Thursday, October 17: Arrival in Istanbul
My flight was on American Airlines from RDU to London and British Airways from London to Istanbul. I arrived in Istanbul at about 4:00 PM. They just opened a new airport in Istanbul and it's beautiful.
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| Part of Istanbul from the air. The city is huge. |
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| New Istanbul Airport |
By the time I got to my hotel (the Port Bosphorus) it was about 6:00 and already dark. I wandered to a neighborhood of restaurants (Karakoy) near my hotel, and took a few shots on the way back from dinner.
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| Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque Complex, dating from 1580 |
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| Another old building near the hotel |
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| Port Bosphorus Hotel |
After returning to the hotel, I settled down to watch coverage of the Kurdish crisis. Unfortunately, I couldn't understand a word.
Friday, October 18: Istanbul
The tour didn't actually start until the next day (Saturday), so I had the whole day free in Istanbul.
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| View of a newly-built mosque from the hotel |
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| View of the Galata Tower and district from the hotel |
After leaving the hotel, I walked to
İstiklal Caddesi, the main shopping street in Istanbul.
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| İstiklal Caddesi |
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| A vendor selling simits, which are basically Turkish bagels |
At the end of İstiklal Caddesi is
Taksim Square, one of the main squares in Istanbul.
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| Taksim Square |
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| Mosque under construction in Taksim Square |
Near Taksim Square, I encountered a street festival which featured some classic cars.
I then took the Metro to the older part of Istanbul and went to the
Grand Bazaar, which has over 4000 shops and is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world.
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| One of the entrances to the the Grand Bazaar |
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| In the Grand Bazaar |
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| Goods on sale at the bazaar |
From the bazaar, I took a tram to the
Galata Bridge, which separates crosses the Golden Horn, the body of water that separates Old Istanbul (Eminönü) from the Karaköy District, where my hotel was. After getting off the tram, I walked across the bridge.
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| View of Karakoy and the Galata Tower from Eminönü |
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| Fisherman on the Galata Bridge |
After crossing the bridge, I walked to my hotel, visiting the Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque Complex along the way.
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| Hammam (a Turkish bath), dating from 1580 at Kılıç Ali Pasha |
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| Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque |
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| Inside the Mosque |
After returning to the hotel and catching up on the latest Turkish news, I walked to the restaurant district.
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| Another view of the Kılıç Ali Pasha hammam |
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| Nightlife in the Karakoy district |
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| New mosque under construction near my hotel. |
Saturday, October 19: Istanbul
Today was the "official" start of the tour. We were met in our hotel by our guide, whose first name was, believe it or not, Genghiskahn. We then proceeded to the old part of Istanbul to visit
Topkapi Palace, which was built in the 15th century and occupied by Ottoman sultans. Unfortunately the jewelry display, one of the main attractions, was not open, but the palace itself was pretty spectacular. Below are a few shots from inside and outside the palace:
Next we walked over to old
Roman Hippodrome, now known as Sultan Ahmet Square.
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| German Fountain, a gift from Kaiser Wilhelm |
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| Walled Obelisk |
From the Hippodrome, we walked to the Blue Mosque (
Sultan Ahmed Mosque), which was under renovation. Nevertheless, it was completely jammed. The mosque, which was completed in 1617, has a spectacular interior, which was kind of hard to see, given the construction and crowd.
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| Exterior of the Blue Mosque |
Below are some interior shots that I was able to get:
From the Blue Mosque, we walked about 100 yards to
Hagia Sophia. Hagia Sophia was originally built in 360 AD as a church, but was converted to a mosque by the Ottomans in 1453, and then to a museum in 1931. Below are a few exterior views.
Below are some shots from inside Hagia Sophia--remember that most of this dates from the 4th century AD.
There was no shortage of security in the area:
From Haga Sophia, we headed back to the hotel.
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| Sunset over a mosque |
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| On the Galata Bridge, looking at the Kemal Ataturk Bridge in the distance |
Next: Days 4-5: Ankara and Cappadocia
