The view from our hotel window. We are steps away from all the big sights…Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya and the Topkapi Palace. Istanbul is a maze of cobbled streets. They drive like maniacs…so you best be quick on your feet! We walked past food carts selling roasted corn cobs, chestnuts, simit (sesame-encrusted bread ring) and fresh fruits. The touts do their best to talk you into their establishments.. “Turn left here!” “You cannot refuse me!” We quickly learned which streets to avoid!
The Grand Bazaar. You could spend days wandering around these halls! There are over 4000 shops selling carpets, belly-dancing costumes, copperware, leather goods, fabric, gold, silver jewelry, antiques, colorful lamps, musical instruments…and much more!
We took a ferry down the Bosphorus strait. I would have more pictures…but my foggy, jet lagged brain allowed me to delete them all that night. Yes…argh. The Bosphorous runs from the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea. One shore is Europe and the other shore is Asia. We passed amazing palaces, yachts, mosques, palatial residences and fish restaurants.
The next morning we headed over to the Blue Mosque. There are numerous mosques in Istanbul (which makes for an incredible skyline) but this is one of the most famous. The courtyard is the biggest of any Ottoman mosque.
The interior has 260 windows, and the central prayer space is huge. I had brought a shoulder wrap and a skirt that covered my knees, but still had to add a wrap that reached the floor. A head covering was not required.
Aya Sofya…”church of the divine wisdom” which is across from the Blue Mosque.
The streets surrounding the Grand Bazaar. A crush of different cultures…Greeks, Europeans, Muslims in full burka’s…we just enjoyed walking around.
The Spice Bazaar…you could smell it before even entering! Spices, nuts, honey-comb, olive-oil soaps, figs, Turkish delight….heaven!
We ventured into the cool depths of the Basilica Cistern in the afternoon. The cistern lays beneath one of the great squares, and was used to store water for the Great Palace. It was forgotten until 1545 when locals discovered they could miraculously obtain water by lowering buckets in their basement floors! As you walk through water drips from the vaulted ceiling..and you can see ghostly carp swimming by....
Our last night we took a train and tram to Beyoglu...the neighborhood was strung with lights and full of action! We had an incredible dinner...eggplant meze, sea bass wrapped in chard, spicy meatballs, etc. We then found a rooftop bar with views of the city. Now on to the remains of a Roman city in Ephesus!
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