In the old city of Constantinople, it’s all about the view. The government knows it and for many years now has wisely restricted the height of buildings to six stories. This means that you’ll likely find a restaurant, bar, lounge, or tea room on the roof, either open air, or partly covered. Mature travelers with issues around stairs beware; with some exceptions, it will always be a walk-up. An elevator would mean the roof is actually a seventh story and therefore not in compliance.
So the thing to do in Istanbul is to find yourself a rooftop and just hang out there. Why not? Within five km of the oldest part of the city’s ancient center called the Golden Horn, there are dozens of grand mosques. There's the great Blue Mosque, the equally splendid Aga Sophia, and multiply all of that by 4 minarets a piece (but six for the Blue Mosque because it’s special), then from any single roof top, the urban landscape unfolds like a painting by a grand master.
A backdrop to this city view is the Marmoret Sea in which the distant Prince’s islands hover like phantoms on the blue horizon. Iron boats gather in the bay making their way towards the Bosphorus, all part of the eye candy for travellers.
So in Istanbul, I learned to build in a little extra time for things like tea on the roof. After all, I needed time to consider all points of view.
On Location:
Dan and I spent four comfortable, quiet nights at the Best Western President Hotel in Istanbul. Its rooftop restaurant overlooks the water so the view here is not the mosques, rather, the yachts and big ships moving through the bay. It’s situated on the edge of the historic center, quiet because of that fact, but it’s still convenient to everything. A five minute walk downhill will get you to meyhanes, a series of open-air tavern restaurants bustling and alive to the early hours of the night. A block or two the other way, takes you to the electric tram that travels through the heart of the old town, stopping at the ferry terminal for any of your Bosphorus Sea boats, and across the bridge to the palace.
So the thing to do in Istanbul is to find yourself a rooftop and just hang out there. Why not? Within five km of the oldest part of the city’s ancient center called the Golden Horn, there are dozens of grand mosques. There's the great Blue Mosque, the equally splendid Aga Sophia, and multiply all of that by 4 minarets a piece (but six for the Blue Mosque because it’s special), then from any single roof top, the urban landscape unfolds like a painting by a grand master.A backdrop to this city view is the Marmoret Sea in which the distant Prince’s islands hover like phantoms on the blue horizon. Iron boats gather in the bay making their way towards the Bosphorus, all part of the eye candy for travellers.
So in Istanbul, I learned to build in a little extra time for things like tea on the roof. After all, I needed time to consider all points of view.
On Location:
Dan and I spent four comfortable, quiet nights at the Best Western President Hotel in Istanbul. Its rooftop restaurant overlooks the water so the view here is not the mosques, rather, the yachts and big ships moving through the bay. It’s situated on the edge of the historic center, quiet because of that fact, but it’s still convenient to everything. A five minute walk downhill will get you to meyhanes, a series of open-air tavern restaurants bustling and alive to the early hours of the night. A block or two the other way, takes you to the electric tram that travels through the heart of the old town, stopping at the ferry terminal for any of your Bosphorus Sea boats, and across the bridge to the palace.
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