http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Middle East , Turkey , Marmara , Istanbul , Sultanahmet en-us Wed, 22 May 2013 06:41:47 +0000 Wed, 22 May 2013 06:41:47 +0000 Turquia siempre me parecido un pais interesante y exotico. Ya habia aprendido en clases de Historia sobre Constantinopla actual Estambul y su importancia dentro del imperio romano pero nunca habia tenido la oportunidad de viajar hasta alla. Un dia chequeando el internet encontre un boleto de Nueva York a Estambul por tan solo 500 dolares por lo tanto no espere y compre el boleto. Seguido a eso http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-785425.html Five fishermen dressed in multicoloured robes and turbans gather their fishnets near the shore. It must be spring. Beside cypresses grow violets daisies and lilies. Fishing has been abundant and soon seagulls will appear trying to catch their part of the booty. On a similar vegetation next to a ltem stylecolor black fontsize 12ptgthaima the harem entertains a gentleman. Two women pl http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-785191.html 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 yea http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-782394.html We flew into Istanbul from Konya on the 10th. The flight was short but fairly pleasant. The Konya Airport is small. To board the plane you have to walk out to it. I found that I love to do this especially on a beautiful day. I actually boarded the plane from the tail end instead of the regular entrance near the cockpit. I was in Group A which fills the back rows. I have never seen an Airport ha http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-780760.html Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia has several names and was used in several purposes during its longlong 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 its a mistake It was a Greek Orthodox Basilica for a long time later for sever http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-778466.html Day 32 Tuesday 14th MarchWe were planning to catch the train this evening and start the long journey across Turkey well for me it depended on AMEX. I went with Michael and Heather to the bazaar as Michael had decided to buy a leather jacket it was excellent quality. I left by myself and headed to the university where you could climb the tower for a view over Istanbul. The campus was spacious http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-776164.html Day 32 Monday 13th March.Up early this morning as I need to report my missing travellers cheques to American Express. It was snowing quite heavily as I headed out at 8.30am and caught the bus to Taksim district the bus was packed. The Hilton hotel was 5 minutes walk away and opposite the Tourist Information Office. I had to complete a long complicated form and then sign in triplicate. They wou http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-776158.html Day 30 Sunday 12th MarchAfter yesterday39s uneventful day sigh it was a chance to explore more of Istanbul. It was cold and occasionally snowing. At breakfast I had a chat with a Scottish lad who had taken 6 weeks cycling through Europe and was heading to India he was planning to catch the train to Erzurum tonight very interesting person.Blue Mosque the exterior was grey but inside http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-775981.html Day 29 Saturday 11th MarchHurray a nontravel day. First stop as usual is Poste Restante a letter for me but seven for Heather I guess that I must write more letters myself We went into a museum and then to the Basillica Cistern which was beautifully decorated. A group of Turkish girls befriended us and asked for us to join in their photographs. There were going to a discotheque tonight bu http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-775634.html It has been longtime since I decided to go to Istanbul. I used to check everyday flights hotels information and tourism blogs. But finally I bought my ticket for December 2012.I did this travel by my own.. Are you crazy how could you dare to travel by yourself a woman in an islamic country. But trust me it has been amazingFirst of all the city is just gorgeous I have too many words http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-773436.html I must admit that on this trip probably my 6th or 7th to Istanbul I didn39t 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-766922.html lttable styleborderwidth 0pt bordercollapse collapse width100 border0 cellspacing0 cellpadding0gtlttbodygtlttrgtlttd styleborderwidth 1px borderbottom 1px solid c0c0c0 colspan2 width100 height20gtNew Year39s Eve Bosphorus Dinner Cruise Istanbullttdgtlttrgtlttrgtlttd styleborderwidth 1px borderbottom 1px solid c0c0 http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-759393.html Our second day in Istanbul was dedicated to exploring the 3 royal historical delights Hagia Sophia Topkapi Palace and The Blue Mosque. All these 3 places were built and used by the Turkish Sultans a few centuries ago but even today the splendor of the architecture and interior awe people I wonder what they have been like in their original grandeur daysThese 3 places are situated very close t http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-752606.html 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 night39s hookah excursion but still had http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-752106.html Another great day We started off the day with a trip to Bogazici University pronounced BowOZachee... never would have figured that one out because that39s where Shahar is spending his semester The campus is absolutely beautiful It is on the top of a hill about a 25 minnute drive from our hotel and there is a gorgeous view of the Bosphorus. He took us around campus a little bit and becau http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-751951.html Ok day 3 part 2... I39m hoping this one goes quicker than the last one. So after the first half of the day on our own Mom and I met up with everyone else at the hotel to get on a little mini van with Gazi our tour guide. We took the van to see the old city walls that were built in the 6th century to block out invading armies. There were three levels so that if you got past one level you http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-751678.html It is only 520pm 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-751637.html Merhaba Or hello in Turkish Today was quite the day. I feel like I am both physically and mentally tired but in a good way Before our group tour in the afternoon Mom and I ventured out to see the Blue Mosque because the rest of the family had already gotten a chance to see it before we arrived. We did not have a tour guide which was unfortunate for two reasons the first being that the k http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-751444.html It is 10pm Turkish time and I am exhausted Mom and I arrived in Istanbul today around 2pm in the afternoon after 13 hours of traveling I have to admit that I was thoroughly impressed with myself for actually getting a decent amount of sleep 4 hours or so on our redeye from Washington Dulles to Frankfort. I owe it to the potent combo of unlimited red wine and melatonin. Anyway after loadin http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-751235.html The flightAll I can say is thumbs up for Turkish Airlines. Even though we took off 20 minutes after schedule and had quite a few scary turbulances we arrived well in time at Istanbul Ataturk Airport. The flight took about 25 hours and it was pretty much filled with on board service including a hot meal soft drinks beer wine tea and coffee. And then right on time for sunset we arrived in th http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-749000.html