- oh, so then they grill like also, okay. wow. wow, that is right off the fire. (vigorous middle eastern percussion music) good morning everyone, it's mark wiens with migrationology.comin istanbul, turkey. woke up very early this morning and it is a bright sunshiny day. the sun is reflecting over the bosphorus.
today we're gonna do somesight-seeing and some eating. it's about 7:00 am now, we are walking towards the tram stationand we're gonna take the tram to sultanahmet. (motor rumbles) - [woman] yeah. (clicks) - yeah. - [computer voice] freepass, ticket sales menu. please take your cardfrom return tray below.
- we made it to kabatas tramway station and figured out how to buy our tickets. it was pretty easy. and we are going to loadonto the tramway now. or this one is already closed? this one is already closed? - oh, (word in foreign language). ah, you press the button. okay, we made it onto the tramway.
(peppy jazz saxophone music) we just got off the train at sultanahmet, that took about 20 minutes. and this is the area,this is a neighborhood within the fatih district of istanbul. and it's one of the mostfamous, most important areas of istanbul, and some of themost well-known attractions are located in this area. (bell rings)
and our first stop thismorning, we are going to what is called sultanahmet camil which is known in english often as the blue mosque. wow, it is just amazing already,i can see the blue mosque to the right and hagia sophia to the left. (peppy middle eastern music) the view from the outside is spectacular. and this is one of thoseplaces that i have seen so many photos of that italmost feels like i've been
here before, because i'veseen so many photos of it. but at the same time, when you're here it's completely different,the magnitude of it and of course the insideis going to be also completely different than the photos. oh and stepping into the,the main courtyard area. i think we came at theperfect time though, it's almost completelyquiet and just beautiful. (vigorous middle eastern music)
we arrived a little bitearly, it's still not open to the public yet. we have about 30 minutes,but i'm just enjoying this courtyard, it isabsolutely spectacular. i think we're gonna take alook at the hippodrome first and then we will come back inabout 30 minutes to go inside. hello, how are you? you are the hippodrome dog. right outside of the bluemosque is the hippodrome
of constantinople, and thisis an open square area. hippodrome means the horsepath and so, this area is also often called the horse square. the obelisk is made from pink granite and with some egyptiancarvings on the sides of it. and it looks almost new,it's so like perfectly well-kept, and then onthe base of the obelisk you will see some different carvings. you can see theodius the great, as well as
some of his family whichare carved into the base. (soft middle eastern percussion music) one of the most iconicsites in all of istanbul is the sultan ahmet camil,which is also commonly known as the blue mosque,because of the blue tiles that are inside. it was built by sultan ahmet in the years between 1609 and 1616. and there are byzantineand christian influences
in the architecture, but itis an ottoman-style mosque. and there are five maindomes, six minarets, and then eight smaller domes which support the entire structure. it is just a spectacular sight. it's 8:30 am, they have just opened, so we are entering right now. and you walk inside and it just opens up into this huge prayer hall area.
and within the, on theceiling within the domes there are over 20,000handmade ceramic tiles. some of them have a kind offloral and cypress designs. and then, it contrasts the red carpet, which is on the floor. but, this is just an amazingsight, just giant columns and what i really like isyou can see all of the domes as well, on the inside. there are also dozensof ancient chandeliers.
and there are over 200stained glass windows. and now we are headingacross the courtyard to the hagia sophia. and it started off asa christian basilica, and then it became aroman catholic cathedral, and then it became amosque, and now present-day it is a museum. but, there is just layerupon layer of history. they didn't allow me tobring my microphone inside,
but they said video is okay. so, the audio might not be so good. but, we are enteringinto hagia sophia now. (softer, mysterious middle eastern music) it is absolutely gigantic,and the main dome which is right above meright now, it's so high. they are doing someconstruction in here right now, so there is scaffolding on one side. but that doesn't takeaway from the magnitude
of this place. and you can just feel theancient history in here. there is even a noticeable aroma in here that smells kind of likestone and kind of like must. it just smells ancient in here. along with the dome andthe entire hagia sophia, one of the things thati've noticed is the floor, which includes justgiant pieces of marble. just imagine how many1,000s and 1,000s of people
have passed through this same door and walked across this same stone. and you can see it starting to slump. we are now heading upto the upper gallery, oh, and entering this, it feelslike we're underground here. it just keeps on going and going, wrapping around and up. i'm gonna go look out thiswindow and i think you can get a nice view of the blue mosque from here.
oh, yeah. (foreign words are spoken) hagia sophia is a place thati have dreamed about visiting ever since high school,when i took a course on western civilization. so it is, i'm extremelyglad to have had the chance to visit, it was amazing. when you come to istanbul,you do not wanna miss seeing, both the blue mosque and hagia sophia.
we are now walking overto the topkapi palace. and i think i forgot tomention this earlier, but i bought a museum pass istanbul, and it costs 85 lira, and it is valid for many of the museums andit's valid for five days. so even, we entered into hagia sophia and now we're gonna enter into the palace. each of those entranceson their own are 40 liras. so with the card, that'sjust an extra little bit
and it also allows accessto many more museums. so if you're planning tovisit many of the museums in istanbul, it's a greatway to save some money and also it allows you tobypass the lines for tickets. the entrance of the palacereally looks like a castle with two towers and thedoorway right in the middle. (softer middle eastern music) you have to walk through aseries of gates and courtyards. the landscape, the trees, and the gardens,
and the courtyards are alsoreally nice at this palace. the entire palace area ishuge, you can definitely spend a couple of hours justwalking around the courtyards and the gardens, and thengoing into the different rooms. and now i am out here,this is the third courtyard i think, and there's a niceview overlooking the bosphorus. (jazzy saxophone music) this is the golden pavilionwhere the sultan is reported to have broken his fastduring the ramadan period.
for our final stop at the palace,i'm in the imperial harem, which is an area of thepalace that was reserved exclusively for women. and this is supposed tobe one of the highlights of visiting the palace. what's already amazing justentering is the tile work and the preservation of the tiles. (soft, mysterious middle eastern music) i just spent some time lookingaround the imperial hall,
that's one of the most impressive places in the whole palace. (water trickles, voices murmur) that was the perfect way toend this tour of the palace. that was definitely themost impressive part of the whole palace,it's so well-preserved and it's a lot bigger thani thought it was gonna be. you just keep walking through the hallways and the rooms and passageways.
and the tile work isespecially just, yeah. you just have to admire it. all of this sightseeinghas really made me hungry, so next, ying and i areon our way to lunch. (peppy, modern chime music) (voices murmur) for lunch today we walkedover to a restaurant that is famous for servingcag kebap, which is on a horizontal spit andi think i may have gotten
the best seat in the entire restaurant, out here in the alley. but right, literally rightbehind me is the spit of meat. he is carving the meat,so i'm getting like the meat aromas from behindme and it smells unbelievable. they're using real fire to cook the meat and it's just sizzling. you can see the fat andthe juices actually like bubbling on the skewer of meat.
it is a pretty packedenvironment here for lunch and i ordered up the special. you can smell the aroma,the fumes of the lamb, roasting over that fire, orup to the side of that fire, because it's a horizontal spit. he just masterfully slices off the meat, and making sure thatthe meat is both juicy, but slightly crispy on the edges. and then you can see howthe meat is both going to be
like oily and juicy, but kindof crispy at the same time. and also serve it withbread and a roasted chili as well as onions and we got us a couple of side dishes as well. but i just first have toimmediately taste that meat with nothing on it. get some of that meatoff, just look at this, look at this thing of beauty. oh,
oh yeah, that is stunning. it's so nicely salty, butthat really brings out like the oily flavor of the real lamb. and then, it's not like afall apart tender texture, but it's very tender tochew, but it does have a little bit of a texture to it. wow, that's incredible. now onto the bread, andwhat i see most people do is you grab, this is a very thin bread.
i'm gonna leave it to thehalf, and what i'll do with the rest of that skeweris i will put all of the rest. i think you can kind ofjust wrap it up like this and pull off all of that meat, and slide it all out,put this on the side. i'm gonna actually addin that whole chili, and then also i've gottaadd in some onions. the plate of onions, andi think that is sumac sprinkled on top.
onions, perfect. and then i'm gonna sprinkleon some of this dry chili, and then wrap this up. (voices murmur in a foreign language) that meat is so crazilyflavorful that it just provides flavor for the entire bread. but i love it with theaddition of those onions and especially that roasted chili.
now, i'll stick this onto my next bite. mm, we've also got some type of a soup. i think that's like a lentil soup. it's like a, i thinkit's like a lentil puree. we've also got a mixedsalad, there are tomatoes in here and cucumbersand parsley and chilies. mm, oh yeah, i need tosqueeze on the lemon. mm, the tomatoes inturkey have been so good. for my next roll, and you can order more
skewers of meat as well. i'm gonna double up on the meat, and next skewer. what i love so much about this meat is it is the absolute perfectratio of fat and meat. so, it's soft, but it's not too soft. and then, it is just packed with flavor. and that saltiness really bringsout the flavor of the lamb. it's just yeah, it's unbelievably good.
i like to go heavy on the onions as well. i may as well go for all the onions. this is gonna be a thick one. add some of this, andi think this is mostly, i think this might be a combination of both tomatoes and red chilies. but it's very fragrant,a little bit spicy, and fantastic, and then i gotta sprinkle some dry chili on here as well.
and then, another half a chili here. this one is pretty big, but this is gonna be fantastic. i could not resist the opportunity to order some more meat. i had to have two moreskewers, it's just so good. and i'm not gonna eat anybread, just pure steak. oh, i'll take that thickpiece from the middle there. that meat is spectacular, oh it's so good.
yeah, i think i'm in love withthe grilled meats of turkey. that was fabulous. and this is their veryfamous dessert here. i'm not sure the name ofit, but they only serve one dessert, and you cansee walnuts in the middle and it looks like almostlittle noodles on the outside. and then it looks like asweet, kind of syrupy dressing. mm, i think those are thevermicelli, which are fried so they're crispy and then soaked in like
a very sweet, sugary syrup. and then those walnuts are in the middle. it is pretty sweet forme, i do prefer the salty, but that is very good though. - ah, yeah. the tea is a fantasticway to end that meal. - i come from all east, and now the (foreign word) is going east. - okay, okay, this was so good.
it's so good. i am from america, but i live in thailand. - ah, thailand, i also came across. - my wife is from thailand. oh, okay. - i know, the best cagkebap around istanbul you are now sitting. - we ate it already. (words in a foreign language)
oh, (laughing) very nice. oh, so then they grilllike also, okay, wow. oh, that is stunning. that is amazing. - thank you. - that is right off the spit. wow, that literallyjust melted in my mouth. you have to go, "mm."
(laughter) oh, that was one of themost amazing meals ever. the food was awesomeand the people eating, they were all so amazing. we met one man who sat next to us eating. and so the tables arelined up so you inevitably need to sit next to someone,because it's always busy. and so, the man that satnext to us, he was really friendly, he started chatting,he said that he traveled
all the way from theasian side, somewhere far on the asian side ofistanbul to come to eat at this restaurant. because this is the best,maybe one of the only and definitely the bestplace in all of istanbul that serves this type of kebab. also, a special thanks toall of you who recommended that restaurant, thatwas just a mind-blowing meat experience.
(peppy electronic chime music) the next place we are goingtoday is the basilica cistern. (lively, jazzy saxophone music) the basilica cistern isone of the many underground cisterns in istanbul. and this one that we'regonna visit it's located right across the street from hagia sophia. it's really dark and kind of feels damp and musty down here.
this was an ancientcistern that dates back to the byzantine period,and it was commissioned by emperor justinian thefirst in the sixth century. although there are manyunderground cisterns in istanbul, this is one of the largest and it is a water storage facility. it measures 70 meters by 140 meters. i have read that somepeople find it spooky, scary in here, and some peoplefind it kind of romantic.
what are you thinking? is it scary or romantic? - both. - [mark] both at the same time? - [ying] mm, hm. - it definitely is a little bit spooky. definitely one of the mainattractions at the cistern are the statues of medusa,and there are two of them at the base of the columns.
and it's not quite sureknown how the roman medusa statues got here to thecistern, but it's thought that they were broughtover from the roman empire. i have to wait until i get under one of the lamps to blog. with all the fish down here, you could definitely survive for a while, too. (child's voice cries outin a foreign language) we just exited back onto ground level
from that dark dungeon,that was pretty cool. so basically, this entireground and this park which is located right here,the cistern is below that. it's the middle of the afternoon, i think that we'vedecided to take the tram back to our hotel and rest fora little while before dinner. (rattling, rumbling on tracks) (voices speak in a foreign language) (peppy electronic chimemusic with clapping)
we rested in the hotel for a little while and now back out walking,and we're heading over to an area call besiktas for dinner. and the reason i knowbesiktas is because they have a football team and soi recognized the name of the neighborhood. we arrive to the restaurant, this place is called balkan lokantasi. and this is a very popular restaurant
in a very busy area of town. and it is cafeteria-style, so actually we've had to line up, because there are so many people here. and we are getting in lineand then we're gonna order whatever looks good. okay, so you grab a traydown here on the bottom. oh my goodness, there are so many choices. (woman's voice in a foreign language)
chicken, in the back? (rattling, clinking) this is the type of mealthat is my favorite to eat in thailand, it's called (foreign word), which means rice and curry. and they have all of thedifferent dishes prepared and you just get rice and you choose the different dish that you want. that's in thailand, but this is
the turkish version of that. you grab a tray and they just, they must have at least twodozen, maybe three dozen dishes available, youjust point and choose for the dishes that you want. or if you know the names, you choose them, and then you put them on your tray, you just walk through theline, your tray gets pushed down the line and then youpay for whatever you eat.
and i made a little bit of a mistake, because it was so busy and sokind of like rushed to order that i didn't reallyknow what i was ordering. so i just pointed to bunch of dishes, and so i may have gotten alittle bit too much food. but i think that'sokay, it looks fantastic and i'm getting ready to dig in. this is an awesome restaurant, and i'm gonna eat thai style,with my spoon and fork.
this one is chick peas ibelieve, garbanzo beans. and i saw most peopleeating it with this rice, which is rice whichlooks like there's some, a few small vegetables within the rice. and most people actuallygot the rice with this on top of it, but i didn'tknow how to order that, so i just got it on the side. i will put some of this onto the rice, chili flakes on there.
mm, that's like a slightly spicy, tomatoey chick pea stew. that's just like good,classic beans and rice. i think this one is yogurt with eggplant, i think that's yogurt,and oh, are there roasted chilies in here too? mm, that is a very, verycreamy i think, yogurt and very rich, and then there are pieces
of roasted eggplant. i think there are, theremight be potatoes in here and maybe some tomatoes as well. and i think this one is another salad, maybe with yogurt and somekind of green vegetable. that tastes like spinach,just flooded in yogurt. that is nice, that's very cooling. okay next dish, and thisone looks fantastic. it looks like a piece ofcheese on top with some kind
of green vegetable andthen on the bottom of this like cap of vegetable cheese are pieces of meat and potatoes. wow, this is like a complete meal dish. at least one that goeswith all the dishes. mm, okay this one is awesome. it's like a creamy,oily sauce with nuggets of tender, i think it's beefand then the green vegetable is very soft and tender, andthen just a cheese cap.
but the cheese is not too rich or salty. mm, i like this. and i think this shouldbe eaten with rice. it's either, maybe it'sbeef, i'm really not sure. oh, that is awesome, that meat is fall-apart tender. and that's like a little bit of a tangy, like tomatoey sauce, itkind of tastes similar to the chick peas, butthe meat version of it.
and then this is another eggplant we got, with tomatoes in it. mm, just creamy, roastedeggplant with tart tomatoes. i am pretty stuffedafter eating that meal. that was a lot of yogurt. i don't know if i'veever eaten so much yogurt in one meal in my life. but that was some reallygood food that tastes really like homemade, home cooking, actually.
and this restaurant hasjust continually the line has never stopped the entiretime i was eating in here. and actually, it's gotten longer. people just keep flowingthrough this restaurant and this is a quick place to chow down. i would have loved tocome to this restaurant when i was in university,when i could eat more than i can now. but that was a wonderful meal,
thank you to all of you whorecommended this restaurant. i'm gonna end the videofor today right now. i think we just gottawalk back to the hotel and i need to walk off this, this meal. thank you all for watching this video. please remember to give it a thumbs up if you enjoyed it. leave a comment below. it has been an amazingfull day in istanbul
and it's been sort of a tour of some of the main attractions,some delicious food, and i will see you on the next video. thank you again for watching. (beep) and can you see anything? ying is looking rightinto the piece of wood, but i'm getting a nice view of the bosphorus.
do i look like a ghost? (woman speaks words in foreign language) okay. (rhythmic percussion music)
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