Our journey to Istanbul began when I met my Grandma Ginny in Madrid. Not only was her flight delayed, but then we discovered that her luggage was lost, so not really the best start to our trip. However, when we finally arrived at our hotel, we went for a little walk, I took my last siesta in Spain, and then we went out for dinner, where I had my final tinto de verano (red wine and lemon fanta). The next morning we woke up and drove to the airport where we picked up my grandma's luggage and then headed to our gate. The flight was four hours, so we didn't arrive in Istanbul until 5:30. It is the only city in the world that straddles two continents. Turkey reminds me a lot of Morocco, but its more modernized. We had a shuttle service from the airport to our hotel and then we went out for our first Turkish meal. It took a mere three and a half hours. The waiters were quite comical. We began with hummus, followed by a lamb stew, and finally for dessert we had ice cream with a chocolate cake. I also had my first apple tea, which was delicious. Overall the meal was quite an experience and everything was very flavorful! The next morning we began with a tour of the city. We went to the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace (Ottoman sultan’s residence), underground cistern (for those of you who watch the Bachelorette, it is where Allie had a date), we visited a pottery shop, where we learned how to make pottery, followed by an oriental rug display. We even watched them fly ;) I got to try and guess what??? I was actually able to do it almost perfectly. I think the store owner was a bit surprised because he offered me a free rug if I could do it, but sadly he didn’t come through with his offer. Our last stop of the day was the Grand Bazaar. It was filled with anything and everything you could imagine. Tuesday we took a tour of the Spice Bazaar, where we smelled and tasted teas, spices, dried fruit, and nuts. Then we went for a cruise on the Bosphorus River, where we were able to see both sides of Istanbul (Asia and Europe). Grandma and I then walked to the Hagia Sophia (one of the seven wonders of the world!) and meandered around town. Wednesday we went to the Dolmabahce Palace (similar to our White House). It was by far the most ornate palace I have ever seen. They used over 14 tons of gold and 40 tons of silver. It is situated right on the water, so the views are also spectacular. We lucked out because the other group that was suppose to be on the tour with us cancelled, so we ended up with a private tour!! After the palace we drove to the highest point on the Asia side. There we walked around and took pictures and then stopped to have a nice cup of tea. Tonight we went to dinner and a show, where we watched belly-dancers, traditional turkish folklore dancing, and listened to music. Tomorrow we have a free day, which we will spend wandering around the city and then we have a night flight to South Africa. This trip to Istanbul has been amazing and I can’t imagine a better travel buddy :) Only one more day until Grandma has made it to all 7 continents!! South Africa here we come!!!!!!!!!!
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| Dinner the first night (Love the waiter in the background) |
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| Inside the Blue Mosque |
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| Front of the Blue Mosque |
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| Topkapi Palace |
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| Inside the Cistern |
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| Pottery Demonstration |
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| Spice Bazaar |
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| Dolmabahce Palace from the River |
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| Inside Hagia Sophia |
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| Grandma making a wish |
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| Entrance to Dolmabahce Palace |
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| World Travelers!!! |
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| Looking out over the Bosphorus |
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| Turkish flag with flowers |
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| Grandma makes it to ASIA!!! (One more day and then all 7 continents will be visited) |
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| View of European side from Asian side |
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| Belly Dancers |
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Traditional Folklore Dancers
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So glad that Mom's luggage came! You two look like you are having an amazing time! We love you both!
ReplyDeleteCool!! Be ready to tell me everything when you get back! I have lots of questions!
ReplyDeleteWishing u lots of fun,
Anna
Wow. I can't believe how much you are seeing. What an amazing experience. You both look like you are having lots of fun.
ReplyDeleteWe love you so much. Mom and Dad
Istanbul is quite the place. Our bed and breakfast was very cute, sort of off the beaten path but close to restaurants, shopping, etc. In all my travels this was the first time my luggage didn't make it with me. The girl at the airlines counter bent over backwards to make sure my bag was there the next day. Kudos to her. Next to our bed and breakfast was a restaurant and some local sheep would meander in and shooed out by the waiters. Plenty of mosques. You could hear them chanting ever so often over the loudspeakers. In the Grand Bazaar you see tea-totallers, (people who bring tea on small trays to various businesses). Don't ask us how you ordered the tea, it quite a popular scene. You really need a map to find your way around in this place. Everything from soup to nuts, I think, was sold here. Ebby really surprised the guy in the rug place. She really fooled him and he should have given her something. Bet she could have sold a few rugs for him! The belly dancers show was very interesting, glad we did it. I missed the Cistern episode on the Bachelorette show. Going thru Istanbul near the water it looked like people were fishing and then putting a fish on a hoagie bun and eating it, hope they were cooked! The Spice Bazaar smelled spicy. Evereyone trying to out sell the other merchant. Never saw so many beautiful palaces and palacious homes on the river, mosques too. Now I can talk Turkey to people (ha, ha). Stopped and got an ice cream cone from this vendor who had this long stick with a cone shaped metal thing on the end he would scoop up the ice cream and put it in the cone. Very good. Oh, we also took time out to watch some kind of performance on an outdoor stage where these different boys and girls were competing against one another. It was rather warm that day, but the music was great. Probably different schools participating. LOL. G.G.
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