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Istanbul |
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We arrived in Turkey via ferry from Odessa and were able to enjoy the ride from the Bosphorus all the way to the Sea of Marama because we went through in the morning around 7:30 - 8:30. It was wonderful to see so much after being out on the open sea (Black Sea) for a day and a half. Americans and Russians had to pay for visas at customs ($65 if you were an American, $10 if you were a Russian).
We stayed at an inexpensive pension called the Nobel House for four nights ($20 each night). It was reasonable, in a great location, had a wonderful breakfast each morning, but not particulary clean. We visited the Blue Mosque, a rug museum, Ayia Sophia, the University of Turkey, Topkapi Palace and the Archeological museum also within the gates of the Palace (but for an additional fee); wandered through the bazaar, parks, and much more. It was fascinating and beautiful. The weather was perfect and we ate at a couple very good restaurants/cafes. Scott took lots of pictures and then we took a bus over night to Goreme, in the central part of Turkey. |
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This is the ceiling of a room in the harem of the palace Topkapi in Istanbul. It was difficult to choose what to photograph because it was all so very gorgeous. The term "harem" by the way, means "family rooms" and includes the rooms of the men and children of the family, not just the women. |
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Sure hope you can see this picture. This is the fabulous, magnificent Blue Mosque of Istanbul. In Istanbul there are mosques all over the place, hundreds alone, just in Istanbul. But the Blue Mosque is special and our hotel was just about 300 meters (as the crow flies) from the building (as you will see from the picture of me eating on our deck with the mosque in the back ground. But, most of the hotels and pensions in the area have a view of this, Ayia Sofia (the Orthodox - Christian cathedral) and/or the sea. We stayed in the hotel (The Nobel House) for four nights the first time and after our trip to Cappadocia, the Mediterreanean Sea via sailing ship, Solchek and then back to Istanbul for one more night at Nobel House. Not the cleanest place we stayed in, but the location was great, the room was comfortable (and the cheapest we could find - except for the dorms) and the breakfast was pretty decent.
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Rock floors were used inside the palaces and castles where horses would be walking because the rocks wouldn't be a slippery as other floor surfaces. This one looked like a carpet, and is in Topkapi Palace (outside some main offices - not inside, although there was a beautiful one, inside just as you approached the harem. Evidently this was the entrance of the Sultan) |
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Another part of the harem |
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Entrance to the Treasury in the Topkapi Palace |
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Sarcophagus
This was discovered in Turkey by the first professionally trained Turkish archeologist and his team and is the most beautiful marble sarcophagus I have ever seen. This is displayed at the archeological museum on the property of the Topkaki Palace in Istanbul � but you need to go to the museum separately from the Palace. We talked with several people who hadn�t know where the museum was so we felt lucky to have found it and are glad we went.
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Here I am on the roof top of our hotel. You can get an idea of how close we were to the Blue Mosque. It was wonderful to hear the calls to prayer five times a day. Very similar, in a way, to the comforting sound of a fog horn in the distance, although the prayers were different each time every day and often we could hear two or three different mosques calling out prayers. |
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