We are heading out this morning for a day-long tour of Istanbul.
This bridge over the Bosporus strait joins the EU side with the Asian side, and we are soon across.
Here we are at the water's edge on the Asian side.
The houses along the Bosporus are worth millions. They are rarely sold but are passed down to family. A nice one would cost 60 million.
It does cost more to live there though because of it being on the sea.
Heading back to the EU side.
Inside the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Mosque). There are many blue tiled walls on the upper level which is why it is called the Blue Mosque by visitors.
Lights have been hung from bars over the open space.
We came out of the Mosque and onto the Hippodrome, which is the large area where chariot races were held. There is not much to show for it except these obelisks.
The obelisk in the foreground is much older then the crumbling one behind. It is made of a different stone from Egypt and survived all the wars and earthquakes still looking like new.
The fountain at the Hippodrome is our meeting place.
Next we went to St. Sophia's church. It was a Christian church since the 600's when it became a Mosque for 500 years and it has been a museum for the last 75 years.
View of the entry.
Betty sitting beside an alabaster vase inside the church.
It is a similar shape to the Blue Mosque but larger. It used arches to support arches long before this became common. There is no internal center support for the dome, unheard of in the 600's.
Interior design. When the church became a Mosque they painted over the original designs so some of them have been able to be restored.
The writing on the circular panels name various persons venerated by the Muslims such as Mohamed.
This is what I would call the pulpit but they call it something else. It is where the person leading the service sits.
This room was used for storage in the Mosque and the Christian Mosaic was never painted over.
Just before lunch we had a stop at the carpet store. I will just say this ... silk carpets are not cheap.
Here we are going to lunch at the Sultan's Palace where he kept his harem. The restaurant is called Konyali.
A view at the Palace.
Another view.
A lot of the exterior was like this.
The Sultan's pavilion for breaking the fast of Ramadan.
Looking out over Istanbul.
Looking toward where we are docked.
The couches are huge and several in each room. I can imagine the sultan and his wives relaxing on them.
Outside again. Pictures were not allowed in the museum.
One of the upper walls has the same blue tiles as the blue Mosque.
Nice windows.
Another room with a lot of couches.
On the way home we stopped at the spice market.
There were many, many spice stalls with a smattering of other types of stalls. The locals buy their spices here and our tour guide had a list from his wife.
Now that's a lot of spice!
Nuts and dried fruit.
Garlic and oil plus anything needed for cookery.
So that's it for Istanbul. Not nearly long enough time to even do a famous Turkish bath.
We head back to the boat to be ready for our 4:30 departure for Izmir, another large Turkish city farther down the coast.
This bridge over the Bosporus strait joins the EU side with the Asian side, and we are soon across.
Here we are at the water's edge on the Asian side.
The houses along the Bosporus are worth millions. They are rarely sold but are passed down to family. A nice one would cost 60 million.
It does cost more to live there though because of it being on the sea.
Heading back to the EU side.
Inside the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Mosque). There are many blue tiled walls on the upper level which is why it is called the Blue Mosque by visitors.
Lights have been hung from bars over the open space.
We came out of the Mosque and onto the Hippodrome, which is the large area where chariot races were held. There is not much to show for it except these obelisks.
The obelisk in the foreground is much older then the crumbling one behind. It is made of a different stone from Egypt and survived all the wars and earthquakes still looking like new.
The fountain at the Hippodrome is our meeting place.
Next we went to St. Sophia's church. It was a Christian church since the 600's when it became a Mosque for 500 years and it has been a museum for the last 75 years.
View of the entry.
Betty sitting beside an alabaster vase inside the church.
It is a similar shape to the Blue Mosque but larger. It used arches to support arches long before this became common. There is no internal center support for the dome, unheard of in the 600's.
Interior design. When the church became a Mosque they painted over the original designs so some of them have been able to be restored.
The writing on the circular panels name various persons venerated by the Muslims such as Mohamed.
This is what I would call the pulpit but they call it something else. It is where the person leading the service sits.
This room was used for storage in the Mosque and the Christian Mosaic was never painted over.
Just before lunch we had a stop at the carpet store. I will just say this ... silk carpets are not cheap.
Here we are going to lunch at the Sultan's Palace where he kept his harem. The restaurant is called Konyali.
A view at the Palace.
Another view.
A lot of the exterior was like this.
The Sultan's pavilion for breaking the fast of Ramadan.
Looking out over Istanbul.
Looking toward where we are docked.
The couches are huge and several in each room. I can imagine the sultan and his wives relaxing on them.
Outside again. Pictures were not allowed in the museum.
One of the upper walls has the same blue tiles as the blue Mosque.
Nice windows.
Another room with a lot of couches.
On the way home we stopped at the spice market.
There were many, many spice stalls with a smattering of other types of stalls. The locals buy their spices here and our tour guide had a list from his wife.
Now that's a lot of spice!
Nuts and dried fruit.
Garlic and oil plus anything needed for cookery.
So that's it for Istanbul. Not nearly long enough time to even do a famous Turkish bath.
We head back to the boat to be ready for our 4:30 departure for Izmir, another large Turkish city farther down the coast.
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