Ashes in the Light

One thing I remember most about Istanbul wasn’t just the places we visited — it was the meals in between.

Somehow, food felt woven into every part of the trip.

Long walks usually ended with us sitting down somewhere for tea or dinner. Cold weather made warm food taste even more comforting, and even the simplest meals somehow felt memorable when paired with unfamiliar streets and tired feet after a full day out.

There were kebabs, grilled fish, soups, breads fresh out of the oven, and little dessert stops whenever we happened to walk past something that looked too good to ignore.

And of course, tea.

So much tea.

At some point during the trip, we stopped by a rooftop café overlooking the city. I still remember sitting there quietly with a glass of Turkish tea in hand while looking out over Istanbul’s skyline — mosques scattered across the horizon, ferries moving slowly across the Bosphorus, and the city stretching endlessly beneath the evening light.

It’s strange how moments like these end up staying with you the longest.

Not because anything particularly dramatic happened, but because for a brief moment, everything felt still.

No rushing.
No itinerary.
No trying to maximise the day.

Just sitting there, slightly tired from walking, sipping tea slowly while the city moved around us.

I think that became one of my favourite parts of travelling during this honeymoon — learning to enjoy the pauses as much as the destinations themselves.

And honestly, some of the best memories weren’t the major attractions at all.

Sometimes, they were simply meals shared somewhere high above the city.