Istanbul

Was once Constantinople...

before going to Istanbul... this was all I knew: http://vimeo.com/6746927

Now I have a much bigger appreciation for this beautiful city.

After Berlin, we hopped on a plane and headed to Turkey! 

Istanbul is divided by the Bosphorus into two sides, the Europe side and the Asia side. The Europe side has a lot of the historical sites, while the Asia side is more commercial and where most of the population lives.

view from my hotel's breakfast terrace

One of the nights we were there, my friend Scott and I met up with his Turkish friend who teaches English at the University. Murat invited us to his home for a BBQ with some of his friends. It was great! We had a lot of various meats, some lamb for sure and then some sausage shaped meats I am not sure what they were (Good is what I would name them.) We had a lot of eggplant, too. It was a very fun night! After the BBQ they took us out on the town for one of their friends' "Birthday." Her real birthday was not for a few more days but as Ramadan was about to begin, she wanted to go out before the fasting began. I'm not really sure where they took us but I think it was Istiklal Street. Having just come from Vienna, it felt a lot like being on the Karntner Strasse. It was a fun night and they were really great people I hope to see again!

Sultan Ahmed Mosque more commonly known as the Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque is the largest in the city with 6 minarets and 8 domes. I think it was my favorite at night as it is all lit up and pretty.

Inside the Hagia Sophia

Much like Istanbul itself, the Hagia Sophia has changed hands several times throughout history. It was a church and then a mosque and then a church and back and forth until finally in 1935 the first Turkish President declared it a Museum and began restoring all of the amazing artwork and mosaics that had been plastered over as it changed hands. What is left now is an awesome collection of multiple religions all under one well crafted roof.. it was a pretty cool thing to see.

Outside the Hagia Sophia

That is Asia behind me.

On our last day in Istanbul, we took one of the many ferries out to the Princes Islands (nine small islands southeast of the city.) They house several monasteries and many people have summer homes on the islands. NO CARS are allowed. They have the needed cars; police, ambulance and garbage trucks, but other than that, no cars. They have rental bikes and horse-drawn carriages to help you get around. These carriages were VERY different from the Vienna Fiakers that I know and love!

In reading my guide book, we decided the third island was where we would go. Heybeliada has great lunch places and a very cool beach. We hiked around the island and made our way down to the beach!

The beach was very rocky and hot but fun!

It was a hot but fun day.

Istanbul was beautiful! A lot of colors and smells that could not be captured by my camera. It was very hot but the water made it breezy and very pleasant, especially at night. I ate a lot of kabob and I drank a lot of tea...they give you actual sugar cubes with your tea which is always fun. I'm not sure when I will make it back to Istanbul, but I would love to make it back someday in the not so distant future.

A note for Katie: EVERYWHERE in Istanbul...there are cats. I felt bad for Fievel and all of his mouse friends.