We found an apartment! (And a boat tour)
Ortaköy neighborhood from the Bosphorus
Good news: we found an apartment! After two weeks of searching up and down the hills of Besiktas, we've settled into a little home in Ortaköy.
It was getting really stressful for me, because we were staying in Beyoglu and it was a half-hour cab ride to look at apartments in this neighborhood. It was tiring, and our broker wasn't the most efficient in scheduling viewings. Most days I would travel just to see one apartment, it was terribly stressful because I was lugging around a baby too!
Between Paolo and I, we looked at a total of twelve apartments that we found on the Turkish online marketplace Sahibinden. We couldn't look at them together because he had already started at his new job and would use his lunch break to look for apartments. We'd send each other videos of our visits, and then we'd discuss. Some of them were really nice and spacious, especially the ones in Ulus. But since we arrived in the summertime where tourists often come to rent for a month or three, I felt like brokers tried to take advantage of us and overpriced the units. The prices have gone down since Fall erm, fell? Ba-dum-tss.
The Apartment
Paolo found this apartment and honestly at first I was hesitant. I remembered seeing the listing online and saw how cozy it looked. But he promised that I'd like it and it was "our style". I argued with him in my head, because there was another flat I fell in love with. It had giant windows facing the water and it was uphill, about five minutes away from his office. It was newly constructed and so, so lovely. The thing is, it was completely unfurnished. Not even a fridge. We were running out of time because we only had our hotel for two weeks, and our stay ended right on Allegra's birthday. Plus, it was bayram or Eid al-Adha, a holiday marking the end of Hajj.
So most businesses were closed, where would we find all these appliances that we needed in time?We moved in here, and he was right. I loved it. It's small enough to easily see everything and big enough to have your own space. I was a little overwhelmed. I'd only lived in studio flats before this, and I liked the coziness of that! ?But thank God for Paolo because he knew me, and he knew our style. We love to walk and run errands, and our new home is close to banks, the supermarket, the hardware store, a dry cleaners, fruit stands, everything. Don't get me started on the ice cream and profiterol joint across the street!
The Neighborhood
At first glance, Ortaköy seems like a hip, new neighborhood, but little by little we start catching glimpses of what it used to be. Our landlord furnished the apartment with old photos and maps of Constantinople Istanbul.
Orta literally means "middle" and koy means "village" in Turkish. It was once a sleepy fishing village among the grand palaces of Yildiz, Ciragan, Feriye, and Dolmabahçe. The most famous attraction of the neighborhood is the Ortaköy Mosque, a 19th-century place of worship right by the water.
Designed by the same architect who built Dolmabahçe Palace, it follows the same European, neo-baroque style. We were walking around the other day, and stumbled upon an 18th-century Greek Orthodox Church. It was tucked away in a walled compound among houses, but beautifully designed and surprisingly spacious inside! There's also a Jewish synagogue on the main street, across a midye joint that we highly recommend. We love that Ortaköy is a testament that differing faiths can live in harmony.
The Boat Ride
The best part is that it's a five minute walk to the water, where we can just get on a ferry and go on an hour-long tour of the Bosphorus for TL 25 (USD 5) per person.
It was nice and sunny that day so we were able to sit on the upper deck of the boat. I guess when it gets colder in the winter it's better to sit indoors, but what kind of fun is that if you can't feel the wind in your hair?
We always forget to bring snacks when we go on the boat. Actually no, that's not true, one time we brought lahmaçun aboard. But the boat sells snacks, too! They serve tea, coffee, and have a photographer walking about to take your photo. These cost extra, but they're affordable. About TL 2 for the tea and TL 20 for the photo.
We say the tour is a must when visiting Istanbul! There are lots of beautiful, historical buildings to see on the Bosphorus, not to mention the strait is technically international waters so boats and cargo ships of all shapes and sizes pass by all the time.
One of the most famous structures on the strait is the Rumeli Castle, an Ottoman fortress built specifically to cut off military and economic aid from the Black Sea to the Byzantine Empire. The castle sits on the narrowest part of the Bosphorus, opposite the Anadolu Castle, another Ottoman structure built almost a century earlier.It's refreshing to see people just enjoying life here like swimming in the Bosphorus and having tea on the street. We noticed that when they eat they don't have their phones out. Such a contrast to what we've seen at the other end of the Silk Road!
We've probably been on these boats at least once a week just to decompress. Our girl likes it and sometimes asks to go after school. Oh dear, school. Let me tell you all about that next time.The boat moors at the same place it leaves from---Ortaköy Mosque. We'll probably take our family here soon when they visit, and hopefully if you're in Istanbul this is helpful to you, too! Everyone knows the usual attractions in the Old City, but Ortaköy and its surrounding areas are also a must-see!