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Published: February 22nd 2016
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From November 15 - 21, 2015, I have the blessing and privilege to travel to Istanbul, Turkey with my friend n colleague Saif who also work with me since long. Our main intention to travel Istanbul was official but we also had some precious moments and for that I invite you to travel with us via this blog J
Nov 15 The Journey Begins: We started our journey with Qatar airways flight QR 637 on Nov 15 morning 0215 that took us to Doha and from there on the same day we again had a connecting flight QR 239 (morning 0740) to Istanbul. We spent around 11 tiring flying hours to reach this beautiful city and from the airport we took a cab to reach Le Meridien Hotel Istanbul Etiler.
Once we reached our hotel we took a very less time to fresh up and immediately moved to the roam’ round mood to check out the city’s Sultan Ahmet spot. Yes we took a cab and went to the famous blue mosque.
It was already evening when we reached that place and we were damn hungry so we decided to test a l’tl Turkish doner and went to
a famous restaurant named Sultan Café Restaurant. Then we walk around the Blue Mosque area but could not arrange to go inside.
Blue Mosque: The Blue Mosque (Called Sultanahmet Camii in Turkish) is an historical mosque in Istanbul. The mosque is known as the Blue Mosque because of blue tiles surrounding the walls of interior design. Mosque was built between 1609 and 1616 years, during the rule of Ahmed I. just like many other mosques, it also comprises a tomb of the founder, a madrasa and a hospice. Besides still used as a mosque.
From Blue mosque we walked down towards the Hagia Sophia and the opposite shop markets down the tram station lane, had some delicious Turkish delights and Bakhlaba (must try) and special Turkish team. In the evening we came back to hotel.
Nov 16 The Workshop Day 1: wakeup early in the morning, had breakfast at the hotel and entire day spent in the workshop.
Nov 17 The Workshop Day 2: same as 16
th but at night we went to a beautiful restaurant named Sunset Grill & Bar, located on a hilltop in the posh neighborhood of Ulus, Sunset
Grill & Bar is awe-inspiring both with its food and its stunning views. This longstanding fine-dining venue offers international and Japanese cuisines at its finest in addition to a few select Turkish dishes, also great collection of wines.
Nov 18 The Workshop Day 3: the workshop ended early evening, so I & Saif went to the Forum Istanbul Shopping Center. Well our main attraction was to visit “Lego Land”. Great collections of toys! I bought a Star wars and a Lego City set for my son Zoheb. We had some great Turkish dinner on the top floor of the shopping mall and went back to hotel at night.
Nov 19 The Troy Tour Day: we wake up very early in the morning as today we were planned to visit “The City of Troy”. A van picked up from hotel and few other tourists and started early. We stopped in a restaurant named “Diamond City” to have our breakfast that is beside the Marmara Sea with a stunning sight. In the middle of the journey we also stopped in a highway side café where we peed by paying 1 TL – I truly believe they should have charged for
the 2
nd sort crisis only ;^)
Anyway after 6 hours for road journey we stopped at the Grand Eceabat Hotel. This well-known hotel in the heart of Eceabat, is ideally located opposite the ferry and coach terminal and the coach from Istanbul stops right outside the front door. We had our lunch in this hotel and discovered the magnificent view from its 5
th floor where the restaurant is located. We crossed the river and reached Canakkale and after a while finally reached the famous archeological and mythological site of Troy, home of the “Trojan Horse” and “Helen of Troy”. The main attraction of the tour was seeing and hearing about The Trojan Horse, Helen of Troy, The Trojan Wars, The battle between Achilles and Paris, Sacrificial Altars, The 3700 year old city walls, Houses of Troy I , 3000 B.C. - 2500 B.C., The Bouleterium (Senate Building), The Odeon (Concert Hall), etc. After the tour we went back to Canakkale and finally the hotel late night around 11:30 PM.
Nov 20 The My Time: Saif left today so I have planned for a trip along! In the morning I went to visit the Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia and
Blue Mosque.
Topkapı Sarayı (Palace) Museum: Home of the
Ottoman sultans for nearly 400 years, Topkapı Sarayı ("Palace of the Cannon Gate”) was the seraglio, the heart of the vast
Ottoman Empire, ruled by the monarch who lived in Topkapı's hundreds of rooms with hundreds of concubines, children, and white and black servants.It also contains important holy relics of the Muslim world, including Muhammed's cloak and sword.
Tuesday Closed, Ticket 30 TL, it opens (09:00 am, till 17:00 )
Hagia Sophia is a great architectural beauty and an important monument both for Byzantine and for Ottoman Empires. Once a church, later a mosque, and now a museum at the Turkish Republic, Hagia Sophia has always been the precious of its time..
The mystical city Istanbul hosted many civilizations since centuries, of which Byzantium and Ottoman Empires were both the most famous ones. The city today carries the characteristics of these two different cultures and surely Hagia Sophia is a perfect synthesis where one can observe both Ottoman and Byzantium effects under one great dome.
<em
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Monday Closed, Ticket 30 TL, it opens (09:00 am, till 17:00 )
From there I went to the Blue Mosque and this time I went inside the mosque and what a beauty…
After the outstanding sightseeing I walked down near the tram station and had my lunch in a Kabab store. I have purchased some Turkish delight and Bukhlaba for home while returning back to my hotel.
In the evening I went to the Bosphorus cruise that was fixed by the hotel tourist desk. I did not enjoyed the food though but really enjoyed the wine and Whirling Dervish/Belly Dance in the boat.
Nov 21 The goodbye Time: I wake up early and went to the Grand Bazaar after by breakfast. First I went to one of the unique traditional goods store that has been maintained by seven generations (can’t recall the name) and they really got some cool collection of leather goods, jewelry and authentic Turkish carpet. I bought a leather jacket @ US$ 350. Then I went to the Grand Bazaar and bought some special tea like Pomegranate, apple, jasmine and relaxation tea, also some more Turkish delight and went back to
hotel to check out.
Grand bazaar (Beyazıt Mh., İstanbul, Turkey): The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 3,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. Historic sprawling network of indoor souks & market streets peddling leather, jewellery & gifts.- Sunday Closed
Well my returning route was same through Qatar but this time the transit time was around a day. Though I tried to go out to roam around the city and meet some friends but due to the strict security issue I had to stay in the airport hotel where I spent the entire day shopping different sort of chocolates 😉
Misses: due to time constrains I could not explore Turkey properly but next time I would like to cover below….it’s a promise to me,
1. Gallipoli
2.
Suleymaniye Mosque 3. Gülhane Park
4.
Istanbul's Archeology Museum 5. Maiden's Tower
6. Istanbul Modern Art Museum
7. Museum Of Turkish Islamic Arts
8. Sultan Ahmed Mosque
9. Turkua Zoo
10. Spice Market
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