On Sunday we woke at a leisurely pace. The group staying together at the rental agreed we would have brunch, and we were recommended a place called Emirgan Sütis, in our Sarıyer neighbourhood. It was about a 20-minute walk away, but, as a group of 8, it took about double that to get a table together on the terrace – the host was surprisingly reluctant to sit us as two groups of 4, or inside.
Our Turkish bride, Çağla, has introduced us to Turkish brunch, so we ordered a full breakfast spread. There’s floured cheese, which is excellent for dipping, simit to do said dipping, and many meats, alongside vegetables, sweet spreads, and, of course, Turkish tea! There wasn’t enough space on the table to hold it all, it felt like.
After finishing our meal, we ambled along the shore of the Bosphorus, observing locals fishing on its edge. There was a cat playing with a sardine-sized fish, which was cute, until it ripped the fish’s head off – Istanbul takes good care of strays, with water dishes out in most neighbourhoods. We’d finally felt like we’d walked off enough of the food and ordered an Uber to the Blue Mosque in Eminönü.
Unfortunately, traffic was bad, so we didn’t make it quite to our original drop-off point, but we were also late. By the time we arrived at the compound walls, prayer time had started, so we could not enter. Aimee, Cecilia and Yaz, who had joined us with Chase, took the opportunity to buy scarves. We wandered around the area, looking around the courtyard in front of the Hagia Sophia as well. Some of us got ice cream, and sat by the fountain to eat it.
Finally, prayer time finished, so we could enter the mosque, which is free to visit. We all had to cover our shoulders and knees, and the women also needed to cover their hair. Anyone caught out was lent modesty items – scarves for the hair and shoulders, and a skirt for the legs. We also had to take off our shoes. There were shelves at the back to store them in if we didn’t want to carry them around the mosque.
It’s an architectural marvel, exemplifying the type of mosque that is prominent around Istanbul, with flatter domes and many minarets. The section for women to pray is at the back of the mosque, while men pray at the front. Tourists mill about between the two sections.
Once we exited the Blue Mosque, most of us headed over to the entrance of the Basilica Cisterns. The queue for this had been very busy while we were eating ice cream. However, like many places, they took an hour-long afternoon break. As a consequence, the queue had died down considerably.
The cisterns had supplied the city with clean water over centuries. While you can see the watermarks on its columns, showing how high they would be filled in the past, now, the water level is so low you can see the stones of the floor quite easily. Many people leave coins, so don’t be tempted to drink the water – it’s not as good as it used to be. There are also pieces of art exhibited within, making it an atmospheric sight to see.
Afterwards we were getting quite hungry, but we were also short on time, as tonight we would be meeting up with the bride and groom, Çağla and Ali, on the Asian side for a drink, as it would have been time for the wedding celebration. Looking at our options, we decided to use public transport.
We took the Marmaray from Sırkecı to Ayrılık Çeşmesi. We changed there onto the Metro to Kadıköy. We used the Istanbulkart for the Marmaray, which can be used by multiple people in the same group, so long as it has enough credit. We weren’t good at figuring out how much credit it needed, so were grateful that the Metro uses contactless payment.
Finally we arrived at Kimyon, one of Çağla’s recommendations for dinner near the bar where we would meet. She described it as a great place for after a night out, to soak up the drinks. It did very nicely for beforehand too – I had a wrap, and tried turnip juice, which was meant to be spicy (I didn’t think it was).
Ali and Çağla saw that we had arrived for dinner, so joined us shortly, and soon Sam, Chase and Yaz joined us as well, to have dinner after some time in the pub instead of the cisterns. When we were done, we headed across the road to Arka Oda, which looked inconspicuous from the outside.
It’s a great venue for a drink with friends, with an upstairs and downstairs area. The bar is on the ground floor, right by the door, and had a novel system of ordering the drink with someone manning the register, who would pass a ticket to the bar staff for your order, akin to a restaurant. There is also a balcony, which faces a residential area, for easy fresh air. The music was never too loud for a conversation, and the lighting dimmed throughout the evening to acclimatise you to nightfall.
It was fun to see the couple, though we kept things tamer to not hinder Çağla’s recovery from surgery. Some of us had hoped to have a post-drinks McDonalds, but unfortunately it was closed, so we headed to an S&R Döner instead. Finally we headed home in the customary Uber.
Costs to date:
- Brunch: £21.25
- Uber to Blue Mosque: £4.08
- Basilica cisterns: £17.70
- Public transport to Kadıköy: £4.47
- Dinner: £10.83
- Drinks: £11.89 (I stayed non-alcoholic at Arka Oda, and mostly had lemonade)
- Uber home: £2.60
Total: £72.82
As a reminder, our previous total was £293.53, so our running total is £366.35
The NESSENTIALS 
Leave a comment