Well if you think that Bangkok looked good prepare yourself for Istanbul. This city is incredible. An important stop on the Silk Roads (Marco Polo visited on his journeys) Istanbul sits with one half in Europe and the other half in Asia. Istanbul reeks of history and I do mean “history”. For example the mosque behind our hotel was built 1800 years ago around 520 AD! But I’m getting ahead of myself.
In the first 8 photos are views from our hotel and a look at what a traditional Turkish breakfast consists of. Some breads, some ‘salads’ and coffee. How I miss my Bacon and eggs. After breakfast we wandered off for a walk and what a walk it was. We came across the modern Arasta Bazaar where we stocked up on Turkish Delight while somehow resisting the temptation to get more than we actually bought.
A bit further on and we were about to be knocked out. We had been told not to miss the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Camii in Turkish) and we quickly found out why. I don’t know why we only got a half dozen photos or so but I’d say we were just too gobsmacked to take pictures. The sheer enormity of this mosque is overwhelming even with much of it barricaded off for renovation. When you look at the pix try to imagine it as one open area without all those columns. They and the false floor above are only there for the renovations. Built over 400 years ago it is in fact one huge area. It can hold over 10,000 people at one time within its 73 X 65 mtr interior. The 23 mtr dome sits at 43 mtr above the floor at the top. The minarets tower over the complex at 64 mtrs. One volunteer guide there told us with some pride how it was constructed in just 7 years and when he raises the fact that at that time there was no machinery to help it really starts to put the scale of the building into perspective. I highly recommend checking out this wiki page for more fascinating facts on this UNESCO World Heritage Site. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Mosque,_Istanbul
Outside and directly opposite the Blue Mosque is the Hagia Sophia Mosque. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia) This was the primary mosque when the Blue Mosque was built and if we thought nothing could top the Blue Mosque then we were wrong. With an internal dimension of 82 X 73 mtrs and a height of 55 mtrs it dwarfs its neighbour. The Hagia Sophia was originally built as a Christian Church between 532 and 537 AD before being converted to a Mosque around the mid 1400’s. As you can imagine after 1500 years the Hagia Sophia has built up quite a fantastic history of mystery, intrigue and ownership. This wonderful piece of engineering is more than just a Mosque it is a repository of fables, myths and tales of power that overpowers you once you cross the threshold. A visit easily becomes an emotional journey. Take the time to have a close look at the details and wormanship throughout all of these structures.
The photos in this second gallery I’ve compiled several walks and tours we have undertaken. Some days we cover up to 10 kms walking the streets (in Shanghai China we clocked up 23 kms one day). Again I advise you to check out the construction dates on the two columns. They are in the middle of the hippodrome where great chariot races were once held. Just after that you can see a typical Istanbul road (obviously built for horse and carrige) but in the second of these was an interesting pic of a Police truck that removes illigally parked cars. The vertical arms come down, slide under the car and lifts it onto the truck.
One day we ventured out to the ‘small’ mosque behind our hotel to find it was in fact “Little Hagia Sophia Mosque” a Byzantine Greek Orthodox Church built in the 6th century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Hagia_Sophia Being much smaller than the previous mosques we’d visited this allowed us to get ‘closer’ to the detail of the art and mosaics. In the photo of me sitting by the cistern I just needed to sit and contemplate just what tales the walls could tell after 1800 years. These structures are awesome.
Following Little Sophia there are pix of a Turkish lunch, a night dinner cruise up the Bosphorous and a walk along the old waterfront. Two items of interest. Just how old do you reckon that olive tree is? That is one tree with a huge aged trunk. I’ve seen similar sized trees at 300 years old. The pix after that you will see a bloke on the right. He had 2 nine millimetre pistols tucked into the back of his shorts. You can pay to shoot the balloons he has fixed to the rocks on the left. We spoke with some cops 200 mtrs up the breakwall who were unfazed. Apparently this is allowed behaviour! Oh yeah. Of all the swimmers (and there were scores of them) there was not a single female swimming. I suspect it has something to do with religion.
After initially posting this page I realised that I had forgotten to post a gallery from yesterday so I am adding this last gallery to catch up. Shopaholics may drool a bit but we loved the Grand Bazaar. Over 4000 shops under cover in a market that began in 1455. It is hectic and the touts are merciless but if you stay strong you might get out with your wallet in tact. You wander up and down the decorated alleys dodging the hustlers while stopping to admire some goods for sale. Many of the stores are repeated but each has something to look at and some are plainly unique. This is a place not to be missed. We loved it.
Also I found a batch of pix from our Bosphorous Dinner Cruise so I threw them in here also. Finally there are photos of Topkapi Palace and a few street scenes. The Column of Constantine is interesting. It is rumoured that some of Jesus Christ’s possessions were robbed from his grave and were buried under this column. Istanbul certainly is a place that you should visit.
We still have 1 more night here in Istanbul before we pick up our hire car and shoot off to Gallipoli and other parts of Turkey over the next 3 weeks. So watch out for more blog postings and don’t hesitate to add a comment to the blog page in the comments section. I promise I won’t spam you or sell your email address.