Okay Okay Okay let me just say that I don’t usually blog about one particular spot in my travel diary but when a place stands out to me and then I will do a dedicated post to it  like I did the time I visited Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and now I kind of feel like I have to return to the UAE because Madame Tussauds will be opening in Dubai this year! Anywayyyyy… I feel like Madame Tussauds Istanbul deserves a post on it’s own because it has always been on my bucket list. I am not exactly a “celeb crush” type of person but I do admire some of these individuals’s craft. Madame Tussauds is situated in one of my favourite spots in Istanbul, Istikal Avenue. You won’t miss it should you find yourself wandering down the 1.4km walkway, nestled between the many boutiques, nightclubs, cinemas and cafés that are on that stretch. Like I mentioned in last week’s post about wandering the streets on Istanbul on foot, we got an awesome deal where we bought our Madame Tussauds tickets and paid half price at Sea Life Istanbul. Now if you’re in the business of saving money while traveling but not skimping on really exploring what your destination has to offer, I would suggest trying to book your tickets online for majority of your exploring and sightseeing (research it first to see which option would be cheaper). From my experience both internationally and locally, I found that ticket sales online for everything is much cheaper. We chose the “Two attraction ticket” when we visited Madame Tussauds and Sea Life and it cost me 159₺ (R428.29) if we had bought it online it would’ve cost 127₺ (R342.10). Initially you can also opt to just buy the single Madame Tussauds ticket which is 94₺ (R253.21) or online for 75₺ (R202.03). I wish we had booked our tickets online but alas – now I know for a next time. Now I know or assume that if you’re reading this then you know what Madame Tussauds is but if not, NO BIGGIE! It is a wax museum in London with smaller museums in other cities around the world and was created by the famous wax sculptor Marie Tussaud. In the museums you will find many “celebrities” from musicians to actors/actresses, to sport stars and other iconic individuals. As you walk into the doors of Madame Tussauds Istanbul, you’re greeted by Rihanna. Lady Fenty herself! I have a picture with her too but I basically just wanted to skip all of the hooha and get to Audrey Hepburn because I didn’t make it to our ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ in 1961 so we decided to meetup in Istanbul where she welcomed me with a lovely pastry and tea. Twas wonderful, I tell you! Just wonderful! Let me hit the breaks for just a second before I continue on about the other celebrities that I met up with that breezy but warm Saturday afternoon. I love the props that you wear/interact with when “meeting” each of the celebs. For example; when you meet Michael Jackson, you’ll find the famous black sequined jacket that he was known for. When you meet Albert Einstein you will find a crazy hair wig (like his hair was) that you can wear and then when you meet E.T you can get on the back of the bicycle where he sits in the basket in the front and also wear the red hoodie that Elliot wears in the movie. *Gets back into character* Along the way I saw Spiderman and decided to snap a picture that I later sold to The Daily Bugle. Spidie and I are totally cool though so he didn’t mind me snapping his picture. Side note: I wish they had put a little bit more thought into Spiderman’s display here in Istanbul like they did at Madame Tussauds Sydney. Okay… let me explain this shot before passing any judgement. There is NOTHING to explain 😀 😉 I just wanted to see what the BIG deal was and what Hailey and Selena was ON about. Jokes aside, Justin won’t be happy with me mocking his junk on the internet so I am going to refrain from it…. not!

There were many more celebrities that I absolutely loved taking pictures with but I want to keep it a bit of a mystery seeing that I might have readers that would like to visit Madame Tussauds Istanbul in the future. There really are iconic figures that spills across many different eras that basically everybody would be able to recognize. Madame Tussauds is a place to visit for anybody of any age and it would also make for a great family outing. Apart from the many international celebrities that we all know, there were a few Turkish celebs as well and I loved reading their stories at some of the displays.

I really loved my visit to the wax museum and it stands as one of the highlights of my trip. The next Madame Tussauds that I would like to visit? Amsterdam! I want to get reacquainted with Justin Jieber and make amends with him for peeping in his Calvins!