April 7, 2024 Bustling Istanbul

April 7, 2024  Istanbul on foot!

Today's tour was an unusual combination of Greek Orthodox, Roman, Ottoman and Islam. First let me say that our guide is excellent! She's a walking encyclopedia and she really knows her history. Her English is perfect. She doesn't walk or talk too fast, and she's very attentive to our needs. That said, we covered a lot of ground today - all on foot! Here is our tour guide. And here are the folks we're on tour with.

"Art" our tour guide

2 persons not in photo

 

We walked....and walked...and walked! And with only a few hours sleep to go on, we are beyond bushed tonight! Of course I took a million photos, so I will have to write more later. But in a nutshell, we visited the famous Blue Mosque, St. Sophia Church, Topkapi Palace which includes the sarcophagus of Alexander the Great, mosaic remnants from Nebuchadnezzar's time, tablets of the Treaty of Kadesh between Ramses II and the Hittites (13th century BC), and many other items. After a very long day, we were completely "mosqued" out, so we were happy to head back to the hotel for an early dinner and crashing!

To be honest, I'm on "information overload" already, so I asked Ronnie to write more detail for me (below). 

We stayed in a downtown hotel named Titanic. Our spirits were lifted to stay two nights in excellent rooms. It also had a good dining rooms where we ate breakfast and dinner. Jan can write more details about the extensive breakfast bar and four course dinners. We made sandwiches for lunch to carry while touring. Eating like this, we won't lose weight on this trip.

Jan snapped a few pics of just part of the breakfast bar (hot items, breads, cereals, etc not pictured).

 

various cheeses

veggies, fruit, yogurt

various cold meats, olives, etc

fresh honeycomb (above) in waffle cups

 

cereal, meringues, dried fruit

 

Touring started early with an hour ride (Istanbul is huge - 18 million people) to tour the Hagia Sophia mosque (see photos). It was converted from a Greek cathedral church of Constantinople to a mosque in 537 AD by the Moors. From there we walked to the St. Sophia Church (one of the few not destroyed when Muslims conquered the city). It was a huge empty space covered in pigeon poop which the Muslims used as storage. It's being restored but of its Christian heritage only one empty cross  remains. From outside the church we had a good view of the Bosporus channel that divides Istanbul into a European and Asian sides.

inside St. Sophia Church

 

 

 

 

Next we toured the Blue Mosque where all the women had to put scarves over their heads and we we all had to remove our shoes. The buildings are over-the-top ornate and there was a steady flow of visitors lined to get in with hundreds or perhaps even a thousand there during the 15 or so minutes we went through it.

 

a huge dog sleeps in the street (Blue Mosque behind)

To contribute to our 6 miles of walking we toured the fascinating Topkapi Palace. We saw the living quarters of an Ottoman Sultan, his Harem and their black Eunuchs, his mother and others.

 

sultan's bathtub

family room

family room, note throne

After a snack lunch, we walked thru an Archeological Museum containing sarcophagus, marble statues, period swords, armor, jewelry and large murals depicting the different eras of the City (we took many photos of ancient times, Greek period, Roman -- Byzantine and Ottoman periods).

 

keeping the order

 

Museum grounds

 

 

 

 

 

 

beautiful grounds, colorful tulips

 

Archeological Museum

 

Alexander Sarcophagus

 

We walked thru what was a large, old Roman forum containing a German monument, the obelisk of Theodosius and many free roaming cats and dogs. Jan can describe how cats are respected over dogs. We walked to the bus and returned at 5pm to the hotel exhausted. Supper was served at 6pm and collapsed into bed around 8:30. We had to rise and have our bags packed by 6:30.

Ronnie