Istanbul, Turkey

Our first stop was for a Turkish coffee.


The fun cable car in the Beyoglu neighborhood.

Catholic church in the Beyoglu.

This is the Galata Tower. It was built in 1348.
The Ottomans turned it into a prison.

Here is a view of the largest mosque in Istanbul.

We sat and enjoyed a turkish beer and the sunset.

Derek couldn't resist trying on the new shades!

The second day we began with the Topkapi Palace.
This was the royal palace of the sultans for 400 years.

Everything was fantastically ornate.

Here is a picture of the sultan's throne - yes
it is a HUGE bed. It was good to be sultan!

So much gold everywhere!

Here is Derek in front of one of the many
beautiful fountains.

There were tulips everywhere. The tulip
is actually the national symbol of Istanbul.
The Turks actually sold the tulip bulb to
the Dutch.


More views of the palace. Inside this building
is where the sultan met with his advisors.

The Hagia Sophia. This building has been a
patriarical basilica, a mosque and now
a museum. It was the largest cathedral
in the world for 1000 years until the Seville
cathedral was completed. The Hagia Sophia was
built by the great Byzantine emporer Justinian
between 532 - 537 AD!


Some of the interior of the Hagia Sophia.

Here is a picture of the world famous dome. It
does not appear to rest on a solid foundation thus
giving the illusion of being suspended from heaven.
It has collapsed twice hence the scaffolding.


This mosaic dates from 944. It is the virgin Mary
with the child Christ. To her left is Constantine
with a model of the city. To her right is Justinian
offering a model of the Hagia Sophia.


This obilisque was built in 1550 bc at Luxor in Egypt. The Byzantion Emporer Theodosius errected it in 390 AD in Istanbul. It stands in the middle of the Hippodrome which was used for chariot races and entertainment.


This is the inside of one of the ancient roman cisterns. As water management was extremely important, these cisterns were constructed to allow for water to be available during all times - especially when the city was under siege and the outside water supply from aquaducts had been cut off.

The cistern had many different columns from various places that he Romans had conquered. Here is one of Medussa and it was placed upside down on purpose as it would have been bad luck to have it any other way. Being in this cistern actually reminded us of the movie "Medussa Against the Son of Hercules" - it was a bit eery!

Here is a picture of the outside of the Blue Mosque. It was built with six minarettes which rivaled Mecca when completed. In order to distiguish Mecca from Istanbul, the Sultan ordered another minarette to be built at Mecca so that it was still viewed as the supreme mosque. Minarettes were used to call people to prayer. They still are today but with the use of speakers.

We went into the mosque and had a look around. We had to remove our shoes but Leah did not have to be covered. The mosque gets its name from all of the blue mosaic stone that can be seen in this picture and the video below.




This is a view from inside the Blue Mosque. There were gentlemen there praying as we were taking our tour. Ladies had to pray from the back, hidden behind a partition. The one bad thing is that it smelled of stinky feet! Some people should not be allowed to take off their shoes! Notice there are no pictures in the mosque. They are not allowed thus stories had to be told with the designs of mosaic stones.


Here is a picture of the red and blue carpert which was in the blue mosque. Even the pattern of the carpet signifies strength and unity as depicted by the choice of flowers.

Here is a call to prayer that is played over the city daily.


As we made our way through our tour of the city, we stopped at a carpet maker to have a demonstration. Here you can see a young lady going through the tedious process of making a carpet. It can take them years to make one carpet, depending on the thread count and size.


We then had a sales pitch but we are glad to say that we were able to resist the urge to purchase. You can see the Turkish Tea on the table which they used to further entice us. The main reason that we did not buy one is because we could not get any of them to fly!

This is outside of the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar (or Covered Bazaar, Turkish: Kapalıçarşı ("Covered Bazaar")) in Istanbul is one of the largest covered markets in the world with more than 58 streets, over 1,200 shops, and has between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. It is well known for its jewelry, pottery, spice, and carpet shops. Many of the stalls in the bazaar are grouped by type of goods, with special areas for leather coats, gold jewelry and the like. The bazaar contains two bedestens (domed masonry structures built for storage and safe keeping), the first of which was constructed between 1455 and 1461 by the order of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. The bazaar was vastly enlarged in the 16th century, during the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, and in 1894 underwent a major restoration following an earthquake.

Inside the Grand Bazaar. As you can see, it was crazy busy!


Here is an example of a typical stand inside the Grand Bazaar. This is a collection of Pashmina's which are a common headscarf worn by Turkish women. Derek was able to negotiate a good price for a few and they get worn quite often with the UK weather as it is!


More goods within the Grand Bazaar. This is a collection of very colorful plates.

This is the outside of th Beylerbeyi Palace. It was the summer palace of the Sultan and sat on the Asian side of the Bosphorus. It was commissioned by Sultan Abdülaziz (1830–1876) and built between 1861 and 1865 as a summer residence and a place to entertain visiting heads of state.


Here Leah stands in the lookout room. This room was built right on the Bosphorus and would look out for incoming boats and welcome the guests to the Palace. Everything was very ornate and beautiful.

Inside the Palace the beauty continues. This is the grand staircase that welcomes you as you enter. As usual, the pictures do not quite do it justice. It was absolutely beautiful.

One of the most attractive rooms is the reception hall, which has a pool and fountain. Running water was popular in Ottoman houses for its pleasant sound and cooling effect in the heat.


This was a china cabinet of sorts. It housed a collection of fine dishes for entertaining and the insignia of the Sultan marked at the top in the light blue circle. This is just to try to show how meticulously each and every detail of the palace was considered.

Crystal chandeleirs, mostly Bohemian, adorned almost every room. We could not post them all but each was unique in it's own right. Here is an example of one.

There were also beautiful pieces of pottery in all rooms. To sum it up, as you can see, it was good to be the Sultan!

This was hillarious. These boats were rocking all over the place while the crazy Turks were cooking up a storm for a restaurant which was right next to them on land! We found it quite funny and worth a snap and mention on the blog.

Here is a picture from our boat trip down the Bosphorus. There are currently 2,562 mosques and 40 churches in the city. It is the one city where Islam and Christianity coexist peacefully.

One of our final stops was at the Spice Market. The Spice Bazaar is an “L”-shaped building, consisting of 88 vaulted rooms, almost all of which are now divided into an upper and lower story. Monumental gateways are at the ends of both halls, with chambers above each entranceway. Here you can find almost anything in the way of spices. They are just piled up as you can see in the picture.


You can also find a great selection of genie outfits!

And the Turkish Delights of course. For Leah, it was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Turkey was certainly a cultural delight. The people were friendly, the food was fantastic, and the history was amazing. All in all, it was a great trip.