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Instanbul revisited, It’s been 4 years and we are back on our way to cruising the Turkish coast and Greek islands. This time we are staying in the Sirkeci region just near the main old town shopping area and Galata bridge harbour front where Restaurants abound as do tourists and Hawkers a plenty. our first day we spent some time in the palace gardens and found this wonderful way to use an old tree stump, brilliant.
We ventured up to the Fatih region and its famous markets and mosque and then onto the Fatih neighbourhoods with all the old wooden houses
Up early the next day to get tickets for The HAGIA SOFIA so that we could spend a lot more time taking it all in as it requires hours to really learn and understand it’s history
Wandering the streets around the Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar always reveals something new and this time it was the traditional local shopping streets and the bizarre things they consume
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We took a day to visit the Prince’s Islands off the coast of Istanbul to the south in the Marmara sea where it has been a favourite holiday destination for the well heeled for centuries. the horse and cart ride around the island of Buyukada was a treat and we were lucky to get there early before the crowds defended it into massive queues like a taxi rank. the old timber houses from the 18th and 19th century were beautiful
A visit with Lance & Liz to the Rustem Pasa Mosque was the start of our day around Istanbul that took in manly sights including the Topkapi Palace and The Chora ( Kariye Muzesi ) Church with the best tiles in Istanbul.
We finished off a perfect day at to celebrate the almost there 60th Birthday of Lance overlooking the famous Mosque and Bridge view in Ortakoy .
Istanbul had so many sights, sounds tastes and smells that it’s hard to capture in film but these images give some idea.
