HIDDEN GEM IN THE GRAND BAZAAR


" Art is something that liberates your soul"
                                             Keith Haring

That is exactly how I felt after entering this beautiful cafe - liberated. There was something magical in the air, maybe it was the smell of the upcoming rainstorm. I can't really describe it...
The original idea was to visit the rooftop of Buyuk Valide Han. You have probably seen at least one Hollywood movie shot there - one of the recent ones are The James Bond movie Skyfall and Taken 2. Unfortunately, the government officially closed the access to the rooftop, which became very popular in the last few years thanks to Instagram. Being built in the 17th century, it was clearly not the safest place to climb on, and maybe closing it was not that a bad thing. Anyway, we were happy to find this beautiful cozy cafe instead. The room where the photos are taken belonged to Sultan Murad IV's mother and the Ottoman building accommodated thousands of traveling merchants and their animals for more than 350 years. 
If you are planning to visit the cafe, you should know that it's not only instagrammable, but also serves the best homemade lemonade that I have tried in Istanbul. Plus you get free chocolate cookies with it. I will be surely going back soon.