London to Istanbul – Epic Rail Journey : Day 10

The journey from the border check to the main station was a slow trundle and we arrived later than expected. The first task was to sort out a travel card each and we were prepared for the process thanks to The Man in Seat 61 only to find that, like the border crossing, things had changed. Instead of a cash only process the new machines happily accepted contactless cards and it took no time at all to complete the necessary transaction. We could now catch the metro in to the city centre and find our hotel. Despite our earlier than check-in time arrival they were able to provide us with our room where we opted to rest after the broken nights sleep we had just had.

So close! If you know, you know…

Eventually we headed out to start exploring and although it was still warm the proximity of the water meant that there was very nice cool breeze. Opting to keep the mosques and main sites until the next day we started off with a pleasant stroll through the nearby Gülhane Park and down to the waterfront. We spent quite a bit of time just sitting by the Bosphorus and enjoying the fact that the heat wasn’t oppressive for the first time in a week.

From here we took a tram out to the Galataport area where our target was the only planned bar of the day. Galataport is a large shopping complex alongside the berths for the huge cruise liners that visit. After passing the airport style security to gain access and then navigating the maze of alleys full of designer outlets we found The Populist Galataport. This is one of two taprooms for the Istanbul based Torch Brewery and it is right next to the berths with a massive Virgin cruise ship towering over us. There were 12 of their beers on tap covering a range of styles, and as we had no plans to go anywhere else that night we worked our way through them all whilst eating.

The Populist Galataport, Galataport, Kılıçali Paşa Mah. Meclis-i Mebusan Cad L5 Blok No: 8/2D Kat: Zemin +1, 34433 Beyoğlu/İstanbul, Türkiye

Then it was back to the hotel where we enjoyed a couple of beers in their rooftop bar before falling in to a much needed sleep.