Honeymoon notes on TURKEY from our good friend Holly!

Girls - you must get to Turkey! I absolutely loved it. It's a fabulous combination of historical/cultural tourism and European luxury.

Bodrum

We started our honeymoon on the Bodrum peninsula which ıs about an hour flıght from Istanbul. It's the vacation spot for ritzy Turks. The place we stayed (which was recommended to us by a friend who is a ritzy Turk) was the Macakizi -- it is AMAZING. On a bay on the Aegean Sea, it's a large rambling property that kind of spills down to the water where there are a couple bars and a deck restaurant wıth incredible views.

And then right on the water is the "beach" which is a series of decks and pontoons where people lounge in the sun all day and eat and drink before heading out to the waterfront clubs until dawn. A DJ plays a great mix of mellow music at just the right volume all day.

The whole place feels very special, very tucked away, and very sophisticated. We were there in the run-up to high season -- between July and August it's packed. I wish we had been there maybe a couple weeks later (mid-June) to see some of it because apparently it's ridıiulous - the St Tropez of Turkey. But nothıng feels overdone and it all has a lovely, slightly rustic Medıtteranean feel, with lizards scampering around and beautiful tropical flowers blooming through cracks in a stone wall.

I simply adored this place. And the food is incredible -- the dining at the restaurant is top-notch but even the beach bar had wonderful salads and drinks (the lemony bulgur salad wıth fresh calamari and the appleade cocktail in partıcular). They provide complimentary breakfast until 11 which is really nice -- lattes, fresh juice, Turkish cheeses, ripe tomatoes, bread, olives, yogurt -- in the open-air lounge/deck area.

One night we took a little speed boat over to a resort across the bay called Kuum (I think it's the next-nicest after Macakizi but we didn't see much of it) to their Restaurant 29. The restaurant ıs the same ıdea as Macakızı -- decks buılt out over the water so your boat takes you lıterally rıght up to your table.

Pulling up to the restaurant - which is a 'serious' white-tablecloth restaurant and was beautifully lit at night - was seriously one of the most gorgeous and unique experiences of my life. And then the meal was truly amazing - I said I thought the fısh mıght be the best I'd ever had.

I could have stayed at Macaiızi for a long, long time. I wıll definitely go back. And I have to say I think it was a brilliant selection - some other places we checked out around Bodrum just didn't have the feeling of Macakizi. I'm usually not a beach/sun person and can get a little restless, and maybe it was just coming down from the wedding, but I got SO chill just laying around the "beach" - had NO desire to go anywhere or do anything.

We rented a car to get from Bodrum airport to Macaiızi (about 40 minutes) and while I would recommend doing that, the drive in is a bit confusing. Signage is minimal and not many people speak English or have heard of the resort. Make sure they send you directıons!

Istanbul

We stayed at the Four Seasons Bosphorus which is an incredible property. The hotel and rooms are lovely (in the way all Four Seasons are) but the thing that makes it outstanding is the huge deck (almost like a marble lawn) and pool rıght on the Bosphorus.

We were chatting wıth our new hotel-developer pal at Macakizi about hotels in Istanbul and his take was that the Four Seasons is 'safe' but there aren't enough high-end properties in Istanbul. Basically 5-star travellers stay either at the FS or the Ciragan Palace (pronounced cha-ron) which is even more opulent.

Andrew said he likes the Witt Hotel which is in Beyoglu nearby - I cant speak to it but I trust his taste!

We did all the obligatory sights in Istanbul - Blue Mosque, Cistern, Aya Sofia, but to me the Topkapi Palace really stood out as the one must-see if you don't want to get sucked down the rabbit hole of endless sight-seeing. You could spend all day there - it's the old palace of the Ottoman Empire and really lovely.

All these places are over-run with tourists not surprisingly. The Grand Bazaar is cool but a little overwhelmıng - you have to go in with a strategy and a goal (carpets or gold jewelry or Iznik tiles) otherwise it can be too much. There is a vendor close to the center of the Bazaar who sells beautiful Ikat fabrics -- I am completely in love wıth Ikat so this alone made the whole trip to Turkey worth it! I bought loads.

And make sure to haggle a little bit - I think I got around 25 percent off the asking price.  We also went on the recommendation of Tryfan's friend to a woman in the Ortakoy neighborhood who sells kilim rugs and has a beautiful collection. I don't even really like kilim and I ended up buying one. She also has very nice ikat so of course I had to buy more of that! Her name is Hazal, she speaks perfect English and is obviously passionate about textiles. Spending a couple hours in her shop is delightful. I don't have an address, but if you go to the center of Ortakoy she's in the tangle of shops and restaurants by the water.

Traffic is horrifying ın Istanbul and I highly recommend taking the tram around the Old City. It's super easy and very nice -- you just put a couple Turkısh lira in the automatic ticket machınes and hop on. Tryfan and I were so happy to discover this.

Defınitely get a dinner one night in the Pera district (the old name for Beyoglu, seems to be what people call it)-- very happening, young neighborhood with tons of meyhane (basically really crowded cafes) and we couldn't believe how PACKED it was with people enjoying a night out. Turks like to party, that's for sure. The center of the district is the Marmara Pera (also called Pera Palace) Hotel. We liked a bar called Good Mood and a restaurant called Ece, but I think its better just to walk around and see what looks good. There are also some cute-looking boutique hotels over there. I seem to remember Tulip City being one of them.

My one regret was not getting up to the Bebek neighborhood -- its supposed to be cute high-end cafes and shops on the water, but we just ran out of time. There is SO much to do in Istanbul.

Unfortunately I don't really have any good Istanbul restaurant recommendations. We had a bunch from friends, but I can't say any was a homerun. Turkey is a GREAT eating country, and I think even mediocre Turkish food is still pretty good, but by far the best restaurants we ate at were in Bodrum. Tryf and I both love to eat, and I feel like we never quite hit the bullseye in Istanbul.

Also, getting a hammam treatment is a must while in Turkey -- its basically a big steam room where they scrub you down.

XOXO,

Holly