Blogs from Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Marmara, Turkey, Middle East

Istanbul is a most interesting city. Within a few blocks there are magnificent towering mosques all perched on the edge of the water. Yesterday we visited the Tokapi Palace and roamed through the rooms of the Harem. Here the Sultan kept up to 300 concubines. I could hear the men in the crowd discussing the possibilities! The grounds and buildings are beautiful and especially so at this time of year with garden beds full of brightly coloured tulips. We've all jostled through the Spice market, oh to have fun buying some of the wares; visited the underground Cistern and my high school classes came back to my at the Hagia Sophia. We have discovered some interesting areas on the Beyogli side of the city. Great lanes of bars, crowded with people sitting watching the world go ... read more

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia has several names and was used in several purposes during its long-long life. Its name grows from the Greek with the same pronunciation, in Turkish it is named Ayasofya, which are translated in English as "Holy Wisdom". Many people think that its name grows from the woman name Sophia - but it’s a mistake! It was a Greek Orthodox Basilica for a long time, later for several centuries it was a mosque, now for 75 years it is a museum. Hagia Sophia or Holy Wisdom is the mother church of all Eastern Christians of the Byzantine liturgical tradition both Orthodox and Greek Catholic. If Istanbul had only one attraction - Hagia Sophia even then it was worth visiting! I’d like Hagia Sophia has its own destination on VT because it’s the real ... read more

I must admit that on this trip, probably my 6th or 7th to Istanbul, I didn't wander far from Sultanahmet. I stayed three days and there were a few sites I wanted to see in Sultanahmet, and a friend I wanted to visit, but mostly I just wanted to wander the streets a bit and relax and have some good food and drink. I accomplished all of this and then some. This trip to Turkey was bittersweet for me. There are many things I love about Turkey, and many things I don't. But after my experience of living in Selçuk for one year, in a relationship that was bad and ended badly, I wasn't sure I would ever want to come back. I have been to Turkey twice now since I moved from Selçuk, and both ... read more

Today was our last full day in Istanbul, which I am definitely sad about. I had an absolutely fabulous time here and I would definitely recommend Istanbul as a city to visit. Anyway, today was a day that we were on our own without a tour guide which was a nice change of pace. We were on our own schedule (which was good because I woke up late after last night's hookah excursion), but still had plenty of things planned. Shahar and Aunt Dalia left for Israel early in the morning and Uncle Keith, Grandma and Grandpa went on a cruise on the Bosphorus. This left myself, Mom, Aunt Karen and Uncle Jeff in the city on our own left to our own trouble-causing devices. In an attempt to do at least one thing educational, we ... read more

It is only 5:20pm Turkish time and I am so ready for bed - unfortunately, I am forgoing a nap so that I can go to bed early as opposed to being up late writing about the day. If I stop making sense and I notice it - I will stop and leave it for later. We will see. Ok, where to begin? Mom and I got up at a decent hour today so that we could fit in a bunch of things before our afternoon tour. We knew that we wanted to go to the Egyptian Spice Bazaar, so that was our main goal, but we decided to fit as much else as we could. We decided to tack on two mosques and a visit to a candy store that my fantastic Turkish doorman from ... read more