Istanbul - Turkey

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On Wednesday 10th June the Island Princess entered the Marmara Sea and into the Istanbul Strait where we berthed at Salipazari in Turkey. As we weren't too sure what we would find when we got to Turkey, we decided to stick with a tour from the ship so we headed over the bridge essentially from the Asian Continent to the European Continent to discover some of the highlights of Istanbul.

Unfortunately I had developed a head cold and so was being a misery guts as we headed to the Blue Mosque or the Sultanahmet Camii a 17th Century mosque which is renowned for its domes and minarets. It's interior is dotted with 20,000 blue Iznik tiles in 33 shades mostly of blue - hence the name. Of course, we had been warned about having out shoulders and knees covered, both male and female and the women all had to have their heads covered in some sort of head cover too. Luckily, we were well prepared. It is still being used today and the majority of it where only males can go to pray and a small portion, behind screens no less, for the females. There were stray dogs outside in the square just roaming around and sleeping. I felt very sad.

Next up, was the Hagia Sofia (Ayasofya Muzesi) which is now a museum which is a magnificent model of Byzantine architecture which boasts a HUGE dome and an interior adorned with marble and pillars from Ephesus. There were stray cats everywhere there and when I sat down to wait for the others at one stage, one cat jumped up into my lap, so when our guide caught up with us again I asked and he explained that they are all well taken care of by the people of the city and they (cats and dogs) are all spayed and neutered, de-flead and fed well. Random!

Then it was up the road and down the street to a Carpet Demonstration - of course, this is Turkey after all! It was way cool, but in the end it was just an attempt to get us to buy something and none of us were even tempted. Off to the Grand Bazaar for us!

The Grand Bazaar was huge and it didn't take long for the four of us to get split up. Karen and Ginna headed back to the ship early as they managed to find the shuttle, but Dave and I sat in "starbucks' and waited for everyone else before heading back for the bus. I will admit to a moment of panic when the guide wouldn't wait for Karen and Ginna. Luckily Dave reminded me that they were quite capable of finding their way back and were probably already back on the boat. Yes they were!

Istanbul was a tick of our list. Not a place that we will probably ever go back to.

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Photos

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