After yesterday's walking tour it was good to begin this day with a bus ride to the pier called the Golden Horn and a cruise on the Bosphorus River that lasted about an hour and a half. The sprightly Omer gave a terrific commentary as we made our way north toward the Black Sea pointing out both modern and ancient sites. Among the highlights are the suspension bridge that links the continents of Europe and Asia, the Sultans' Palaces, the ancient fort and a huge number of modern five star hotels.
From the cruise we walked a short distance to the spice market on the way visiting a small mosque that is beautifully decorated with tiles depicting flowers in many forms. Being Islamic art this is done using symbols for the flowers. The spice market is a sensorial experience and especially the smells and the colour. We were able to enjoy some pomegranite tea and Turkish Delight and other nibbles for free from a friend of our guide. He did some pretty good business from our group after the freebies.
Then members of the group went in various directions exploring the spice market and we lunched in an upper level restaurant together.
The afternoon was spent at the Topkapi Palace which has four courtyards and in each courtyard top museum viewing areas, some dedicated to weaponry, jewellery, to religion, politics, the art - portraits of the Sultans etc. It is a vast complex and most of Istanbul's 15 million population seemed to be there today! By late afternoon we were ready to see the Grand Bazaar - 8 members of the group wanted to walk from one side to the other and back to the Hotel. The rest remained on the bus to do a shorter trip from the hotel on the other side. Those who remained in the bus encountered their first experience of a Turkish traffic jam. Nevertheless it was all an interesting experience and gave us much to talk about and reflect upon as we gathered for prayers before dinner.
This was our third evening meal at the President's Hotel and we have been well cared for in beautiful accommodation and good service in this place in the heart of the old city of Istanbul. Tomorrow we pack our cases for our long bus journey to Cannakale.
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| Sultan's Palace (one of them) |
From the cruise we walked a short distance to the spice market on the way visiting a small mosque that is beautifully decorated with tiles depicting flowers in many forms. Being Islamic art this is done using symbols for the flowers. The spice market is a sensorial experience and especially the smells and the colour. We were able to enjoy some pomegranite tea and Turkish Delight and other nibbles for free from a friend of our guide. He did some pretty good business from our group after the freebies.
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| Fr Ron about to sample pomegranate tea at the spice market |
Then members of the group went in various directions exploring the spice market and we lunched in an upper level restaurant together.
The afternoon was spent at the Topkapi Palace which has four courtyards and in each courtyard top museum viewing areas, some dedicated to weaponry, jewellery, to religion, politics, the art - portraits of the Sultans etc. It is a vast complex and most of Istanbul's 15 million population seemed to be there today! By late afternoon we were ready to see the Grand Bazaar - 8 members of the group wanted to walk from one side to the other and back to the Hotel. The rest remained on the bus to do a shorter trip from the hotel on the other side. Those who remained in the bus encountered their first experience of a Turkish traffic jam. Nevertheless it was all an interesting experience and gave us much to talk about and reflect upon as we gathered for prayers before dinner.
This was our third evening meal at the President's Hotel and we have been well cared for in beautiful accommodation and good service in this place in the heart of the old city of Istanbul. Tomorrow we pack our cases for our long bus journey to Cannakale.
The spice market looks wonderful, but where are all the girls?
ReplyDeleteBaby, Scary, Sporty, Ginger, Posh...
Seriously, those colours should inspire a painting or two, I'd think.
So many pictures that could be painted at every place. Glenys and I have managed two or three each so far.
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful old buildings, good to see you are having a lovely time!
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