Boys Trip to Istanbul

So I had a few weeks off in between jobs as I left Thomson Reuters for Bloomberg and got the oh-so-sweet 1 month mandatory paid leave. During my first week of pure laziness it occured to me that I should probably use my time to travel somewhere I may never get to again. I called my buddy Jorge, who was also between jobs as he is moving to Malaysia in a month, and proposed a trip to Istanbul. Totally random, yes, but a good idea nonetheless. We booked cheap flights and 2 star lodging and were on our way with visions of baaklava dancing in our heads.

We were there for a week and planned our time wisely, focusing on a few priority attractions: the bazaar, Turkish bath/massage, mosques/churches and of course the nightlife. Our first few nights we blindly made our way through town, meeting locals both friendly and shady. We tried the national liquor called Raki, which amazingly turns from clear to milky white when you add water. Unfortunately it tastes like black licorice mixed with 87 octane so I only had one. One highlight was finding a hookah bar and pretending we were locals while puffing some watermelon flavored baccy.

The mosques in Istanbul dominate the scenery and are really feats of architecture. As you can see, they are even more impressive at night.
Midweek we decided to take to the seas and take a ride on a ferry down the Bosphorus, which connects the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. It was super windy and rough, but still cool to check out the coastline and get a different perspective of the area. Also cool was seeing the Queen Victoria cruiseship (behind me below) for the second time (see our Venice post). Seems I can't get away from her majesty, pretty cool to see again.
Our last night was definitely the highlight of the trip, as we ventured to the top of famed and ancient Galata tower for dinner and a show. It turned out to be an awesome time, with great local cuisine, great entertainment (belly dancers!) and some amazing views of Istanbul at night from high above the city.

All in all it was a great escape to an exotic locale that I had always wanted to check out. Istanbul is an amazing place, a true mix of the cosmopolitan Europe and the exotic and fervently religious Arab cultures. I recommend visiting if you ever have the chance.