A walking tour of Istanbul with Fergun
Trip Start
Aug 01, 2008
1
16
130
Trip End
Aug 01, 2009
Istanbul,
Turkey
Saturday, September 6, 2008
We walked by the Four Seasons which used to be a prison and looked in the lobby-pretty impressive. From there, we walked to the Blue Mosque and we got in before the noon prayers so we could see the impressive details of this mosque and tile work. It was extremely amazing and I know that my head was on a swivel as we walked around in there. From there, we walked out the back way to see the area that used to be the Hippodrome and the obelisk. We also looked at the area that becomes a meeting ground at night after iftar
Where are we? Look for the foreheads!
. Things weren't quite open but it was enough to see that it had a carnival like atmosphere of food. Next up was the Cistern. This was great cause it was underground and cool! It cost 10lira($7) to go in there and it really was pretty cool. :-) From the Cistern, it was back outside to the heat and over to the Hagia Sofia. The entrance here was 20lira($14) but so worth it! Before going in, sat down for a few to have some water and cool off in the shade a little bit. Thank goodness I had brought shorts with me! Fergie took us in and I truely wish that I had eyes in the back of my head to see everything there. The history of this place is overwhelming from being a church to a mosque and everything in between to now being a museum. I was truly in awe of what I was seeing!
After that was a decision to continue the tour or finish up. We decided to finish up and then have the afternoon to ourselves. Fergie took us to a rug shop where we looked at some great rugs-silk to wool and all combinations in between and then to an Iznik tile shop. I bought a tile and they bought a rug-both extremely transportable! We got back to the hotel and went to take a rest for a while.
The afternoon was an excursion to the Grand Bazaar. We figured out how to take the tram! Tokens were 1.4lira and were good for as long as you were on the tram wether it was one stop or six
The Blue Mosque
. On the way, we passed Starbucks so that was a destination for way home. Surprised? Don't be! The Grand Bazaar was way cool. It is very well laid out by shopping area with lots of marvelous tile decorations in it. There was lots that could have been bought but packing was an issue so I did find a few little things and a whirling dervish painting that needs to get framed. We spent about 2 hours wondering around and then it was off to Starbucks for a much needed coffee break. I wrote some postcards there and we enjoyed cool beverages as we people watched. Soon it was time to go and get some dinner as we had plans to see the Whirling Dervish show that night.Dinner was at a little place along the way home and it was fun, local food. Much of the food reminds me of both Jordan and Greece so the ingredients weren't strange to me. I really enjoyed what I had to eat! The show was to start around 8ish so we decided to walk there as it didn't seem to far from where we were-wrong. Luckily it was all downhill to the train station where the performance was being held. There was some shopping along the way-no surprise there! The show was absolutely amazing to see! Trying to get pictures was hard but it was truly brilliant to see. After the show, we took a taxi back to the hotel and then went up to the roof to write some more postcards.
