Istanbul has been on my travel map ever since I remember (Okay, I first were here back in 2009).
Time after time we like to take layover flight via Istanbul, and so did happen last time, at the end of February 2020 - we booked a connected flight Tbilisi - Istanbul - Riga with Turkish Airlines so we have a chance to spend at least a day in Istanbul
After taking a hammam in our centrally located Istanbul hotel (Best Point Hotel Old City Istanbul (Sultanahmet)), in the next morning after breakfast we took a little walk to nearby tourism objects
What to do and see in Istanbul in less than 24 hours
Turkish tea for sale near Blue Mosque
We went through a small market which was still closed and enjoyed a scenery like above - large clay pots filled with goodies ready to be sold
Inside Blue Mosque
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque has five main domes, six minarets, and eight secondary domes. The design is the culmination of two centuries of Ottoman mosque development. It incorporates some Byzantine Christian elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The architect, Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa, synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour.
View towards Hagia Sophia cathedral
We decided not to go to Hagia Sophia cathedral, as weather was pretty cold and we wanted to return just back to our cozy hotel room
Street near Sultan Ahmed cathedral
Somewhere here we found a cozy and warm cafeteria to take a hot tea.
Sultanahmet area
The pretty spooky scene, like from some Western movie,