What a day! After a breezy 2.5-hour ferry ride, I docked at Yenikapı and hit the ground running, determined to squeeze every last drop out of Istanbul before my 3:30 pm return.
My little adventure followed this route: Yenikapı Port → Seaside Path → Kumkapı → Laleli → Grand Bazaar.
First impression? Istanbul is spotless. Honestly, I kept double-checking I was in a major city because it’s that organised. There’s a street for everything — a restaurant street, a kids’ retail street, even entire lanes dedicated to gold and silver shops. It’s like urban planning with a side of sparkle.
Lunch was a highlight: the most perfectly grilled salmon I’ve had in ages. Then came the Grand Bazaar, which was… a lot. Beautiful, historic, and utterly overwhelming — but expected when Christmas is around the corner. Entering through the iconic archway, I was met with a sea of gold shops, shining under painted, palace-worthy ceilings.The historic mosques were open to the public, calm and welcoming. And interestingly, I didn’t see any homelessness nor did I get pestered into buying things at every corner — bliss!
A favourite moment: an elderly man weaving through the crowd with a giant copper kettle in one hand and a tube of tiny cups in the other, selling Turkish tea to eager customers. He was nonstop!
And a charming custom I noticed — every time someone on the ferry opened a snack, they offered it to everyone around them. Biscuits, chips, gum… didn’t matter. It was shared. Such a simple but heartfelt gesture.
I’ll definitely return to Istanbul — but maybe once the New Year rolls in and the crowds calm down a little!
