My first memory of Istanbul is standing in front of the ticket vending machine at the Ataturk airport metro station, wondering how to buy a ticket. It was all in Turkish and the language toggle, no matter how much I tried, did not seem to work. I would have been stuck there for hours had I not received help from a man wearing a grey suit and sporting a nicely trimmed pencil mustache. Turned out it was pretty simple. Press the blue button on the right twice, insert a 5 Lira note and collect your ticket from the outlet.

Fast forward to Sishane metro station, which was supposed to be a few minutes walk from my hostel. I say “supposed to be” because as usual, I got lost and took me 30 minutes and a cup of tea to find the place.

I wandered through the busy Istikal Avenue asking for directions. Istikal Street is one of the most popular shopping streets of Istanbul and is close to the equally popular Taksim Square. There are shops selling all kinds of things from clothes to doner kebabs to Turkish delights and baklavas, all across the street. And of course, there are those annoying ice cream vendors, dressed in their shiny clothes, playing with the patiance and emotions of their customers. There are cafes where you will find people drinking tea, coffee and smoking sheeshas at all hours of the day.

Walking through this street you get an insight into the sensibilities of the Turkish as well. You see ladies wearing modern dresses and burqas walking alongside. You hear music ranging from western to Turkish playing coming from the nearby shops. There are street performers playing bagpipes, violins and accordions. Some sing. Some dance.

In the evening, I walked downhill to the Galata Bridge. Fishermen flocked on both sides of the bridge with long fishing rods; their buckets showcasing their catches. Trouts are the most common catch in the waters of the Bosphorus. The lights from the Asian part of the city twinkled from afar. You could see lights from the Blue Mosque, Tokapi Palace and the Galata Tower in the distance. Though traffic whizzed passed, there was a lot of serenity in the air…and fish smell.

The breeze got colder as evening turned into night and I decided to go to one of the bars on the bridge for a cold mug of Efes, the local beer. Before I knew it, one turned into two and two into three.

Around nine in the evening, I turned the collars of my jacket up to cover my ears from the merciless cold breeze, bid adieu to the chirpy seagulls and the optimistic fishermen of the bridge and headed back up the hill to Taksim Square in search of dinner.

If you visit Turkey, especially Istanbul, you will learn very quickly that you are never too far from food. I watched as the cook sliced off slivers from chunk of meat, rotating inverted over flames. The slivers went into a slice of bread, along with cabbage, tomatoes, onions and sumac. First bite, and I knew I was going to love Turkey. 

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The idea next day was to visit Hagia Sophia. The church that was converted into a mosque back in the day, which at present stands as a museum. But it seemed all of Turkey had the same idea that morning. The queue at the gates snaked its way all the way to the Sultanahmet tram station. And as much as I wanted to see Haghia Sophia, I did not want to spend half of my first full day in Istanbul standing in a queue in the middle of an enthusiastic Chinese tour group equipped with smartphones and DSLRs. Tokapi Palace was nearby and was, surprisingly, not as crowded. It took me only 15 minutes to buy a ticket.

Topaki palace is the place where many of the Ottoman Sultans lived and ran the empire from for over 400 years. Like many palaces, it has the expected assortment of courtyards, gardens, pavilions and coronation rooms etc. But then then there are rooms like The Circumcision room, which has a scary looking machine for the “rituals”.

My favourite part was the Harem however, and that was mostly because of my Lonely Planet guidebook which explained what used to happen in this part of the palace, quite vividly. To put it mildly, harem were the private chambers of the Sultan and was the place for his various acts of debauchery. Some sultans were known to have as many as 300 concubines.

Next stop was the Hippodrome where, in the Byzantine times, chariots races and official processions took place. People will come out in huge numbers and support their favourite teams. During the course of history, it has also witnessed massive protests and bloody massacres.

Right next to the Hippodrome is the ever beautiful and picturesque Blue Mosque, known locally as Sultanahmet Camii. Mesmerising to the core, its inner courtyards, not only provided shelter from the afternoon sun but also had a gallery of placards about the origin and teachings of Islam.

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The gardens and the fountain outside the mosque is a good place to people watch and have tea. I took a seat on a wooden bench overlooking the fountain, next to an elderly man, who during the course of the conversation, told me that he was from Yozgat and was visiting Istanbul for the first time. Though, since I did not know Turkish, I was not able to comprehend a lot of the things he said, but I understood that it was his dream to see the Blue Mosque. We sat in silence for a bit and then he fished for his pack of cigarettes and lighter in the waist pocket of his jacket, lit one up, smiled and took my leave.

The food carts nearby sold fresh simits (round sesame sprinkled breads) which seemed very popular with the locals. They don’t cost much and some kids tore them up into small pieces and fed the pigeons near the fountains. Many people sat all around the fountain on chairs similar to mine, basking in the afternoon sunlight and taking in the activity all around. It was the kind of afternoon that lifts up your spirit and makes you take long walks. I decided to walk all the back to Istikal Street.

I followed the tram tracks that leads back to the Galata Bridge, passing and sometimes stopping over at several of the city’s landmarks. First was the Basillica Cistern which is one of the many underground cisterns built by Emperor Justinian to meet the city’s water demands. A little further away was the Archeological Museum which is also very highly regarded.

It was afternoon on a Sunday and the sidewalks were busy. Azaans from the mosques nearby ringed in the air. There were shops all around buzzing with people. I peeked into the street leading up to the Grand Bazaar and it was just packed with more people and shops. Like Hagia Sophia, I decided to save it for another day.

A little ahead was the Egyptian Spice Market. It is a 300 meter long indoor market with shops selling different spices, soaps, perfumes and souvenirs. The activity seemed to ooze outside with busier shops selling clothes, nuts, vegetables and fruits. Being close to the Galata Bridge, you could feel the sea breezes coming from the Bosphorus. I decided to give my legs some rest and have a cup of tea at a small cafe while watching the ruckus of the seagulls. One cup turned to two and then three. And as the evening set in and the breezes turned cold, I crossed the street to have my early dinner. Balik Ekmek, a fish sandwich, right at the pier near the Galata Bridge.

As the collars of my jacket went up and my woolen cap covered my head that evening, the city that seemed so unfamiliar just the day before seemed a lot more familiar. Having visited the cafes, the market and some of the landmarks, I somehow felt a little closer to Istanbul. Like, I get it now.

But as I walked past the fishermen of the bridge, I realised I would be taking one of the ferries from the pier early next morning to travel to the Asian side to catch a train to the country’s capital, Ankara. And with that the uncertainties in my mind returned.

“I don’t know which ferry to take. Will they even be running so early? How do I go to the train station from there? Will I get tickets to the train?”

And then the helpful man from the airport came to mind. So did the wonderful man from the Sultanahmet garden. And all the other smiling, helpful people I met during the day.

I was going to be fine.

“Just remember. Press the blue button on the right twice. Insert money. Collect ticket.”