Old City of Istanbul

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Istanbul is big, much bigger than I imagined. I should have figured a city that was once the eastern capital of the Roman Empire, a city that is in both Asia and Europe would be big but the part we toured was only the Old City where everything was surprisingly compact and if we had been on our own would have easily walked to all the places we went. On this trip (and the next, Ephesus) our group joined a group of fourteen for a total of twenty. Once named Constantinople the modern name of Istanbul was given to the city by Atatürk in the 1930's.

The large tour buses were packed into the narrow dock just beyond where we got off the ship. We walked outside and beyond the customs to meet our tour guide Levent, driver with a small shuttle bus. The streets were packed with cars and modern trams as we crossed over the Galata Bridge the old city. Out shuttle let us off between the Blue Mosque and St. Sophia and just as quickly the street vendors were all around selling guide books.

Our first stop was the Blue Mosque, a nickname derived from tourists for it's blue tile, it's former name is Sultan Ahmed Mosque built in the 1600's, almost a thousands years after to rival the nearby St. Sophia. We had to remove our shoes in a small area at the entrance amid pamphlets of "Why Islam?" and "What is Islam" to enter the still in-use grand Mosque. Inside were pockets of tour groups clustered around their guides as our guide explained the architecture and history of the mosque as well as explaining the rows of darker carpet which helped them arrange themselves during prayer time. By the time we left the crowds were getting thick but our tour guide explained this was mild compared to some days.

We walked around the St. Sophia and onto the Topkapı Palace where the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans until the 1850's. Many of the rooms were available to enter, a room with paintings of the Sultans and collection of the jewels that were taken when they lost power in the 1920's, mosques and even a circumcision room.

After our lunch at the Pudding shop - while I didn't see any pudding the food was great we walked to the Basilica Cistern, the largest (of many) cisterns in Istanbul. The cistern built in the 6th century with scavenged 30' columns (as many were different) was restored in the 1900's. The columns are lit with red lights and there are wooden walkways above the water where carp swam beneath us. Only in the 1990's were two shorter columns found that were propped up by a base with the carving of Medusa, one turned upside down and one turned sideways. This was the largest bottleneck with people crowding around to get their picture with these.

The St. Sophia, or Hagia Sophia was the largest cathedral for almost a thousand years and while once a converted to a mosque is now a museum. The frescoes and mosaics which were once covered when converted to a mosque and now partially restored and uncovered while other Christian symbols such as the fish remained intact. Early leaders (clergy?) were deemed too important to walk on their own to the second floor so a ramp was built so the could ride up. We walked. It was interesting to see a mix of the Islam with Christianity, Muslims have been praying towards Mecca for centuries while Jesus (covered) was above.

We boarded the shuttle to take us to the Grand Bazaar. It is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world it's primarily for tourists now. Stores are easily identify by number and grouped by like items for sale (jewelry, leather goods, clothes, etc) the sheer size of the place would be easy to get lost in. Kelly and I were more focused on not making eye contact with the persistent vendors as we have little desire to shop or buy things we don't need or want. There was an ATM outside that dispensed both Turkish Lira as well as Euro or the Dollar, I've never seen that before and was kicking myself that I did not get enough dollars to pay for the rest of our tours in Israel and Egypt and would have to get cash from the boat for a (small) fee.

Our final stop was the Spice Bazaar just beyond the Galata Bridge which was more local than the Grand Bazaar. So many colors, spices, Turkish Delight it was overwhelming. The street vendors were very aggressive here selling perfume and cologne in shrink wrapped boxes. Again, Keith was leading them on negotiating price with no intention of buying and told them I was interested and getting a kick out of doing that to me (I hate to haggle) but it made me laugh though it's got to be hard making a living doing that type of work (I splat, you buy!). I think the cost of our tour was $65/person, very reasonable for a full day.

I was so looking forward to being in a city over night to wander the streets with the lights but despite taking every precaution I developed a head-cold and had felt under the weather all day so we returned to the ship as the tour ended. This was the only over night stop on this cruise and I missed it.

We awoke early and waited until Galata tower opened and we rode an elevator to the top. While waiting we were trying to find any wi-fi to connect to on our netbook with no success. The view from the top were were worth the cost of the admission. We walked across the Galata Bridge on top where the fisherman crowd on either side (how do they not get mixed up?) and returned walking on the bottom of the bridge amid the restaurants preparing for lunch.

As our cruise ship departed around noon on Saturday we walked to the bow of the ship hoping to find a non-crowded spot and and came across Keith and Debra doing the same. Kelly and Debra eventually left while Keith and I talked as we slowly sailed southward towards Sea of Marmara and we stayed out so long I ended up with a slight sunburn on one side of my face!

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Link to Kodak Gallery Photos.

Video Cistern beneath Istanbul, Turkey (YouTube). Click the HD button once video loads for 720 HD.

Video Old City of Istanbul at Night.

Video Istanbul from Galata Tower (facing South)

Video Istanbul, Near the Water

Video Istanbul from the Ship

Video Istanbul from the Ship 2

Video Istanbul near Ship (Bosporus)

Video Istanbul from Galata Tower

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