even talk about the shopping which I thought was even better then New York to find one of a kind, infinite selections of quality cotton based clothing all made in Turkey at very great prices. Since I hadn’t done my research prior to leaving, I didn’t realize that this city was a major shopping destination. Even in our hotel there were dozens of international buyers and retail buyers that shopped in bulk to sell at various shops around the world. Although, the sizing is more european then American, I had to buy XL in clothing as the fit was quite small.
Earrings were bought at the Haydar boutique located in the Grand Bazaar.
The shopping was infinite!
This is the place to shop for anything jewelry, gold, silver, semi-precious stones, silk, cotton, engagement rings at 1/3 of the cost! Cotton clothing, pyjamas stores galore and leather goods especially oh so soft leather jackets in every possible color, wow, wow, wow! I even bought a few pairs of colorful all leather shoes that were on sale for $30….what?
The funny thing is that everyone buys soo much stuff that every street has a luggage store for emergencies, hahaha, I thought this was really funny and smart. In the end, we had to buy a suitcase like everyone else because we found so many good deals and beautiful things! Kais and I promised to come back one day to visit more of Turkey, while I also really want to come back for the amazing jewelery shopping! wink wink
Living in a society where everyone is too busy, too tired, working too much, Istanbul was a breath of fresh air. People took the time to talk to you like you were a friend, every store, every cafe, every restaurant, the men and women came over to talk to our 6 month old daughter. They made room, they had a baby seat, they brought me a blanket to cover her when it was windy, they offered to hold her so we could eat our meal (which I accepted after a few days of our arrival being that they were extremely friendly and kind people). I always say, if you make me feel welcomed with my kids then I will be a loyal customer. Some waiters would even hold my chair until I was seated and most importantly they would smile. Not that “I smile because I want a better tip” or “I smile because I have to”. They do not have tips but I felt like they were happy and happy to be working. I felt safe and at home. Like I was just in another city not that far away.
What was heartbreaking for me was losing my camera our 2nd day in Istanbul. I usually don’t get attach to things but when you are traveling you want to take great photos. Especially since i have a blog and taking photos have become part of my weekly tasks. So when I forgot it on a bench while I was breastfeeding in a rush yet trying to modestly cover my chest and Daphne was crying like crazy. I did not take the time to put my camera back in the bag. I had it next to me and since we were in a guided tour and we were wayyyyy behind by now, I did not even think about the camera and left. It was only 1 hour later when I stopped to take a picture that I panicked. I finally went back but it was nowhere to be found by that time. Honestly, I wanted to cry and it took me about 2 days to just accept that I would use my iPhone to take photos for the next 10 days of our trip and that I had lost the pictures from our previous days.
I still haven’t bought another camera, but since I cannot function properly without one for this blog, I will soon enough.
So yes, traveling has it’s ups and downs and this place has become a favorite destination. While we Canadians need a visa to travel to Turkey, which is about $120, it was well worth every penny!
I have my iPhone photos of specific places we visited. I might post them soon, if you are interested to see the city.
Thank you for following.
Color your style, color your food, color your life!
Christiane xxx