Blogs from Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Marmara, Turkey, Middle East - page 22

The Topkapi Palace and Aya Irene Monk allocated the best part of today to explore the Topkapi Palace. It's physically the largest site on the Istanbul itinerary. There's a great deal to see and it takes a long time to do it properly, made longer by the queues one has to join to see some of the exhibits. The palace was the seat of government of the Ottoman Empire and the residence of its rulers. The architecure covers almost the entire span of the Ottoman Empire and the various buildings are now used as mini-exhibitions of aspects of the Empire. Within the First Court area of the Palace is the church of Aya Irene, the Church of the Divine Peace. This was obviously not to be missed by Nellie and Monk. The original church was one ... read more

Aya Sofya Aya Sofya was on the 'definitely-must-do' list for today and took up a couple of hours of walking, musing and picture taking. It's a massive interior that makes one feel tiny when standing looking up at the ceiling and dome. Taking the steps to the higher level gives an even greater sense of the size of the structure. Monk was pleased to see that, on the interior, the Byzantine origins of the church have not been overpowered by some of the overtly Islamic later additions as the exterior has by the four minarets added by the Ottomans. Monk felt that Aya Sofya exudes the air of a lady who's been grossly molested but who's managed to rise above it and retain her dignity. ... read more

The Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern, the Hippodrome, the Grand Bazaar, the Sulemaniye Mosque and the Spice Bazaar This city is absolutely teeming. It's impossible to walk more than a few metres without bumping into somebody, or rather the other way round. It goes on well into the small hours. Monk gave up at 1:30 am last night but still the streets were full of people, tourists and locals alike. The traditional restaurants and bars close around 11 or midnight but the small kebab places with tables on the street continue and were still crowded when Monk went back to his hotel. The music bars and backpacker places near Monk's hotel were still going strong. There's so much to see. Monk's Rough Guide does a good job of listing everything but there's so much that you ... read more

Sabiha Gokcen (Istanbul) Airport, Transfers to/from Istanbul and the Taxi Rip-off Monk had booked a flight from Dalaman to Istanbul on the Turkish airline Pegasus. At just about €30, it was the best value flight so far - almost a quarter of the price of the Aegean Airlines flight of about the same distance from Athens to Rhodes. Most of the low-cost airlines, including the UK's easyJet, use Sabiha Gokcen airport, which is about 40km from the centre of Istanbul on the Asian side of the city. It's a lot less convenient than Ataturk airport on the European side and getting to and from it is not easy. There is supposed to be a rail link due to open in 2011 that will link Ataturk, the centre of Istanbul and Sabiha Gokcen. But for now, it's ... read more

Istanbul... read more