Sailing into Istanbul
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| FOUNTAINS AREA of HAGIA SOPHIA |
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| HAGIA SOPHIA |
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| HAGIA SOPHIA |
But more of Hagia Sophia later because we were actually on our way to
...a royal residence but was also a setting for state occasions and entertainment. This magnificent place was once home to 4,000 people- a bit like a college campus with cooks and eating halls and a bakery etc!
This is the Council Hall where the Sultan would listen in to the meetings from his window
(Actually no one could see if the Sultan was there or not)
(but would always assume he WAS listening in)
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| Sultan's window |
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| Sultan's window |
Amy was our guide for the day.
Sultan's throne. Throne. Throne. It looks more like a four poster double bed!
Looking across the Bosphorus to the Asian side of Turkey.
The Treasury in TOPKAPI PALACE holds a massive diamond as big as a fist.
The tulip is THE flower of Istanbul and these are the tulip gardens...
even though there were roses in it when we visited!
Sultan liked to chill up here on his balcony at the top of the Palace - an area now used a lot during Ramadan -it is perfect for barbeques and picnics when the sun goes down.
View from the balcony.
Baghdad Pavilion in Topkapi Palace.
The tulip design is everywhere, a red tulip = power and love,
red and blue tulip = royal family, very special.
This door outside The Circumcision Room has a male and female tulip to signify love and the strength of the family
We had had a good walk around the TOPKAPI PALACE in the hot August sun and a lady in our group was ready for a sit down. Well I wasn't going to turn down a "Tea in a glass" and this looked a nice place (it was the Sultan's wife's private spa)
so we ordered the nearest thing to a PG TIP as we could..
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| "Tea in a glass" |
and it was delish.
Courtyard of Blue Mosque
Mosque etiquette for women...COVER HEAD, SHOULDERS and LEGS, SHOES OFF
Inside the mosque were spectacular domes in such lovely colours
The carpet is marked out with deep red lines to give everyone enough room to pray, space to kneel and rock forehead to the ground.
Inside
and back outside
It was now time to visit
once a church, then a mosque and now a museum.
Again the domes were spectacular.
Work on the building has included painstakingly taking the plaster off the mosaic tiles. This rather grumpy face of an angel has been revealed recently.
After 160 years of darkness it is no wonder he looks grumpy.
We were all mosqued out. It was time to go shopping!
Oh my word - amazing Turkish delight
and oh my ABSOLUTE word,
magnificent figs and dates stuffed with walnuts!!!
(Can you believe we actually bought some colourful dried fruit)
The alley in the Grand Bazaar that was used in the James Bond film Skyfall.
I still don't know why I didn't buy this
Chariot racing used to take place here right next to Blue Mosque
During the Crusades, Italians stripped the bronze off this first column, melted it down and used it to decorate the friezes of St Mark's Cathedral in Venice. They don't tell you that when you visit St Mark's Square do they....
It was a fabulous day and our last night on Riviera so after dinner we went up on deck for a cuppa and watched the Bosphorus Bridge changing colours all through the evening. Lovely.
This is where we went - 1697 nm -
but we weren't quite finished yet. We had another day in Istanbul!!!!
ISTANBUL DAY 2
Breakfast on the ship before leaving for our hotel.
Istanbul taxi to the hotel - oh my absolute goodness - close your eyes!!
It was a very plush, swanky hotel...
but we had more exploring to do. Walking down to the Bosphorus River we saw
Besiktas F.C. were having a new football stand built.
Our plan was...
"Let's nip to Asia for half an hour" !!!
so we worked out how to get a ferry token from the ferry token machine and off we sailed.
Across the river to the Asian side of Turkey.How exciting!
ASIA!!!! We went to Asia for half an hour!
and then we sailed back to Europe.
The Bosphorus Bridge
An hour of culture followed.
Then we walked up to Taksim Square. I have never seen sooooooooooooo many people.
This precious green area is endangered. The only piece of green land amongst the 87 shopping malls of Istanbul and their government want to build on it!!!! OUTRAGE!
If ever they build over it I have a record of it.
I wanted to do a handstand on it.
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