Mavi Guesthouse Istanbul

We arrived in Istanbul about 9am after our very early morning flight. We cleared security with no problems, although we were annoyed that it cost 60 US dollars for a Turkish visa for Canadians and 20 USDs or less for all other countries. Carol and I plan to write our local member of parliament when we return home about this matter. Istanbul has an excellent transit system (Toronto should take some notes) and we easily navigated our way from the airport to Sultanahmet (downtown) via metro and ...

We arrived in Istanbul on the overnight bus from Safranbolu at 6:30 am and were fortunately able to check into our hotel for a nap. Then it was off to the bazaars to pick up a few last souvenirs and gifts. It was really comforting coming back to a city that we knew the general layout of and we got to leave the guide book at home. On the way to the spice bazaar we stumbled across the original turkish delight store dating back to 1777 and obviously had to stop to sample the delicious treats. Istanbul, Turkey dave_carol

I thought leavıng would be easy. After all, comıng to Israel had been, ıf anythıng, frıghtenıngly easy. Frıends I met ın Jerusalem had had trouble - Maurıce spent seven hours at the border waıtıng, Mırıam was questıoned ıntensıvely for fıve. I dıdn´t even have tıme to ask them not to stamp my passport. Apparently, everybody loves a blonde.

At 2 AM I hugged Walt and Mary Katherıne - two ...

I crossed from Europe to Asia on a ferry. I just can't get over that.

Kate says that if you’re on the ferry at the right time, you can hear the calls to prayer from minarets on both sides of the Bosporus, and it sounds as if it’s in surround sound. The long, drawn out melodies of the calls to turn towards Mecca echo from Asia and bounce back from Europe. The East meets the West, the Golden Horn, the capitol of Christian Rome, reaches towards a far flung corner of Asia, and...

Having awakened early on our overnight train, I quietly slip out our sleeper and peer at the landscape of this new country.  At first glance, it's Canada.  Seagulls pick through harvested corn fields.  Sheep and Holstein cattle graze in fields bordered by pine trees.  Further in the distance, though, a tall minaret pierces the sky like a sabre, the sun glinting off the dome of its mosque.  Ah yes, this is Turkey and we're on our way to Istanbul. As the sun's glare brings me fully out of my sl...

Old men sit and play backgammon as they sip sugared tea while in the background blue ceramic orbs hang to ward off the Evil Eye and behind that, the ubiquitous face of Ataturk, the modern nation's revered founder, stares imposingly from a painting. Further still in the background, the Blue Mosque is a graceful, yet impenetrable fortress, it's domes and daggarlike minarets softly illuminated. Directly opposite it, its equally grand counterpart, the Aya Sofia squats, having endured occupation b...

Arrived in İstanbul last night. İt is such a pleasant change from Egypt - everythıng ıs (reasonably) clean and the food all looks so good!! Stayıng at a little place called the Mavi Guesthouse right in the middle of all the main sights, wıth Aya Sofya, the Blue Mosque and Topaki Palace quite literally on the doorstep. The temperature is fantastic too - only 22 degrees instead of 43 makes such a difference.

Istanbul I'm not going to say tooooo much about Istanbul, because the pictures will explain far better than I can put into words. With the exception of Topkapi Palace, we visited what I guess you would call the primary "must sees" of Istanbul - the Blue Mosque, the Aya Sofia, Grand Bazaar, Spice Bazaar, and we took the boat cruise up the Bosphorous River to the Black Sea. We are staying at the quaint and oh-so-friendly Mavi Guesthouse (www.maviguesthouse.com), where both the owner and all of ...