“If one had but a single glance to give the world, one should
gaze on Istanbul.”
Alphonse de Lamartine
“If the Earth was a single state, Istanbul would be its capital.”
Napoleon Bonaparte
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| Istanbul, from our boat on the Bosphorus |
Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, spans both Asia and
Europe. Half the city is in each
continent. Because of this, it has
always had a great importance in the world.
Today it is a vibrant, colorful city, full of wonderful sights to see.
My husband and I stopped in Istanbul last year for just a few
days. It had been on my list for quite
some time, and since we were going to be in the neighborhood, sort of, we
decided to make a side-trip to see it. We
didn’t get to see everything that the tourist guides suggest, but we saw the
main things. And we got a feel of what
Istanbul is like. It really is a
beautiful, vibrant city. The old town
area is always busy, even late at night.
And I recommend staying in the old town section of the city, it just
makes it easier to see everything, and there are great restaurants on every
corner. Below is my list of things to
see while visiting this city.
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Entrance to the Harem
in Topkapi Palace |
1. Topkapı Palace – Home of the Ottoman sultans for nearly
400 years, the palace was the home of the monarch who lived in Topkapi’s
hundreds of rooms with hundreds of concubines, children and servants. You can take a guided tour, or wander on your
own through the Harem, the palace and the spacious grounds and four courtyards. The 3rd courtyard houses the
Treasury, with its incredible gems, gold and works of art.
2. Hagia Sophia – is a great architectural beauty and an important monument both for Byzantine and for the Ottoman empires.
Once a church, later a mosque, it is now a museum.
It is known as one of the great buildings of the world.
It is worth a visit to see its famous mosaics and the interior of the building.
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| Blue Mosque |
3. The Blue Mosque is one of the most prominent landmarks of
Istanbul, with its 6 slender minarets and beautiful domes and semi- domes,
260 windows and nice courtyards.
It was built between 1609-1616.
The
mosque is not blue, so you may wonder why it is called that.
It is named for the blue tiles inside the building. Inside
you will see the breathtaking interior with its chandeliers and blue
tiles. Visitors are allowed to visit the mosque and
take pictures.
You will be asked to
remove your shoes.
Important to remember
that this is a house of worship and you should never walk in front of a person
at prayer.
Also, it may be closed for a
half an hour during the formal worship times of the day, and for longer periods
on Fridays and holy days.
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| Basilica Cistern |
4. Basilica Cistern – The cisterns lie
beneath the streets of Istanbul, and date back to the time when Istanbul was
called Constantinople.
It is an eerie
subterranean "sunken palace" of 336 marble columns which could hold
2,265 cubic meters (80,000 cubic feet) of water in case of drought or
siege.
There are walkways and plenty of
lighting, and we found it to be fascinating.
While we were there we found a place that takes photos.
They dressed my husband up as a Sultan, and I
was his concubine.
We had to pay a small
price for the photo, but it is one of my favorite souvenirs.
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| Inside the Grand Bazaar |
5. Grand Bazaar - The ultimate medieval "shopping
center," with approximately 4000 shops, is fun whether you buy or just browse.
It is also called the Covered Market.
It is the largest covered market and offers
excellent shopping.
You can purchase
beautiful carpets, glazed tiles and pottery, copper and brassware, apparel, and
almost anything you could dream up.
I
got a really nice little camel which has a small opening on its hump.
I use it as a Christmas ornament, although it
wasn’t made for this purpose.
There are
also lots of restaurants in the Bazaar.
The bazaar is closed on Sundays.
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| The Spice Markety |
6. Egyptian (Spice) Market – This market is filled with the
fragrance of the exotic East.
You can
purchase spices from around the world, as well as food items, coffee, snacks and Turkish
Delight.
It is open every day of the
week, and is a fun place to take a stroll.
7. Dolmabahçe Palace – This palace was built in 1856 and is
a European-style palace on the Bosphorus. The palace’s white marble façade is
striking when viewed from the water – but it’s trumped by the interior, which
includes the 36-metre-high throne room with its crystal chandelier (a gift from
Queen Victoria), the alabaster baths and a 'crystal staircase' that wouldn't
look out of place in Las Vegas. This historical building gives opulence a whole
new meaning.
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George enjoying his yogurt
in Kanlica |
8. Bosphorus Cruise – The Bosphorus Strait is an iconic
image associated with Istanbul.
Separating the Asian and European sides of Istanbul, it connects the Sea
of Marmara to the Black Sea.
Traveling
the length of the Bosphorus is a fantastic way of checking out some of the
monuments and mansions of Istanbul from the comfort of a boat.
You can either do this by boarding a ferry,
or you can book a private tour boat to take you.
When we were there we decided to take a
private boat.
The ferry tends to be
crowded and we wouldn’t know what we were seeing.
The boat stopped in several villages along
the way and we even had a barbequed fish dinner on board.
My favorite stop was in the village of Kanlica,
which is famous for its yogurt, and for good reason.
I like yogurt well enough, but the yogurt in
Kanlica was the best I have ever tasted.
It comes with a topping of powdered sugar, which gives it a sweet crusty
topping.
I can’t describe to you how
good this yogurt was, but it was as good as any of the gelato we bought in
Italy.
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| Houses along the Bosphorus |
9. Princes' Islands – The Princes’ Islands are a chain of
nine islands in the Sea of Marmara, four of which can easily be reached from
the city center.
During the Byzantine
and Ottoman era, princes and royalty who were seen as challengers to the throne
were exiled there.
Today, the islands
are a popular summer destination for the rich and famous of Istanbul.
The most popular of the islands is
Buyukada.
There are no motorized forms
of transportation on the island.
Visitors and residents instead take to foot, horse and cart or bicycle.
There are a number of good restaurants on the
island, along with shops and ice cream stands.
There are public beaches where you can relax or go for a swim.
The main sights are a church and a monastery.
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| Me and my rug guy |
10. Sultanahmet
(Old City)
- Wander the streets of the Old City section of the city.
Look in all the shops, talk to some of the
rug merchants.
They will offer you tea
if you look at their rugs.
It can be
high pressure sales, but the rugs are beautiful and we made a friend of a young
salesman who gave us tea and showed us his rugs.
I didn’t buy from him to begin with, I said I
wanted to look around some more.
The
next 2 days we kept seeing him, and he would run over to talk to us, and lower
the price on the rug I wanted.
The last
day we did buy the rug from him, and he was so happy.
And I really enjoyed talking to him, he made
me laugh, he was such an enthusiastic young man.
And I love my rug.
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| Old City of Istanbul |
Many of the sights listed above are in the Old City section.
There are many good restaurants in this section of town.
Almost every corner has wonderful food and
outdoor eating places.
The kebab is the
most well known food in Istanbul, and you should try it while there. Kebab is a
typical South Eastern Turkish food and although you may be familiar with the
western version, there is nothing like a true Turkish kebab. A traditional
kebab may be cooked over a flame or grill, but if you prefer something in the
form of a sandwich, look for a Doner Kebab which is roast lamb, sliced very
thin, on flatbread with vegetables and a delicious yogurt and garlic sauce.
Fresh fish and seafood can be found in abundance in Istanbul.
After
dinner take a walk down to the Bosphorous.
There are all sorts of carts, selling unusual things.
And it is a fun place to walk around.
It was well-lit and quite crowded with
people.
Turks are extremely friendly with foreign visitors, the
cuisine is excellent and there are many wonderful sights to explore.
Istanbul is just the first stop.
There are so many other areas of the country
worth exploring. I would love to see more of this fascinating country.
We did see a small portion of it in 2007 when
we took a trip to Greece which included a cruise of the Greek islands.
One of the stops was actually in Turkey.
We stopped in the port of Kusadasi and
explored the ruins of Ephesus, which were fantastic.
You can read about that trip by going to the
side panel and reading about our Greek trip under Trips Reports of Trips We
Have Taken.
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| Picture taken of us inside the Cisterns |
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