Istanbul, Turkey

After an incredible wedding celebration in Calistoga, G and I kicked off our epic two-week honeymoon adventure on July 3rd with a flight to Istanbul. 

Given we had been busy with all things wedding planning, we hired a travel agency to help with the honeymoon planning (we used JetSet World Travel based on a recommendation and were matched with Nicole Patterson - both JetSet and Nicole were amazing and we were shocked with how affordable the experience was given how much easier it made our planning. Highly recommend!) 

Our trip path would be: Sacramento -> Istanbul, Turkey -> Cappadocia, Turkey -> Santorini, Greece -> Mykonis, Greece -> Sacramento. 

 

(G and I outside the Hague Sofia Mosque, Istanbul)

After flying Sacramento to Salt Lake City to Amsterdam to Istanbul, we finally arrived at our hotel - the Shangri-La Bosphorus. This place was pure luxury and a welcome site after so many hours of travel.

our bed at the Shangri-La might have been the biggest bed we've ever slept in

I mean seriously look at this bed?!

Our travel agent had helped us secure a private couple's hammam experience (which was in the hotel) just a few hours after we checked in. I can't tell you how happy we were to have done this. While a couple's hammam isn't exactly the traditional hammam experience (which takes place at a more public bathhouse with women and men separated), doing it this way was perfect for us especially after so many hours of traveling.

After about an hour or so to chill, change, and unwind we took the elevator to the Shangri-la Bosphorus spa where we were warmy greeted and taken to our changing room. The instructions were slightly unclear but what we gathered is we were supposed to change out of our clothes and into these small underwear type things. They left us to change and told us to meet them in the spa room (the spa room was gorgeous by the way - the entire room was marble including where we'd lay side by side as they bathed, washed, and massaged us).

the spa room

G quickly changed into his "special undies" (think granny panties) but I found myself a bit more confused as to what I was to change into. Their appeared to be an additional pair of granny panties as well as a very small sumo-wrestler style G string apparatus. I tried on the latter and felt pretty exposed so I opted to just wear the granny panty and assumed I was to go topless.

G rocking his provided hammam undies

When we walked out to our two lady masseuse's, they started cackling with laughter. I asked if I did it wrong and they said it was ok. I realized later that the G-string I was confused by was meant to be a bandeau bra. Whoops!

The sumo-wrestler style g-string that was actually a bandeau bra

The one-hour hammam experience was seriously the best thing ever. They washed our bodies, washed our hair, exfoliated us, massaged us. It was seriously heavenly. Afterwards, we had the opportunity to chill in a private room and drink some tea and "ayran" a traditional yogurt drink (I didn't love the yogurt drink, which reminded me of doogh, but G - who loves doogh- was a fan. I enjoyed the tea though).

G enjoying his ayran in the post-hammam chill room

After, I can say that my skin and hair has never felt so soft - and we smelled so good and were so incredibly relaxed. We felt totally rejuvenated and it also really helped with any jet leg as after a delicious dinner at the hotel, we went to bed at a normal hour and woke up the next day on Turkey time.

Happy me post-hammam. I really wish they had Hammam's in Sacramento

The next morning we woke up and went down for breakfast. The breakfast at the Shangri-La Bosphorus did not disappoint - wow. They had an incredible buffet with everything fresh and delicious. It was honestly overwhelming.

The most massive honeycomb I've ever seen

After grabbing some things from the buffet, we got to sit overlooking the Bosphorus while the croissant maker guy came over with his cart filled with fresh croissants and all sorts of goodies to put inside them. We went for the fresh pistachio creme and fresh cut strawberries.

Enjoying our breakfast on the Bosphorus, including the delicious Turkish coffee.

After breakfast, we headed to the lobby to meet our tour-guide Hakan for a private "best of Istanbul" tour that had been set up by our travel agency ("guided Istanbul tours" was the tour operator). I made sure to wear a long skirt and tennis shoes, as well as brought a long sleeve shirt and a headscarf with me as we'd need it for some of the stops for me to be able to enter.

After connecting with Hasan, the three of us jumped in the cheapest cab ever before taking the rest of the tour predominantly on foot. Highlights of the tour would include the Hagia Sophia, Hioopodrome Square, the German Fountain, the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern, Topkapi Palace, and the Grand Bazaar. Having Hakan with us was so great as he helped explain not only the history of each place, but a lot of fun facts about the sites and life in Istanbul.

us outside the Blue Mosque

Learning about the history of the Hagia Sofia was especially interesting (it was first built as a church, and was a church for 10 centuries before being converted into a mosque for 5 centuries before becoming a museum and then a mosque again). A truly beautiful place!

Inside the beautiful Hagia Sofia, Istanbul

The Basilica Cistern was also a wild place. It's a massive underground water reservoir built by the Romans in the 6th century that lies directly under the city. The entire place looks like an underground palace and is really quite the site to see.

Inside the Basilica Cistern

The Grand Bazaar was also a neat see, though we didn't do too much shopping outside of buying some turkish delight and a shawl (it was admittedly a little overwhelming). Our guide Hakan also took us to a traditional Turkish making carpet shop where we witnessed a woman weaving the carpet and got taken to a special room for a carpet sales pitch. While we opted not to purchase a carpet, it was really interesting learning about how the Turkish government subsidizes these carpet makers to keep the dying art alive and about the double stitches that make Turkish rugs unique and especially durable.

A woman weaving a Turkish rug - this small rug will take months to complete

After several hours of site seeing, our tour with Hakan had come to a close. After being a bit challenged to find a cab, we shared with Hakan we had no issue with public transport (apparently some of his previous American tourists had wanted to avoid public transport at all costs). He helped us find the local tram and after some big thank you's and a tip, we were on our own again!

Us and our awesome tour guide Hakan

Us riding the local tram - a great experience!

Back at the hotel, they were hosting an afternoon tea experience. Obviously, we decided to partake.

Afternoon tea at the Shangri La Bosphorus

Delicious nibbles and Turkish tea at the afternoon tea experience at Shangri La Bosphorus

We had a light dinner that evening before getting ready for our early flight to Cappadocia. We weren't in Istanbul long (under 36 hours), but we packed a lot in.

My quick takeaways: there is so much history here, prices are very reasonable, people are very friendly, and I had no idea I would love Turkish food so much!

Leg 1 of Laine & G’s epic honeymoon adventure = huge success!