Late night or early morning flights in my experience tend be just after midnight or at about 6:00 am. On this occasion though my flight from Amman (Jordan) to Istanbul in Turkey was right in the middle of that time zone.

The 3:15 am flight might have saved me on a night’s accommodation, but I did pay for it later on with tiredness inevitably kicking in a few times. Having found a hostel to stay I threw my bag in and headed straight out to the awe-inspiring Blue Mosque to begin my day of sightseeing just after 8:00 am. In hindsight that was probably a mistake but then again potentially sleeping for a few hours would’ve been a waste of my precious time in the city.

The exterior of Aya Sofya was next and then I discovered Topkapi Palace Museum was closed on Tuesdays. As a result, I hit the Bosphorus Strait on a boat which took a lot longer than I expected! I thought it was two hours return but it was actually nearer to being two hours one-way with close to a three hour stop at the end before the return.

The views were nice enough but there were far too many people on board. I fell asleep a couple of times and on arrival at Anadolou Kavagi I wandered through the cobblestoned streets and climbed up to Yoros Castle where I slept straight away before changing my spot and falling asleep again!

Still, it killed a bit of time and refreshed me in a place where there wasn’t that much to do other than eat in the many restaurants near the port. With my funds very low (my debit card had annoyingly been blocked) I couldn’t treat myself to a seafood lunch which the place is famous for. Instead, I went for a fish sandwich which sounds simple and it is but it’s actually a local delicacy in Istanbul and cheap too. I even had another one later on in the day!

After my Bosphorus cruise, I took a ferry over to Uskudar to get a much closer look at the Maiden’s Tower just off the coast which featured briefly in ‘The World Is Not Enough‘ (1999).

The Four Seasons Hotel was quite close to my much cheaper accommodation, and the site was once the infamous Sultanahmet jail depicted in ‘Midnight Express’ (1978). 

History has taught me that I’m not one to truly appreciate museums so on my second day I chose Topkapi Palace Museum over Aya Sofya. Both places were 20TL each to enter and I chose the former as I’m a fan of the 1964 film of the same name starring Peter Ustinov.

Accessing the museum was akin to airport security which is presumably to stop anyone trying to repeat the antics of that movie. My main goal was to see the Topkapi dagger which featured prominently in the film. Locating this part of the place wasn’t easy as no map is given to visitors with the entry ticket!

The afternoon was spent in Grand Bazaar. Even though I’m not such a big fan of shopping, it was by choice! I soon realised though that it wasn’t for me and decided to leave but it took me well over an hour to escape the place!

The Basilica Cistern was next and with temperatures reaching 35 degrees it was a nice cool break from the heat, and far more interesting than I thought it would be.

In ‘From Russia with Love‘ (1963) the cistern is situated under the Russian Consulate from which James Bond escapes. In reality it’s under the south-west part of Aya Sofya. An interesting point of note is that the columns in the north-west corner are supported by Medusa heads.

After spending some chill time around the harbour at Eminonu (where I bought one of the most disgusting drinks ever) I decided to brave the Spice Bazaar.

This place was full of colourful spices, dried fruit, Turkish delight, teas, soaps and so on, and to my amazement I actually found it very interesting and managed to pick up a few cheap souvenirs too.

A bit later on I got shat on by a bird which is supposedly a sign of luck though I’m not too sure I agree with that! That brought my short time in Istanbul to a rather negative end but I can only talk glowingly about almost everything that went on before that. The week in Jordan prior to Istanbul was always the main reason for this trip and Istanbul was basically just an extended transit tacked on the end as I didn’t want to waste the opportunity to see the city for a couple of days whilst I had the chance. Two nights in Turkey’s largest city really wasn’t much but it was better than nothing!

Click here to read ‘James Bond Filming Locations in Istanbul’

Click here to read ‘On Screen #2 – Istanbul’

Click here to read ‘My 1st Time in the Middle East Was Absolutely Epic’

Click here to read ’12 Hours in Qatar – Was It Enough Time to See All That Doha Offers?’

Click here to read ‘TF Top 10……Middle East Treats in Tokyo’