Emine Sultan Hotel Istanbul

May 10th 26th installment Happy Mother's Day After a tranquil 7 hour flight we arrive in Istanbul at 930AM on Sunday morning. We wade thru the Immigration desk, the baggage claim and carried with us the carefully filled out "Swine Flu" questionnaires. (Like the departure tax, these forms were never collected). We cleared customs and, luggage in tow, we hired a taxi to take us to the Emine Sultan, our home for the next 6 nights. The ride from the airport to the hotel is like a breath of fresh...

May 11th 27th installment We wake up at 5 AM to the morning call to prayer. It is quite eerie this announcement--you can hear the closest minaret as though it was in the room with you. The voice is a sing-song announcement, in Arabic for the faithful followers of Mohamed to start their morning prayers. From our room you can hear calls from 4 or 5 towers and at times they seem to be responding to each other. Although there is something intriguing and haunting about the custom, frankly I prefer...

May 12th 28th installment This morning we decide to take a power walk along the water front. At 6:30 in the morning the sun is already above the horizon and so we leave the hotel, and take the road to the sea. It was a good idea and it felt wonderful to take a brisk walk and breathe the fresh sea breeze along the wharf. There were a lot of other Istanbulies out walking and enjoying the morning air. Some of the younger men were taking a dip in the sea, but they didn't look like they were enjo...

May 13th 29th installment Another beautiful day dawns in Istanbul. The muezzin of the morning call to prayer needs to check his watch, or perhaps he is intentionally cruel and gives us his wake-up call at 4:40 in the AM. . I didn't complain when he started at 5 AM but really, 4:40 AM, that is too early. OK, now that I am awake, and can't seem to get back to sleep, I may as well try to get caught up on my TravelPod. So, here I am, at 5:15 in the morning, sitting on the rooftop terrace, writing...

May 14th 30th Installment This morning, after a predictable breakfast on the terrace we get an early start. So far, we have seen the major highlights that we wanted to see in Istanbul, except one. Our goal today, the Topkapi Palace, which was the official and primary residence in the city of the Ottoman Sultans, from 1465 to 1853. Initial construction started in 1459, ordered by Sultan Mehmed, the conqueror of Byzantine Constantinople. The palace is a complex made up of four main courtyards a...

May 15th 31st Installment Melissa of Lake Tahoe, California, an avid reader of this column, wrote in to ask "Are you and Judith enjoying the food in Turkey?" So, let me address that question first. Remember that we spent the last 3 weeks in India, eating food that is much spicier-but not "hot spicy",more than our normal diet. In India the rich and spicy diet gives cause to a condition called Delhi Belly.....use your imagination. We had to plan breaks, in which we tried to eat things not so s...