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Published: September 25th 2011
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Sorry we are slow to put this up..we've had about 8 hours of sleep in the past 4 days. I'll write about Amsterdam at a later date...for now I'll fill you in on what has been going on around Istanbul.
We are staying in a cute hotel called Tria, 5 minute walking distance to some of the main mosques and museums, but still tucked away off the main tourist roads. In our first two days here we packed in a lot so bear with me. Our first stop was Topkapi palace which was the residence of various sultans for over 400 years. Main attractions of this huge palace include the gorgeous gardens, the harem consisting of 400 rooms which was home to the 200+ concubines of the sultan at the time , and the Treasury which houses various objects including the 86-caret Spoon Maker's Diamond. Fun Fact: Michael Jackson visited in 1995 and requested permission to sit on one of the thrones in the treasure...his request was denied!
Next we walked up the road to the Ayasofya. This massive temple started out as a Church in 537 A.D. It has been rebuilt three times since then and has
passed from Christian hands to Muslim hands becoming a Mosque in 1453 and a museum in 1935. The cathedral inside is so tall that if you placed the Statue of Liberty inside, the torch would barely graze the top (true statement). Inside is beautiful, the walls are covered with the remains of original mosaic artwork depicting various scenes of Jesus Christ's life.
We then walked through the Grand Bazaar with its glittering main thoroughfare lined on either side with shops of silver and gold. We unfortunately didn't find anything as many of the locals and our hotel warned us this prices were outrageous and it was a complete tourist trap.
After walking around we decided to eat dinner on our hotel's roof top restaurant which had a spectacular view of the blue mosque, Ayasofya, and the Bosphorous. Our dinner ended up being a 5 course meal where we sampled various mezes/appetizers, some fried stuff bread dish, I had a lamb kebab which was amazing, mom had the sea bass, and all topped off with baklava and their version of ice cream which in my opinion is one of the tastiest things I've ever had.
Day 2:
We
started off this day on a guide bus that takes us around the city, you can hop on and hop off at various stops and highlights of the city. Our first stop was at the Dolembache Palace. This palace is right on the Bosphorous offering spectacular views of both European and Asian Istanbul. It was modeled after Western architechture more so than traditional Ottoman style. Eventually bankrupting the country, Sultan Abdulmecid II's final creation consisted of 285 rooms, four grand salons, six galleries, and 43 toilets. 14 TONS of gold and 6 tons of silver were used to build the palace. Everything in the palace is an original and visitors including mom and I were required to wear hospital booties. (Advice for all future visitors to the palace - book a tour in advance!!]
We then traveled along the city's walls to Kariye Camii which was a church built in the 4th century. The main attraction of this church are the 50 mosaic panels that are left depicting scenes from the New Testament relating to the cycle of the life of Christ and his miracles. This museum was a little bit off the beaten path but well worth the
mosaic artwork and the view offered outside the Kariye Camii.
We then went to the Blue Mosque which is situated across from the Aya Sofya. This huge mosque was constructed between 1609 and 1617 and is still in use today. Tourists have to use a side entrance to enter, and you are required to cover your head, shoulders and legs with a wrap or scarf of some sort. If you don't have one on hand, they provide one for you. Shoes must also be removed before entering the mosque. Cleanliness is very important in Instanbul, there are fountains and areas for washing throughout the city.
We finished off our night in Taksim square. The equilvalent to New York's Times Square in Turkey where locals and tourists intermix and mingle at a wide variety of shops and restaurants. Mom and I walked up and down the streets of this neighborhood people watching and enjoying the sites and sounds.
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