Posts Tagged ‘Turkey’

9
Feb

Week 46: Still in Istanbul…

   Posted by: Rhona    in Turkey

Well we’re still in Istanbul, though we’re finally leaving this evening to explore more of what Turkey has to offer. It’s been great to have so much time in this fascinating city but two weeks in one place is enough for us. Actually the past month has been pretty relaxing; a week in Lviv (Ukraine) then a week in Kyiv and two weeks here. It’s going to be a shock to put on our backpacks again, though after a session at the post office yesterday they’ll be a whole lot lighter. I finally got rid of my pet rock, Melnik, who I’ve been carrying since the start of Bulgaria about 3 months ago. It’s a long story…

In our second week in Istanbul we visited Dolmabaçe Palace, which was the residence of the Ottoman sultans when they moved out of Topkapi Palace in 1856. They certainly didn’t skimp on decorations, and the rooms are beautiful. Most impressive were those that were designed to impress visiting dignitaries and ambassadors; they dripped with gold leaf, lush fabrics and luxurious French style furniture. On the other hand the rooms of the harem, the residential part of the palace, were relatively plain. Once the palace had been vacated following the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk had his summer residence here. He was a military officer during World War 1 and is revered as the founder of the modern, secular Turkish nation. The bed on which died in 1938 is watched over by a clock stopped at his time of death.

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2
Feb

Week 45: Istanbul

   Posted by: Rhona    in Turkey

We’ve spent the past week in Istanbul, being befriended by carpet salesmen, exploring historic mosques, drinking fresh orange juice, watching dervishes whirl, eating baklava, counting stray cats, buying souvenirs in the Grand Bazaar and dodging rain showers. It’s been a busy week. On our first night in the city we headed out to the weekly CouchSurfing meeting where we met lots of great people who gave us a list of culinary delights to taste and some great tips for sightseeing in Istanbul and Turkey. On our way home, as we walked between the Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque, it snowed a wet, heavy snow.

Both Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque were, of course, on the “must see” list and both are incredible. Aya Sofya was originally built in 537AD by the Byzantine emperor Justinian. It was the world’s biggest Christian church until the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by the Ottomans and its transformation into a mosque. Even today with all the technology available, the building is still incredible. The 55m high dome floats above mere mortals heads, and even the balcony soars up toward the ceiling. The Blue Mosque, more accurately named Sultan Ahmet Mosque after the sultan who commissioned it, was built between 1606 and 1616 to rival Aya Sofya. It doesn’t quite achieve that but it’s a pretty tough competition to win. The interior is a huge space covered in tens of thousands of blue tiles, hence the unofficial name of the structure.

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