TURKISH DELIGHT & RUSSIAN ROMANTICS
The fascinating sights and sounds of TURKEY and RUSSIA proved to be a delightful excursion unlike any other
My husband and I enjoy traveling and experiencing new things together, we often travel with our kids, and while we make sure to go on trips with just the two of us. Spending time with each other without thinking about work or the pressure of our everyday routine is a wonderful way to reconnect as a couple and recharge as individuals and as parents.
For years now, I have been so curious about Istanbul. It has always been on my bucket list. The fact that it’s one of the few cities that lies on two continents, how it connects Asia and Europe geographically and culturally has always fascinated me.
A TASTE OF TURKEY
We landed just shortly before sunrise and was welcomed by pleasantly cool weather. We caught a cab to our hotel located on the European side of the city. Istanbul is divided into two “sides”, as it is located on two continents. Hence, the European and Asian sides. As soon we got to our room, a beautiful view of the Hagia Sophia and the Galata Bridge greeted us with its night lights against a stunning show of amber and blue skies and the sun slowly appearing from the horizon. And just like that, we experienced our first sunrise in Istanbul! What a magical way to start the trip!
We freshen up and had a Turkish breakfast which had lots of yogurt, olives, cucumber, pide (a flat bread), cheese, and erzurum— which is a personal favorite of mine. It’s a kind of cheese that comes in long stringy pieces. Then, of course, we had to have Turkish coffee!
Tired yet full and fueled by Istanbul’s famous coffee, we make our way to our first stop: The Grand Bazaar. En route, it was such a delight seeing bustling Istanbul for the first time! It was exciting, busy, and had such a pulsating vibe.
We found ourselves walking into a fascinating labyrinth with lanterns of different shapes and colors hanging from the ceiling of the stalls. With over a thousand shops, I was a bit overwhelmed because it felt like a wonderful maze of Turkish carpets, ceramics, brightly colored textiles, teacups, jewelry, silverware and antiques, all seemed to call out my name. It was a technicolor dream and I felt like a kid in a candy store, but I had to be organized about shopping to avoid a lot of kitschy souvenirs and refrain myself from buying too much. As the name implies, a whole day isn’t enough to explore the very Grand Bazaar.
Another grand thing about this trip was on the day we arrived, we found out that some of our friends from Manila happened to be visiting Istanbul at the same time we were! Yay for pleasant surprises! So we arranged to meet up with dear friends Nix Alañon and Rajo Laurel who were traveling with their friends. We had cocktails on the rooftop of the
Soho House followed by dinner al fresco! I must’ve eaten three days’ worth of meals with different Turkish mezes, kebab, grilled lamb, and of course dessert with baklavas and Turkish delight. It was delicious, and the company was even better. Later that evening, another familiar face joined us. Pinky Webb arrived from Spain to spend a few days here before heading back home. Filipinos were in full force on our first night in Istanbul.
A CULTURAL EXPERIENCE
The next days were all about exploring their famous Mosques and Palaces, a private tour guide who took us to The Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, and my favorite, the most magnificent palace I’ve ever seen—The Dolmabahçe Palace . It was like traveling back in time, seeing the architecture and opulence of it all. Seeing these sites made me want to learn more as I go about the rich history of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires, making the sightseeing a lot more fascinating. This city is unlike any I’ve seen, a collision of two worlds as East meets West, a contradiction of cultures that exists in harmony.
But, as infatuated as I was with Istanbul, it shares a familiar downside with Manila—traffic! At times I felt it was even more chaotic, we ended up walking more than getting a ride to our destinations because of traffic and being refused by cab drivers. We later tried out renting a car and a driver to take us around which turned out to be a clever decision.
We finally made it to the Bosporus, and sunset on the boat along the strait was definitely a highlight for this trip. The Bosporus Strait is what separates the Asian and European sides of the city. We organized a two-hour private cruise and as we boarded, we were welcomed with a glass of rosé and a beautiful set-up on the boat. It was a nice relaxing break unwinding, soaking in the view and being grateful for being in such a beautiful place with my husband.
Another interesting part of the trip was our hammam experience, (Turkish bath). I must admit, it felt quite bizarre having to lie on a marble floor and have someone lather me with warm water and give me a sudsy bath. I quickly loosened up as I looked up to a beautiful dome ceiling and scanned the impressive room completely covered in marble!
Now that we’ve seen traditional Istanbul, our last day was spent walking around the trendier, less touristy side of the city. We explored Nisantasi and Levent and got to see
local furniture stores, fashion boutiques and quaint cafes.
I also got to make my way back to the Grand Bazaar to pick up my Turkish treasures and crossed over to the spice market which was just at the other side of the road to revel in the colors and fragrance of different herbs, tea, nuts, dried fruits, baklava. The atmosphere was wonderful!
The next day, I woke up with wonderful memories of an amazing city with a slightly rounder face from all the food and with a very happy heart. We take a last glimpse of Istanbul and said goodbye for now as we continued our trip to Russia.
THE HISTORIC SIGHTS OF RUSSIA
I honestly didn’t know what to expect on this trip because of how Russia has been portrayed in media but
I was in for a very pleasant surprise. We landed in St. Petersburg after lunch and I must admit it was a little different compared to the photos I’ve seen. But then again, the photos I saw were ones of “White Nights” which are days of 24 hours of daylight and people are out and about.
Our first stop was the Peterhoff Palace, the Romanovs’ summer palace about an hour away from city. It reminded me of Versailles in France. It was a two-story palace with a beautiful garden and a grand fountain at the entrance with an amazing view of the Baltic Sea. The amount of gold used in this palace was astounding. I also had just recently finished watching the Netflix documentary about the Romanovs which made me more drawn to the story of the imperial family and my visit to this palace even more fascinating.
The next day we visited the Catherine Palace. The abundance of gold displays and trimmings all over the palace truly depicted the opulence of a monarch known as Catherine The Great. The stories behind every room were as compelling as the woman herself. What stood out for me was the great hall which is the main ballroom of the palace with gilded mirrors, elaborate paintings, and the beautiful parquet floor which was just magnificent. You can almost picture all the gatherings that took place in that room.
Then there was The Hermitage, which lived up to its reputation and instantly became my favorite museum to date. Everything about this museum was just jaw-dropping, with a collection of paintings from the renaissance, and different eras of art, from Italian, Dutch, and French painters and were all beyond impressive with names like
Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Raffaello, Picasso and more. Apart from that, there are also hundreds of treasures from all over the world including an Egyptian pharaoh’s mummy. The Hermitage is a must-see in St. Petersburg.
Russian food is another adventure, and we enjoyed a pairing of perfectly chilled vodka with mouthwatering beluga caviar traditionally served with blini. We also tried their famous borscht; a traditional soup made of beets served hot, or cold! We had stuffed cabbage leaves, stroganoff, and other meals that were served with a lot of delicious sour cream.
A trip to Russia wouldn’t be complete without seeing Moscow, so we took a train to the country’s capital and got to explore the city for a day. We visited famous spots like the Kremlin, St. Basil’s Cathedral as seen from the iconic Red Square.
Overall, Russia was a discovery, everyone was friendly, welcoming and accommodating like our cab driver who even gave us a little present upon finding out we were there for the first time.
This trip to Turkey and Russia was definitely eyeopening, having experienced cultures of stark differences but still sharing a lot of common ground with its people.
From Istanbul and Russia with love, Bianca