May
31 – Istanbul
Istanbul,
well what can I say? I had no preconceptions but I can see how this city gets
under your skin. What a mix of noise, sights, sounds and smells greeted us as
we crawled our way through Sunday traffic on the HoHo bus. We had pre-purchased
our ticket online. Really glad we did because not all buses have a ticket
seller. Huge numbers of cruise passengers were left at the kerb!
We
had been told Taksim Square was closed because of 'demonstrations'. Elections
are due and I suspect they were political rallies. The modern city
was awash with flags and posters and there were vehicles everywhere with loud
speakers blaring out their message!
I
believe there was also a football final being played in the local league. This
added to the colour and noise.
It
was a terrific way to spend an afternoon which would otherwise have been rather
tiring being cheek by jowl with the local populace all out and about enjoying their Sunday.
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| Sailing through the Sea of Marmara. Large Turkish flags fly everywhere |
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| Aya Sofya as we sail past |
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| Topkapi Palace |
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| Galata Tower |
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| Bosphorus Bridge |
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| The Bosphorus and Golden Horn are very busy waterways |
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| The Dolmabache Palace |
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| Almost every street was strung with political flags |
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| The Bosphorus Bridge joining east and west |
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| Beautiful mosques at every turn rising above the suburbs |
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| Crossing the bridge we can see the old city and our ship |
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| The sign says it all |
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| A former naval academy |
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| The busy Galata Bridge crossing the Golden Horn |
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| Lots of vans blaring out the political messages in every public space you could find |
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| Sunday is obviously a family day. These parklands stretching the length of the Golden Horn were filled with families barbecuing on little portable units. Everyone has a special 'fan' to get the coals going. These are readily available in the markets! |
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| Yes - another wedding. Not entirely sure if the bride was making adjustment, but we were passing on the bus so could not see properly |
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| Most families take along a hammock or two - again these are common place items in the markets |
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| On the right a store selling barbecues. I'm sure you could buy a coal fan there!!! |
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| Our hotel - aptly named Blue House Hotel |
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| View from our cabin as the sun went down on our last night on board |
June
1 – Istanbul
After
a very easy disembarkation process, our transfer arrived on time and took us to
our hotel. We had already passed this twice on our Big Bus tour yesterday. What
a fantastic location. Just goes to show what personal recommendation can do!
Our
room was ready soon after we arrived and after a personal tour of the hotel, we
headed out for the start of a closer inspection of the sights. First up, the Blue
Mosque is the view we have from our room window, so, only steps away. This is
very quickly gone through (the queue was minimal). It's quite impressive. I'll
hold judgement on where it fits into the impressive sights in this city.
We
still had time on our bus ticket so hopped on again so we could visit Taksim
Square. An unremarkable place, but obviously a very important meeting point for
locals.
We
hopped off the bus at the Spice market (Egyptian market). What a delightful place. I'm sure there is so much
more that we did not see, but we spent a pleasant time wandering through in the
general direction of the Grand Bazaar. I actually bought some 'harem' pants
which will come in very handy for travelling – so comfortable.
The
Grand Bazaar is also fascinating, though not the sort of shops we would
frequent, not being interested in jewellery and fashion. I did, however, find
Turkish apple tea and after sampling some came away with a couple of different
boxes along with a couple of the glasses usually used to serve the tea in.
We
found our way in and found our way out well enough. Having a map definitely
helps as it is very much what they say you can lose direction and get lost very
easily. It was easy to follow the tram line back to our hotel where we took a
well earned rest before heading out for a Bosphorus cruise. More traditional
experiences to come!
We
decided to book ourselves on a dinner cruise of the Bosphorus. This was not
just to see the city from a different perspective at night, but also to see
some traditional (if touristy) dancing.
The
meal was not bad for this sort of thing. The dancing was very enjoyable. It was
actually quite hilarious at times seeing some of the men interacting with the
belly dancer! The guests were asked where they were from and provided with a
national flag. It was a very different group to what we are used. People from
Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Bangladesh (boy do they know how to
party!) UK, Chile, USA, Yemen, Iran and us.
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| The beautiful Blue Mosque |
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| It is always up above where the beauty really lies |
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| Appropriate dress has now become almost second nature! |
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| This amazing gold and silver model was presented to Turkey by the Sultan of Saudi Arabia |
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| Explanation of the model in photo above |
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| Notice the wires from the minaret - they don't have to call the faithful quite so loudly these days - it's done over loudspeakers |
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| This local street food became a firm favourite of mine. Bread baked in a circle sprinkled with sesame or poppy seeds then halved and spread with cream cheese, butter or Nutella! I loved the cream cheese variety. Not bad for $1 |
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| Aya Sofya, a Christian church, a mosque and now a beautiful museum which is under constant restoration |
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| We walked often through this lovely park between the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sofya. In the evening it is very colourful with the fountains all lit up and the floodlights on the buildings |
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| As we went by on the same route taken the day before on the HoHo but, we could see Rhapsody still docked |
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| This clock tower is part of the Dolmabache Palace |
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| Tough job but someone has to do it |
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| Crossing the Bosphorus Bridge |
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| And this on the return trip |
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| Unfortunately this is a real problem in this country |
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| The unremarkable Taksim Square |
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| A war memorial in the square |
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| These floral coronets are not made of flowers these days and you will often children wearing them |
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| An old tram trundles into the square with local boys making mischief |
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| The streets are full of people - mostly tourists |
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| A commonplace sight |
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| The flag of Turkey which you see everywhere |
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| This is the oldest hotel in Istanbul which has just been restored - Pera Palace |
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| The Egyptian or Spice market/bazaar has all manner of goods and food stuffs for sale. It's a wonderful place to wander through |
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| Oh well, let's go - tackling one entry to the Grand Bazaar |
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| Inside the Grand Bazaar |
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| Flags celebrating the win by the football team |
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| This is the oldest part of the Grand Bazaar, notice the different ceiling |
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| Bought some lovely Turkish apple tea here |
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| Costumes for all occasions! |
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| Back outside the street is just as congested |
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| We found our way out through this gate which is exactly where we planned to come out! |
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| This man is making ice cream. Didn't try it but the making is fascinating with the sugary substance being thrown about rather like candy. It was soft enough to eat though |
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| Back at Sultan Ahmet Park. |
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| View from our hotel terrace overlooking the Sea of Marmara |
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| One last glimpse of Rhapsody as she sails for the Greek Islands |
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| Our evening cruise was on a less substantial vessel, lovely nonetheless |
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| A whirling dirvish dancer |
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| Some typical Turkish dancers |
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| The inevitable belly dancer. The gentleman front left was constantly filming! Later admonished by his wife! |
June2
– Istanbul
Despite
a late night, we were up promptly so we could get ahead of the pack. There was
only a short line when we arrived at the Aya Sofya (Haiga Sophia), once a
church, then a mosque and now a museum. It's pretty impressive inside with an
amazing restoration process still underway.
We decided to look in the upper area first and very glad we did. By the time we came downstairs the crowds were building.
Then
we went across to the Basilica cistern. This is a fascinating place to visit.
What an amazing achievement to build such a huge area to guarantee a water
supply. Sure slaves were used to build most of such structures, but the simple
engineering achievement is astonishing.
We
decided to return to the hotel for a rest as we had planned to visit another
mosque in the afternon and the prayer times were such that it would be closed
soon after we arrived if we went up there straight away. The rest was welcome.
Refreshed
we took the tram up the hill to the Grand Bazaar stop and walked the remainder
of the way to the Suleymaniye mosque. This mosque stands high up on the hill
and dominates Istanbul's skyline. It is actually more beautiful in many ways
than the Blue Mosque which possibly gets its reputation because of its position
as much as its history.There are lovely gardens to meander through as well as a cemetery. We spent more time here than we did in the Blue Mosque which is really - queue up, remove your shoes, go inside and leave!
After
our visit we planned a return route which took us down to the waterfront. From
the top of the hill we decided to simply keep walking down as this would
eventually get us to where we needed to be. The route took us along lots of
local streets with shops selling every day wares. Eventually we ended up back
in one of the many streets of the Egyptian/Spice market. I got to try another
local street stall snack which was quite yummy. Everyone is so friendly and
generous.
We
decided to walk across the Galata bridge to catch the tram just for the
experience. Fisherman everywhere with rods hanging over the edge catching
sardines. The tram was packed with most of the seats being taken by men! No
standing for women (pregnant or otherwise) or the elderly! One poor gentleman with a cane was hanging on for dear life! Back at our stop we
wandered through the local Arasta bazaar then headed back to the hotel.
It's
been a super couple of days and our planned itinerary really helped get through
what we wanted to see in a reasonably relaxed time. It is certainly a city I
would not hesitate to recommend to anyone to visit and would be happy to return.
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| The winding rocky pathway which leads to the top gallery of the Aya Sofya |
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Looking back along the colonnaded main entry
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| The tops (or capitals) of these columns have inscribed in the intricate work the initials of Justinianus after the Emperor ruling Constantinople in the 6th century AD and who commissioned the work |
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| The painstaking work to remove the plaster which covered the Christian decoration when the building became a mosque reveals these rich decorations ... |
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| and gold mosaics |
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| The famous multi-winged angel |
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| The washing station |
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| This is a phenomenal piece of architecture |
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| One of the famous medusa heads |
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| It is not known why they have been used as the base for a couple of columns, though there is much speculation |
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| Sulemaniye Mosque |
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| View from the walls surrounding the mosque |
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| The decorations of the domes here are beautiful |
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| Shoes back on, scarf off, exiting the mosque |
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| Think about it! |
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| Tombstones had a variety of headwear types on the top |
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| The tombs of Sultan Suleyman 1, his wife, daughter and sister |
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| The mausoleum |
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| This is a bath house just in the lane behind the mosque |
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| Back in the local streets, where homewares are on display |
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| This shop sells the evil eye in all shapes and forms |
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| The waterfront on the Golden Horn adjacent to the Galata Bridge. You can just see the riot police in the centre. Why they were there - who knows, everyone seemed to be going about their business! |
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| On the Galata bridge with the tower in the background |
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| Bunnings Istanbul style! |
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| Back at Sultanahmet |
June
3 – Istanbul
Our last day was set aside for the Topkapi Palace. The No.1 sight in Istanbul and rightly so. This huge museum could easily have half a day dedicated to seeing everything. As it was we managed possibly 2/3rd and that included the Harem - which is a MUST. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, however, where some of the most treasured items are housed, photographs are not allowed.
