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Published: April 12th 2007
Blue Mosque at dusk
this is from the top of the Seven Hills hotel/restaurant. i admit, it is a little photoshopped, but not a ton.
Istanbul & the call to Prayer Got up around 7am after a great night of sleep and was supposed to do breakfast with Rick and Kate at 8:30 but they didn't get their wake-up call, so I wandered around the area for a little while until I found a little coffee shop called Java Studio that I decided to try out. I got 2 chocolate chip almond cookies and a really strong Turkish coffee and sat for a little while and listened to Norah Jones. It almost felt like they changed the music for me when I came in and sat down. There wasn't anybody else in the cafe at the time. I would have loved to have more time on my own to just explore the area but there's just no time for that. I guess I'll have to come back another time. We met up with our new guide and went over to the Blue Mosque again to get some better shots since the weather was much nicer today. We got what we needed and headed down to the Spice Market, which is on the northern side of the peninsula, close to the water. We went in the "tourist" entrance and stopped at one
DVX-100B meets the Blue Mosque
we were up there on top of the hotel for about an hour and a half, so I figured I'd get the camera in action or two shops, having some apple tea and a Turkish delight, and then went to the more local side of the market for the more "authentic" experience. There were shops selling everything from spices to grills, the most interesting **warning** being lambs heads, eyeballs intact. Can't say I didn't feel a little guilty about yesterday's feasting. We wandered in the waterfront area a bit and went out onto a bridge (I have forgotten the name of it) which the Turks claim to be the location of the invention of the card game, Bridge. We had Turkish tea at a seafood restaurant under the bridge, and jumped back in our van to head to lunch at a restaurant that caters to locals, and not usually tourists. It was a good experience, and good for the show, too, as we were able to film the preparation, grilling, and devouring of the meal, which was a mixture of lamb kebob (again), lamb liver, eggplant, chicken, bread, and tiny Turkish pizzas. From there we went to
Istiklal Caddesi, which is a madhouse of people. It has been the most crowded area of the city we've been in so far. It is a long pedestrian street
Hagia Sophia at dusk
looking northwest to Hagia Sophia, just after the lights have come on (only delivery trucks and cables cars are allowed) that is filled with nice shops. It has been the most cosmopolitan part of the city we've seen as well. It also has two Starbucks. As Kate and I grabbed something from one of them, we happened to run into a French couple who we had sat next to at the Grand Bazaar the day before. Obviously, both place are tourist attractions, but in a city of 11 million people (we've been told up to 23 million in the entire metropolitan area, but I don't know if I believe that) and in a place where 3 million people visit daily, I don't know what the chances are of sitting down next to the same two people at two cafes in this town would be. We headed back to the hotel after that and we got sunset shots of the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and the cityscape of Istanbul from on top of the Seven Hills restaurant. Finally I was able to bring out my own digital camera and get some photos of my own. We were up there for a while and it got pretty cold and a bit windy, so we
Blue Mosque with lights
the Blue Mosque after the lights have come on put our equipment away and had dinner at a little restaurant/hotel just a block down from the Four Seasons.
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Lori
non-member comment
Turkish Delight
You better becareful eating that. You know what happened to Edmund when he ate it, you didn't get it from a white witch did you? If not you might be safe. If you see talking Beavers or hear sleigh bells I'd run far and fast.