Turkey/Greece - Part I

Here is was our itinerary:

- Istanbul, Turkey - August 10-12 (flight)

- Oludeniz, Turkey - August 12-14 (ferry)

- Rhodes, Greece - August 14-17 (flight)

- Crete, Greece - August 17-21 (ferry)

- Santorini, Greece - August 21-26

Istanbul, Turkey 

We were a little surprised to find that both of us really enjoyed Istanbul.  Much more than we thought we would.  It has been the most foreign place we have visited while on tour.  There were a lot less western tourists, English was not as widely spoken and the significant dedication to the Muslim religion provided a very foreign feel to the city.  For example, throughout the day you could hear the call to prayer throughout the city.

We started our first day by visiting the Haghia Sophia “church of holy wisdom” and the Blue Mosque (called Sultanahmet Camii in Turkish). We stopped first at the Blue Mosque, which was built between 1609 and 1616. This Mosque is still active and to enter we were both required to remove our shoes.  Women must wear clothing that covers their legs, arms and head.  The Haghia Sophia was once a church, later a mosque and is now a museum.  It had amazing mosaic ceilings and walls and in one it shows Mary holding Jesus and another with Christ on the throne with an emperor kneeling beside him.  These were all covered up when the church was converted in to a mosque and has since been rediscovered.  The mosaics date back to 800-900’s ….. that’s old!  

We also made a quick stop at the Byzantine Basilica Cistern, which is supposed to be the most unusual tourist attraction in the city.  The cistern was built in 532 for the growing demands of the Great Palace, the roof is held up by 336 columns, each over 26ft.  The site was also used in a James Bond movie.

We ended the day eating chicken shish (kabobs) and paper kabob (a veg and lamb stew thats wrapped and baked in oiled paper).

On our second day in Istanbul, we first visited the Grand Bazaar, which is a labyrinth of streets with thousands of booth-like shops. It is good for buying jewelry, rugs, leather goods and pretty much anything you can think of.   We were so surprised by the number of vendors selling knock off purses, sunglasses and watches.  The fake purses were amazing quality and nothing like the things I’ve seen in NY and other large cities.  They are also far more expensive and made of real leather but still a fraction of the cost of an original.  

Gold is also a good deal because the price you pay is based on the posted daily price of gold so little is paid for the craftsmanship.  The items are weighed in front of you and the price is calculated.  Wishing I had found something I wanted!!

I was completely overwhelmed with the market… so much so that I found it hard to make decisions on what to purchase.  I could have spent a couple of days in the market.

After the Bazaar we took the tram down to the Palace. From here we headed to the Spice Market, where we found a spice grinder and a hand made backgammon board (which from my travel books is a popular board game in Turkey).  After lots of walking we decided to then get on a 2 hour boat ride for views of the city. The boat ride was a nice break from all of the walking and people.

Blue Mosque

Haghia Sophia

Byzantine Basilica Cistern

Grand Bazaar

Check out that bling!  These are too flashy for me but thats a lot of gold. 

Spice Market

At the market we purchased a spice grinder, turkish platter and a backgammon board.

Boat Ride

Other random pics 

* It was Ramadan while we were there which is a month of fasting, which begins at dawn and ends at sunset.  Once the sun went down the parks filled with families eating dinner and listening to music.

** Everyone loved Henry.  When our friends came to our hotel to meet us in the morning the hotel staff would refer them to ‘Henry’s room.” I also had to quickly get comfortable with everyone wanting to touch him.  We didn’t see many women when we were out sightseeing but all of the men were so interested in making noises and gestures to get his attention. Everyone wanted to hold him.