Aug. 14 - Arrived Istanbul at the new Ataturk airport mid-afternoon. Met Connie from Sydney, Australia as we were picked up by our tour group. Checked-in at Hotel Kervansaray. Dinner was nearby where I had my first chance to taste their hors d'ouerves called mese and lamb kebabs.
Aug. 15 - At breakfast, I met up with Cristina from the Egypt tour, Connie and Jennifer. We decided to wander around towards the Bosphorus Strait, Grand Bazaar, Egyptian Spice Market and "Broadway" (window shopping). Grand Bazaar, consists of a maze of narrow streets where you can buy a carpet, or just about anything under the sun. Also, you will find an immense selection of spices like saffron, oregano, mint, cinnamon, special Turkish spices, Turkish Viagra (taste good though!). We tried to get a ferry cruise off the Bosphorus Strait but our haggling tactics were not that convincing to get a reasonable fare. Met the rest of the group and our tour leader that evening. The fact that he brought us to a cheap and doggie place for pizza led me to believe that he is not the right person I expected to be for this job!
Aug. 16 - Day 1 of our tour begins. We met Selim, our official tour guide. He gave a quick orientation of the city and the history of Istanbul. Istanbul was formerly known as Byzantion (Byzantium in Latin) and its dateline spans 3000 years. Our first stop was the Suleymaniye Mosque. It is the largest mosque in Istanbul and was built between 1550-1557 AD by Sultan Suleyman I - "Suleyman the Magnificent". Suleyman was the richest and most powerful Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Next stop was what's left of the hippodrome during the Byzantine Era near the Blue Mosque with a capacity of 10,000 people and an obelisk imported during their conquers of Egypt. Then to the Blue Mosque where in 1606, Sultan Ahmet wanted to build a mosque bigger, more majestic and more beautiful than the Hagia Sophia Church, and he did indeed build a mosque. The Blue mosque is called "Sultan Ahmet Camii" in Turkish, which means the Mosque of Sultan Ahmet. It was built in the classic Ottoman style and is located just in front of Hagia Sophia Church. The Blue mosque, as the name implies, was decorated with blue tiles and also glass-work with the same color. There are no images or statues inside the mosque since Islam forbids praying to images of any kind.
Just in front of the Blue Mosque is Aya Sofya (Hagia Sophia), the Church of the Divine Wisdom, was built by Emperor Justinian in 548 when it was the greatest church in Christendom. The layout and decoration is typical of a church of the Byzantine period. After the Turks took over Constantinople in 1453 AD., Saint Sophia was turned into a mosque and four minarets (the tall, thin towers), were added to it. Today Saint Sophia is neither a church nor a mosque but a museum. When you are inside, you can sense the influence of both the Catholic and Islamic religions and cultures in its decorations and frescos.
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The Topkapi Palace was the official residence of the Sultans for three centuries. Topkapi means round (top) door (kapi). After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Mehmet II - the conqueror, built this gorgeous palace. Today the palace complex is a large museum with many exhibition rooms. You can see gold objects (thrones, tea cups, knives, forks and spoons, cradles, jewelry, kilos and more kilos of gold work) with precious stones as decoration, silver, ceramic, miniatures, cloths and object which are sacred to Islam (among them you can see the beard and foot print of Mohammed the Prophet). The Harem at Topkapi Palace is full of mystery and stories. It is the highlight of the visit if you are able to get in, which we were not able to due to long lines of crowd.
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Jennifer and I had a sandwiched lunch in a patio overlooking the Bosphorus Strait. As we left the palace, we were afforded some entertainment compliments of the Janissary Band.
We then proceeded to the Grand Bazaar and the Egyptian Spice Market. Here our tour leader was more emphatic of placating these place where you should buy jeans and pirated "CDs" rather than the significant or history of these markets. Since I have been there the day before, I became the lead escort for some ladies in our group who really wanted to see these markets. After which David, a fellow Los Angeles bro, found ourselves seating in a cafe enjoying a "cay" (apple tea). That was really good!
Jennifer and Dana decided to stay behind to do some serious shopping.
Dinner somewhere really nice this time, with Angelys, Dana, Connie, Jennifer. "Baklava" (a sweet cake made out of honey and milfoil and filled with nuts - pistachios, chestnuts, almonds...), and "lokum" (a sweet made out of sugar, flour and again delicious nuts, pistachios, almonds and cut into small square pieces) were for deserts.
We caught up the rest of the group in a local bar near our hotel. Met the sisters, Lou-Ann and Laurie from Toronto, Canada.
Aug. 25 - Back to Istanbul. More shopping at the Egyptian bazaar. Our last night out. Dinner and show at the Kervansaray Hotel. Belly dancing, whirling dervishes and cultural dance shows from various regions of Turkey. Then onto an Irish Pub. Goodbye to everyone. Left for Nice via Milan.
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Allaha ismarladik!
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