As we travel more, we begin to appreciate that the journey is often more rewarding than the destination. When you pick a destination, you already have some kind of expectation of the place. However, the journey there is often full of surprises.
We decided to walk to Ortaköy today to check out the Ortaköy Mosque under the Bosphorus bridge that crosses over to the Asian side.
Since we got a late start this morning, we decided to eat lunch in the Karaköy area first.
One thing I want to mention is that pilaf in Turkey is heavenly, and this comes from a person who doesn’t like rice.
After getting sustenance into our system, we were ready for the hour and a half march to Ortaköy along Meclis-I Mebusan Caddesi. However, we were not ready for all the beautiful mosque domes, and more, that awaited us along the way.
Prior to our walk, I saw a pin on Google maps for Rainbow Stairs, so I was on the lookout for that. However, what I didn’t expect to see was this…
We finally made it to Ortaköy Mosque, but coincided with call to prayer, which meant we couldn’t enter the mosque for half an hour during prayer time.
So we ducked into a cafe for a Turkish coffee and rice pudding break, while marveling at all the Instagram influencers painstakingly posing for that perfect shot that might earn them followers, likes, and millions.
Ortaköy is known for their kumpir, which is a baked potato mashed with butter, and loaded with stuff you pick like olives, sausages, mushrooms, corn, peas, cabbage, etc.
I had wanted to try it, but knew that I’d regret it later because…
Just looking at that loaded baked potato made me want to walk it off.
Here’s an interesting thing we noticed on our walk back. Instead of telling you how far you are from a sight, signs in Istanbul tell you how long it’ll take you to get there. This is quite interesting, because it doesn’t tell you how fast you must walk. So we tested it out.
Today’s total was $17.
FIRE'd @ 47 