Dardanelles, Sea of Marmara and through Itanbul

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Our first day at sea aboard the Holland America ms Rotterdam we passed from the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea through the Turkish Straights (the Dardanelles and the Bosporus) with the Sea of Marmara in between.

We went through the Dardanelles early in the morning with Europe on our left and Asia on our right with scattered cities and castles along the shores. The staff member, I think his name is Chris, was giving us information on the area as well as the history over the speakers on the outside desk.

Before lunch we did a meet and greet with our fellow cruise mates that we would be doing our tours with. Two other couples with did a private tour with at each of our stops and in Turkey the six of us were part of a larger group of twenty. All the groups were great but the smaller group of six we all agreed was preferable.

We passed through the Sea of Marmara and were entering the Bosporus straight with Istanbul on either side of us around sunset. Istanbul was much larger than I would have imagined. I hadn't really given much thought to what Istanbul would look like but was impressed as we passed through with the old city on our left and under the Bosporus Bridge which connects the European side of Istanbul to the Asian side of Istanbul. About the time we went under the Bosporus Bridge we could hear from mosques from both sides calling for the evening prayer.

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Link to Kodak Gallery Photos.