Istanbul Part 1
The last part of Carole's birthday celebrations was our trip to Istanbul. We flew to Istanbul on Monday 21st April, coming back on the Friday.
We had a fantastic trip, not only are the sights amazing but the people were lovely. We chatted to people from Turkey, Turkmenistan, Egypt, Georgia and one guy from Palmyra in Syria (his home town has really not had a happy time of late). Istanbul is a true melting pot for south east Europe and northern Asia. They all talked about how welcoming Istanbul can be.
And why wouldn't you be drooling! the cakes on the bottom shelf were a match for anything we've seen in the best cake shops in France.
The last part of Carole's birthday celebrations was our trip to Istanbul. We flew to Istanbul on Monday 21st April, coming back on the Friday.
We had a fantastic trip, not only are the sights amazing but the people were lovely. We chatted to people from Turkey, Turkmenistan, Egypt, Georgia and one guy from Palmyra in Syria (his home town has really not had a happy time of late). Istanbul is a true melting pot for south east Europe and northern Asia. They all talked about how welcoming Istanbul can be.
This is the view of the Blue Mosque from the hotel terrace, its called the Blue Mosque due to the blue tiles inside the main prayer hall.
More views of the Blue Mosque.
Security was not an issue in Istanbul, in fact the whole place felt incredibly safe, we did our usual wandering around without any concerns.
Just the start of the sugar overload we suffered!
Fishing on the banks of the Bosphorus, one of the many, many ferries in the background. The buildings on the other side are in new Istanbul, still on the European side but across the Horn of the Bosphorus.
Lots of street food sellers around, this one selling beautifully prepared sweet chestnuts, cut in such a way that they popped out of the shell, excellently cooked.
These strange boats are actually kitchens selling the local snack of grilled fish sandwiches with turnip juice and mixed pickle.
The sandwich was good, the juice is definitely an acquired taste that we aren't too bothered about acquiring!
The Bosphorus is full of fish but also full of jelly fish - not a place for a swim.
This line of fishermen were on the Galata bridge over the Horn of the Bosphorus, pulling lots of fish out over the terraces belonging to the restaurants built under the bridge.
We took a trip on the Bosphorus and took in loads of the sights - this is the Naval Museum.
The Ortakoy Mosque with the Bosphorus Bridge behind.
Part of the Rumeli Fortress complex with the second bridge over the the Bosphorus.
The Kilic Ali Pasa Mosque, built by the Admiral of the Ottoman fleet, who said that as his home was on the sea he would build a mosque on the sea too, so he reclaimed land to create the building plot in the 1580's
A distant view of the Maidens Tower, originally built in 1100 AD when it controlled an iron chain that stretched across the Bosphorus to the European side. the chain prevented any vessels going up the Bosphorus to Istanbul. It was later used as a warning tower and a Sultan used it to keep his daughters "safe", hence the name. Now its been converted into a restaurant with a private ferry for the diners.
More sweet stuff, the Turks eat a huge amount of sweet things. Carole was in heaven.
It seemed like every other market stall had various forms of Turkish delight.
Great fun wandering around the Spice Bazaar.
You can buy anything in these bazaars. We saw spice stalls, bread stalls, coffee stalls, computing stalls, medical equipment stalls, one selling respirators, another selling steel tubing, any sort of fabric you can imagine, metal goods, wood goods; you name it and its here.
This was inside the Grand Bazaar - our hotel manager warned us that the traders in here "were very tricky".
Carole trying her hand at negotiating for some natural sponges.
Lots of blingy gold(ish) goods in this stall.
Turkey is the original home of Pastrami - its about the only thing here made of beef
Another view of the Grand Bazaar
Oh, and you can get carpets almost anywhere. You get asked a lot if you want a carpet, I don't know how many times I said "no thanks". The sellers though are nowhere near as pushy and irritating as those in Morocco.
Another local specialty is the Istna Kebab - a stew baked in a sealed clay pot, finished at the table and then opened with a big knife to knock the bottom of the clay pot - totally delicious.
More sweet stuff!
View over the fountains looking toward the Hagia Sofia - A mosque that was secularised in the 1930s and turned in to a museum - another stunning building.
Night view of the Blue Mosque
A whirling Dervish - spinning in tight fast circles to get into a mental state that allows the dancer to get closer to their God.
Inside the court yard of the Blue Mosque - sadly the rest of the building was closed for renovation.
This is a view inside the Basilica Cisterns, a huge water storage tank, built in the 6th Century AD to meet the water needs of the population when under siege. Its about 140m long and 70m wide - holding a phenomenal amount of water. The columns were all brought from outside of the area from the ruins of earlier buildings, including this odd upside down plinth with a medusa carved on it.
After the cisterns we went to the Topkapi Palace complex. Its the largest and oldest surviving palace in the world - its built within a walled area and has lots of buildings and "kiosks" rather than one single structure.
This used to be the official circumcision room!
This is just one of the many luxurious resting rooms for the Sultans.
These models provides an idea of the scale of the complex. The pale coloured buildings still exist.
Surrounding the Topkapi palace is Gulhane park, just full of flowers.
Even more sweet stuff - the cone shaped ones at the end of the counter were awesome!
We took a hop on hop off bus to see some of the outer areas - this is a view of the Bosphorus Bridge.
On the Bosphorus Bridge, Asia on the left and European Istanbul on the right with the Ortakoy Mosque in the foreground.
Across from "old" Istanbul is the "new" Istanbul, re-developed in the early 1920's.
Carole drooling! (again)
Final Turkish coffee - complete with Turkish Delight of course!
Couldn't put it any better myself!
