This is why you NEED to visit ISTANBUL! Its SPECTACULAR!

This is why you NEED to visit ISTANBUL! Its SPECTACULAR!

We are in Istanbul, the capital city of Turkey. 
Easily one of my favorite cities in the world. And over the next couple of days, we’re going 
to explore this city. We’re going to find some of Turkeykey’s best dishes to eat. We’re going to 
visit some iconic landmarks. We’re also probably going to eat our body weight in Turkish delight. 
100%. That is number one on our list. I have been looking forward to getting back to Istanbul 
to find some of that Turkish delight. It’s all he’s been talking about since we What was the 
last time we were here? a few years ago. A year and a half ago, two years ago. Yeah. And he’s 
always talking about the Turkish delight. So, it’s going to be a good week. Let’s go. Let’s 
show you guys exactly why we love this here. Okay. So, we are at Mafa. Now, this is our 
favorite spot to get our Turkish delight here in Istanbul. Been waiting oh over two 
years for this turkey delight. Let’s go. Let’s go get some. Hello. We’ll grab some 
Turkish delight. I’ll go which one? We’ll go with that one with the pistachio. 
Pistachio. Grab one. And we’ll go. There’s so many options. We’ll go the white 
one with the pistachio. Pistachio. Yep. What is your favorite? This. That’s your 
favorite. Oh, that one looks good. Milk, orange, kiwi, walnut, tree, and pistachio. 
Okay. Which one’s your favorite? This one. Okay. I’ll grab one of them. Thank you. 
Right. Oh, yeah. Thank you. Cheers. Perfect. Yeah, it’s really good. 
Oh, man. Flavor. Let’s go. Two of those ones. Two. So good. Thank you. I was 
like, wait a minute. What’s going on here? Thank you so much. Thank you guys. See you soon. I’ll be back tomorrow. Okay. Bag of goodies. Let’s have a look. Looks good. This what it’s all about. You got 
this one. The nouga. Nouga with pistachio. Love it. Sorry. We got this one. 
I don’t know what that was. Yeah. I’m not too sure which one this was. This 
was his favorite. Yeah. It looks like fig. I think it’s fig with um apricot 
maybe. Let’s go with that. Yeah, I’m not too sure. It tastes good. That’s all 
that matters. And then we got my favorite. More pistachio. That’s the pistachio 
and cranberry. So good. I’m going to get a piece as well. Oh, no. I can’t. It’s stuck. I’ll be snacking on this all day. This 
will last us maybe 1 hour. Yeah. Let’s go get some lunch. Nice quick stop off for 
a quick lunch before we keep moving. Picked up a darham. I think that’s how you say 
it. Darham or a kebab. Nice and simple. Easy. You find so many of these kebab shops 
everywhere in the city. Everywhere. Everywhere you go. You can’t go wrong with 
a kebab. That was really good. Thanks, guys. Thank you so much. Thank you. Exactly what 
we needed. Nice kebab before we keep moving. So, we’re about to head to somewhere really 
special right now. We’re going to head to the Grand Bazaar. And the Grand Bazaar gets between 
3 to 500,000 visitors every single year. So, it’s massive. And inside it gets really packed. 
You can pretty much buy anything there. And when I say anything, everything from olives to nuts 
to every spices you can think of. And of course, you can even get Turkish delight. So, I’ve already 
eaten all the Turkish delight. So, I think we need to stop. We need to top up the Turkish delight. 
And look, we’re already at the entrance, the Grand Bazaar. So, let’s get in there. It’s around 
11:30, so hopefully it’s not too too busy. So, when you walk through the gates, you’ve actually 
got different sections of the Grand Bazaar. You’ve got like the outside section, which is all the 
stores that are essentially outside, but then you’ve got this inside section here, and this is 
the main section. This is the oldest section. Um, you can see all the storefronts behind me, but 
apparently they’ve got over 4,000 stores here at the Grand Bazaar. And it’s one of the old or 
it is the oldest Grand Bazaar in the world. It started in 1455. And those 4,000 stores are spread 
over 60 streets. So, you can imagine how how large it is. It’s like a giant maze. It It really is. 
and and it all like crosssections and it’s like zigzags around. But I think where we are now, 
it’s more like the jewelry. The jewelry section because you can see all the jewelry behind me and 
the jewelry everywhere. Incredible. Everywhere. Sorry. Where can you see in which country so much 
gold exactly in one street? Also diamonds, pearls, ruby. You can get everything here. Yes. This is 
paradise for women. Don’t tell Stephanie that. There you go. Heard it from one of the locals 
itself. But yeah, he’s completely right. You can pretty much get every type of jewelry here. 
So, what I found though is a lot of the stores, they they double up a little bit. They sell 
the same stuff. Um, especially with the spices, they sell a lot of the same spices and a lot 
of the same lollies. Um, the gel lollies, but there’s still so many stores here. I mean, 
we’ve been here for about 15 minutes now, and I honestly don’t think we’ve even gone through 
15% of this place. It just keeps going and going and going and I think you can get lost here so 
easily. Hello. How are you? Good, thank you. Get some Turkish delight. Hello. What is this one? Turkish delight. Pistachio Dubai 
chocolate flavor. Oh, really? Dubai. So it’s pistachio on the outside and 
Dubai chocolate on the inside. Inside kaday is like this and the pistachio 
also it’s mean like chocolate. Okay. The flavor. Oh thank you. Ah thank 
you. Thank you. We have different flavor. Lotus uh hazelnut with almond coffee 
with almond. We have baklava, pomegranate, pistachio. I don’t think so. Try just the one bar. 
Just get one bar. No. Did you want that one or try this one? Hazelnut. We have all the different 
flavor. I have like this. So this is hazelnut. What do you like? Yeah. Just in a bag. 
Yeah. Just just one one of them. one official. Yeah. You said about 400 roughly. 
It depends on the weight. Got it. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much, man. Thank you. I really 
appreciate it. Well, that’s good way. Thank you. Pistachio. And he said it’s Dubai flavor 
on the inside. So I assume it’s that really popular Dubai chocolate that’s going on 
at the moment. Must be on the inside. Can’t wait to get this home and eat. I find a lot 
of storefront owners, they’re actually quite funny because they’re obviously trying to get you into 
the store to buy things. Um but they’re really witty to try and get you in. Um for example, No 
thanks, man. Thank you though. Um for example, just back there they were giving out free samples 
for some of their um Turkish delight and sweets. And we were like, “Oh, no, thank you.” But he’s 
like, “No, it’s okay. It’s zero calories. Zero calories. You can have as much as you want and 
you won’t put on weight.” We’re like, “Okay. We’re at Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as 
the Blue Mosque. And you can see it up there behind me. We’re about to walk in. There’s 
a tiny line, which is good. Apparently, the lines can get really big here. So, 
we’ve come, it’s only 2:00 or 2 2:30, so we’ve come a little bit later than 
expected. Um, but look, as we get in, we’re expected to be given something for myself. 
I’m only wearing quite quite short shorts. Um, and my knees need to be covered, so they’re 
probably going to give me something to cover my legs. Plus, Stephanie is probably going to be 
given a scarf to cover her hair and her head. Um, it’s just for respect for the mosque. And wow, 
every time I look at that, look, breathtaking. Let’s get in there. Great. Thank you. Thank 
you. You’re welcome. Okay, just as expected, I was given this. It’s like a little something 
to put over my knees. A little potato sack. There we go. Covers my knees. Ready to go in. Give me a look. Back a little bit. Yeah. There 
you go. Ready to go. We need to take our shoes off as well. Okay. So, this is the spot 
where we’re expected to take our shoes off. Whoa. The Blue Mosque is one of the most famous mosques 
in the world and it’s got its blue color from Blue Isnik. And it was actually quite controversial 
when it was being built because this mosque has six minets. And it was controversial because 
the only other mosque in the world that had six was the mosque in Mecca. And you can see here 
on the lights around the mosque, they are hanging ostrich eggs. And the reason why they’re hanging 
ostrich eggs is because it’s supposed to be um it’s supposed to help keep away insects and 
spiders. Um, and it’s supposed to be apparently supposed to be good for light reflection. 
So, that’s interesting as well. Obviously, the Blue Mosque is massive for tourism 
here, but it’s also a real mosque. So, people come here, they pray. You can see 
people praying here at the moment. So, it’s not just for the tourism. It’s it’s a real 
mosque, especially on Fridays when um you know, they they shut down the tourism and you can come 
here and you can pray on the Fridays. Heat. Heat. It’s a new day here in Istanbul and today we’re 
going somewhere a little bit different where we haven’t been before. We’re actually heading to 
a different side of the Istanbul. It’s called the Asian side. And to get there, we have 
to catch a ferry to get over the water. Now, we’re currently staying in the is it the 
European side? Yeah, we’re in the European side, which we’re right next to the Galata Tower. Um, so 
yeah, we haven’t been to the Asian side, and we’ve heard some really good things about it. A bit of 
a different uh vibe to the European side. Yeah, it’s supposed to have a specific hill that we 
want to check out. It’s called the Sham Laja. I think that’s how you pronounce it. I double check 
though. But it’s supposed Yeah. And it’s supposed to have really great views of the city, panoramic 
views of the city. And it’s a little bit different because it’s a lot less touristy, which is exactly 
what we want. Yeah. It’s also good for its night life. Apparently, we won’t be there during the 
nighttime, but apparently that’s where um the best place is to go for night life. So, yeah, 
looking forward to checking it out today. Okay, so it’s worked out. We’ve got one of these travel 
cards and it’s a funny story how we got one of these transport cards here in near Samborg. Go to 
how how did it happen? How how did we accidentally buy one of these? I was looking for an ATM and I 
was feeling very overwhelmed. So I asked Steph, I asked you I go, “Go Steph, we need some cash. 
Go to the ATM. Here’s the card.” And I go to the ATM and I’m like, “This looks like a bit of a 
different ATM.” And I couldn’t figure out how to get it in English. And this really kind Turkish 
man, we both didn’t speak the same language, kind of took over the screen for me. And I’m saying 
to Clint, Clint, Clint, come over. But he’s not hearing me. And um yeah, and then I just tapped 
my card. I don’t know what I was thinking. Then all of a sudden, a little travel card pops out 
and I was like, “This is not an ATM, is it?” It was so embarrassing. It’s like I’ve never traveled 
before. Anyways, it’s worked out in our favor cuz we’ve really needed We needed this to get across 
and get the ferry. So, it’s actually worked out. All right, we got about I think we got 
about 15 minutes away from the ferry. Good. Cheese. Yeah. Two. 
Two portions. Two portions. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, look at this. 
So, we’ve just landed here on the other side in Istanbul. Sitting down to one of 
the first places we found and got some burek. We’ve been loving burek a lot 
lately. This one’s just feta cheese, but we generally like to get the ones the feta 
cheese and the spinach. Give this one a go. Oh man. This is good. Thank you. Hello. Can we just look at the Thank you. Oh, Stephanie. A lot of desserts. All right, let’s get 
a table here. This is a nice little spot. Uh, can we please order one 
of the drum scrap and then uh two black tea? Yeah. 
Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Oh my god. So, we ordered and a light 
snack. We wanted to sit down, order a light snack, and we got this behemoth of a wrap with chocolate. 
And I think there’s a brownie in there. I think I think there’s a brownie there. Very intimidating. 
All right. Well, dig in, Steph. Go for it. Go. Let’s see. Let’s see what the inside 
looks like halfway. Oh my god. Oh my god. What is that? What have we ordered? Oh yeah, there is a brownie in here as 
well. Oh my god. What have we ordered? I have no idea. Whatever we’ve ordered, it looks 
ridiculously good. Goodness me. What is that? Like a cream or a cheese cream? Not sure. 
Anyways, let’s give it a taste. Go for it. Yum. Is it good? Good. Yeah. Did you 
get some of the brownie? No, not yet. Oh my gosh, this is so nice. Okay, I 
can’t keep watching you eat it. My turn. What is this? Uh, the crispy. Isn’t 
it Nutella or just normal? I can’t believe we just wanted a little snack 
and we got this thing. Look at that. Wow. I’m actually quite pleasantly surprised 
on this side of this. It’s a lot more relaxing, a lot more of the locals um rather than a lot of 
tourism. And surprisingly, it’s a lot cheaper, don’t you think? Yeah, it is. Yeah. But still, you 
got steps, you’ve got hills, and you were saying before, was it this side built on seven hills? 
All of Istanbul is built on seven hills. So yeah, no matter where you turn, no matter what corner 
you turn, there is a hill or a bunch of stairs to tackle. So got to be prepared for that. With the 
combine that with the heat, it’s um a bit tricky sometimes. At least it’s not humidity. It’s not 
humid here. It’s just like a dry heat. Heat. Yeah, just a dry hit. I mean, look at look at the stairs 
that we’re we’re walking up now. But if you are in Istanbul, I think it’s definitely a must to come 
to this side. Um because it’s a lot quieter life, a lot more cafes, a lot more smaller 
restaurants and little boutiques. We’re back on the European side of Istanbul. And 
one of our main recommendations that everybody keeps telling us to go to if we come back to 
Istanbul is we have to try the San Sebastian cheesecake here. Now, we’ve tried the San 
Sebastian cheesecake in San Sebastian, but apparently we have to try here as well. So, 
the good news is the restaurant that actually serves one of the best San Sebastian 
cheesecakes is only a street away from our hotel. So, we’re heading there now. And 
it’s overlooking the is how do you say it’s the Galada Galada Tower? Yeah, the Galada 
Tower. And you can see it right there. So, it looks good. Let’s get this cheesecake. 
Let’s see if this is as good as the real thing. Perfect. Thank you. What a view. Nice. Right. Thank you. That looks good. Let’s give this a go. So creamy. You’re going to love this step. So 
creamy. Tastes exactly like the one in San Sebastian as well. I kind of wish that 
we got the chocolate sprinkled on the top now. But I mean for our lunch we had that other chocolate wrap. So I think 
I’m all chocolateed out. It’s good. As good as the real thing in San 
Sebastian. I thought this one’s a bit firmer. You remember the one in San 
Sebastian was really um super fresh. Yeah, just freshly baked. Just made it. Yeah. Yeah. 
But this is still really nice. What do you think, Steph? as good as the real San Sebastian cake or 
not as good? Probably not as good because we’re not in San Sebastian on the streets eating it like 
we were when we had it there. But it was still really good. The atmosphere is really fun on that 
street looking up at the Galada Tower. Um yeah, I I I think you’re right. It definitely it 
hits different from having the San Sebastian cheesecake when you’re in San Sebastian, but you 
still got that Eastern Bull vibe. Yeah. Yeah. Unfortunately, our time here in Istanbul has 
come to an end and I’m a little bit devastated to be leaving, but I can tell you one thing. 
I’m definitely going to be back 100%. I love Istanbul. I love everything about it. Love 
the food. Like the atmosphere. Atmosphere is fantastic during the day and during the night. 
My favorite thing I think that I’m going to miss when I leave Eastanbul is probably the food and 
specifically the goatee. And I love goes. I get it every single week when I’m back in Australia. 
What about you, Seth? What do you reckon? What was your number one thing that you you loved 
here or event or thing that we did here? I would say doing the walking tour on the first 
day here was a really good idea. Gave us a really good intro into Istanbul from a local 
perspective. Um, we got a bit of history. We got some food recommendations. So, yeah, that was 
really good. 100%. I I recommend that definitely because like Steve said, we try and always do 
a walking tour on our very first stage that we get here because then we can actually see all 
the history that the city has to offer. Yeah, exactly. All right. Well, guys, we’ll 
see you next time. See you then.

Istanbul has to be one of the most incredible cities we have ever visited. In this video, we explore the Blue Mosque, eat way too much Turkish delight, get lost in the maze of the Grand Bazaar, and wander through the streets soaking up everything this city has to offer.

From the call to prayer echoing through the mosques to the smell of spices drifting out of little shops, Istanbul is one of those places that just pulls you in. It’s busy, beautiful, chaotic, and completely unforgettable.

If you’ve been thinking about visiting Turkey, hopefully this gives you a taste of what it’s really like here. And if you’ve already been — let me know your favorite memory of Istanbul in the comments!