Istanbul, Turkey

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September 21st 2007

Published: September 21st 2007

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The Martini s

Arriving into Istanbul

The ship sailed into Istanbul, Turkey mid day and we had a spectacular view of both the Europe and Asia sides of the city. Istanbul is the only city in the world that is on both continents. The Bosphorus is the strait of water that separates Europe from Asia where we sailed into. We went to the top of the ship outside where the commentator pointed out all of the amazing sites. Turkey is a very fascinating country with lots of history and amazing things to see. Jon and I really enjoyed everything about Turkey and would love to come back again. From the ship we could see the Blue Mosque, Ayasofya, Topkapi Palace, The golden horn and the two bridges that cross the Bosphorus. The sites are truly amazing.
On our first day in Istanbul we headed to the Grand Bazaar. There are about 4000 shops selling everything from jewelry, to carpets, leather goods and of course Turkish delights and Turkish coffee. We purchased all sorts of fun Turkish costumes and trinkets. Wink, Jon and I roamed around the Bazaar for a few hours had some coffee and then headed back to the ship.
Our evening was a very special

Istanbul Turkey

event planned by the Virtuoso Group. We boarded a yacht and headed down the Bosphorus with a group of around 65 people. While on the boat the guides pointed out all of the castles, forts and palaces of the Sultans from history. It was a beautiful evening cruise. We arrived at a Mansion that was the Palace of Pasha who was a cousin of Egyptian royalty at one time. We had cocktails in the greeting room which was full of gold leaf and very elegant. Then we went upstairs to the dinning room where we had a full Turkish dinner of Cilingir mezze platter, Kayseri stle Manti and stuffed lamb kebab. Jon, Wink and I loved all of the food. Camille was not so sure. Then after dinner there were traditional Turkish dancing and then a belly dancer. We had a fantastic first night in Istanbul.

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