Istanbul - West meets East

---

Istanbul is a city of many delights and our four days of exploring was just about sufficient to do justice to the city's famous and popular attractions which included the following;

 • A boat trip along the Bosphorus - a wonderful way of viewing the sights and being between the two continents of Europe and Asia
 • The Suleymaniye Mosque - probably Istanbul's most important mosque and built between 1550 and 1557
 • The Grand Bazaar - a maze of stalls under an intricately painted, vaulted roof
 • The Blue Mosque - takes it name from the mainly blue Iznik tilework and is one of the most famous religious buildings in the world
 • Haghia Sophia - built in AD537 as a church and in the 15th century the Ottomans converted it into a mosque. One of the world's great buildings
 • Topkapi Palace - was the official residence of the sultans for more than 400 years
 • Basilica Cistern - vast underground water cistern built by the Romans in AD532

A delightful city full of atsmosphere and history. A must on every tourist's list of places to visit

---