Oct. 28 – Istanbul, Turkey – Feeling better and the voice seems to be almost back. Good thing since today we have a lot to see in such a short time. I arranged for a private tour in Istanbul. Istanbul was once called Constantinople. Istanbul is the only city in the world located on two continents, Europe and Asia. Our first stop was to the Topkapi Palace. The construction of the palace started in 1460. Unfortunately we were unable to take pictures inside of all the jewelry and valuable artworks and especially the Topkapi diamond.
Hagia Sofia aka St. Sophia, which was once a catholic church, and then later it was turned into a mosque and now a museum. Islamic faith does not permit graphic images in a place of worship. Since this was once a catholic church and it had beautiful mosaics inside, the mosaics were not destroyed when it was turned into a mosque, and they were plastered over. Once the building was turned into a museum in 1936 the mosaics were uncovered and restored.
Blue Mosque is one of the city’s most recognized landmarks. This 17th century mosque is known for its domes and the six minarets. Inside there are more than 20,000 blue Iznik tiles in 33 shades.
The Grand Bazaar is the largest covered market in the world with 65 winding streets and 4,000 shops and it has its own school, mosque, post office, banks and police station. Everyone wanted you to buy from their store, since what they sold was the best. Never pay full price, always bargain. They would come down about half of what their original price was.
The Hippadrome is the square where they once held chariot races. The monuments on the site are a snake column and an obelisk from the Temple of Karnak.
Our guide took us to one of the carpet stores. There were rolled carpets everywhere and in this store there had to be 20 different rooms for carpet demonstrations. It was amazing seeing all the different designs and the time that it takes to make one of these carpets. During the demonstration they would turn the carpet around and the colors would change. They would either be darker or lighter depending on which way they started. I guess that is where the “Magic Carpet” comes from. They were also a little bit out of my price range. I would have loved to have bought one though.
On our way back to the ship we bought some Baklava and Jay, of course, bought a Turkish beer. We had a long day and at least we could sleep late the next day since we are not due in port until 12:00.
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| Sunset as we were leaving Istanbul |
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