My trip to Istanbul, day 1
So... After almost a year of hard work I decided to go to the Turkey, Istanbul with my mom. Took a train to Moscow, a 5-hour flight - and I am in my favorite (at least, for now) city in the world!
In order to get to the hotel in Kadikoy, I had to use Havabus (well, a bus). Took quite a few time - almost 3 hours to get to the destination (traffic jams are real, just like in Moscow, lol). After that, we went to the hotel and went to sleep.
On our first day, we decided to get to the Anatolian side. We had no strict plan - I wanted to wander (almost) aimlessly and take pictures.
After Suleymaniye Mosque, we wandered in nearby district. Found no landmarks to speak of, just ordinary city life. Coffee shops, street food, even a police academy (not entirely sure, sorry), also an old temple (built in XII century, no less) with old Byzantine-era mosaic. We took a small rest on the stairs of said temple and left to the Grand Bazaar.
Our visit to the Grand Bazaar was disappointing. It's crowded, full of overpriced shoups, made only for tourists. I was searching Iznik tiles, so... 70USD for a single big tile (15cm x 15cm), quartz base. Yikes. We took road down to the sea, made a short rest in a park near Little Hagia Sophia. It's a lovely, quiet place. After the rest, we went to the ferry and took the ride home.
I also seen a pair of tourists with Leica rangefinder cameras, and was quite surprised - these are REALLY expensive, luxury items (for me, at least) - I prefer Minolta, both SLRs & Minolta CL/CLE (never had one though). 😸