Istanbul; Sunday, 19 December, 2021

My three days of guided touring had given me a good understanding of the city, and Semih had given me a few suggestions of other places I might want to visit, so after a late breakfast I headed out of the hotel and caught the tram down a couple of stops to Tünel. Tünel is a funicular railway that runs from the waterside near the confluence of the Golden Horn and Bosporus up to the top of the New Town – at the far end of Independence Avenue. What’s more notable is that Tünel is the 2nd oldest underground railway in the world, after the London Underground, and technically the oldest underground railway that still runs the same route it has since it opened, with the line never having been extended or altered.

I took the train up to the top station of Tünel and then walked back down the hill towards the Galata Tower. The tower is one of the most prominent features on this side of the city. The former watch tower sits high above the rest of the New Town and from the 8th floor observation deck the views across the city are spectacular, taking in both the Asian and European sides of the city, as well as being able to see the Golden Horn, Bosporus and Sea of Marmara all within one view. I spent quite a bit of time taking in the views from up here before heading back down and continuing my descent back down the hill to the waterside. The steepness of the descent making it very clear that I’d chosen the best idea to go up to the top and walk down rather than trying to hike up from waters level.

Back down at the waters edge I headed over to one of the multitude of ferry terminals to pick up the boat across the Bosporus and over to the Asian side of the city. The journey only took about 20 minutes and as I stepped off the boat I set foot on Asian soil for the first time in my life.

I’d landed at Üsküdar on the Asian side, and from here a pleasant riverside walkway runs south along the edge of the Bosporus down to Maiden’s Tower and from there the best views back across the Bosporus to the European side, taking in the Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and Galata Tower all laid out in front of you. By the time I’d gotten to the view point I’d been walking for some time and was feeling quite peckish, thankfully there was a nearby restaurant which had tables available so I stopped for what turned out to be an enormous lunch overlooking Europe.

From lunch I headed back towards the ferry terminal and caught the ferry back across to Europe with the sun starting to set. From the European side I caught the tram back up the hill and walked back down to my hotel to freshen up, before heading out for a light dinner, considering how large lunch had been.

After dinner I headed back to the hotel, but rather than heading to the hotel it was to go to the entrance of the Marmaray the suburban railway that links the two sides of the city together, with the stop by my hotel being the last on the European side. I headed down onto the platform – a long descent down three very steep and deep escalators that itself took nearly 5 minutes to get down to track level – arriving just in time to catch a train east. Whilst the ferry crossing takes 20 minutes the train does the same journey in less than 5, and after an almost as long ascent up at Üsküdar station I was back out on the Asian side of the city.

I had another wander along the waterside, this time taking in the lights of the city twinkling across the dark waters of the Bosporus at night. If anything it was more magical looking across the water at night than it had been during the day.

Eventually I wandered back down to the ferry terminal and caught the ferry back across the Bosporus so I could take some photos from the river of the city at night. Back on the European side I again caught the tram up the hill and then headed back down to my hotel.