Day #58 - Istanbul, Turkey (Europe & Asia)

Looking over into the European side of Istanbul

Crossing the bridge from Europe to Asia

Cruise on the Bosphorus

The Bosphorus Bridge - passing under

Spice Bazaar

Tuesday, May 11th

Today was a really interesting day. I started off with an unbelievable breakfast. 10 feet from my room - the balcony that overlooks the city also serves as the breakfast location. Hard-boiled eggs, freshly-squeezed orange juice, tomatoes, melons, rolls with butter/jam, and fresh cheeses with salami meat -- it was awesome. I could eat this breakfast everyday. If I had all the money in the world, I would have a nutritionist/chef on staff. (You know what - I shouldn't think that way - anything is possible. Some things cost alot less than one would imagine)

I went downstairs to the hotel lobby and waited for my bus pickup scheduled for 8:20am. Our first stop was to the spice bazaar. This was a throw in on the tour. It was more of a meeting spot for all the groups to get situated for the day. The spice bazaar was pretty cool. I took a few shots. If for know other reason, it's a neat place to walk through just because of the aroma. This place was like a mini Grand Covered Bazaar I had walked around last night.

Next, one of the main reasons I took this tour, we boarded a boat and took a 1-1/2 hour cruise up/down the Bosphorus. Fantastic. The Bosphorus is a waterway that connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. It effectively separates the city of Istanbul between the European and Asian continent. The Bosphorus is 20 miles long and acts as a main thoroughfare for large ships passing through to northern/southern ports. One of the first things I noticed when I boarded the ship was that the water was filled with jelly-fish. They were everywhere. Supposedly, jellyfish like the colder waters of the Black Sea and sometimes make their way down into the Bosphorus. It was a perfect sunny day and we slowly cruised up the European side toward the Black Sea. We quickly came to one of 2 suspension bridges that cross into Asia - The Bosphorus Bridge. Picture the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco - just not as big. It took me 18 minutes to run across the Golden Gate bridge - I think I could do this one in less time. (I just looked it up - The Golden Gate has a span of 4,200 meters and the Bosphorus has a span of 3,500 meters. Span length refers only to the section that is suspended between the 2 main towers. The largest suspension bridge in the US is the Verrazano Narrows Bridge (NY City Marathon fame)).

We came down the Asian side completing the cruise. It was great and a nice way to get some perspective of Istanbul. Next, we went to a restaurant in the "Old City" and had lunch on the top floor overlooking the Sea of Marmara. I got a chance to meet some great people. I had lunch with an Indian couple who now live in Witchita, Kansas, 2 older ladies from Barcelona, and a middle-age couple (the wife lives in St. Louis and the husband is in the military currently stationed in southern Turkey). Wow - he had the central part of the US covered. I love meeting interesting people. I can talk with them forever. The older couple from India were major world travelers. They were on a month vacation - 1 week in Casablanca, 1 week in Istanbul, 1 week in Athens, 1 week in London. I said: "Which one of these doesn't belong with the others?" He said - "Yeah - I used to live in London" We all agreed that Istanbul took us with a pleasant surprise. The couple from India stated this first - and it would be hard to argue with their travel resume.

After lunch we took our bus to the Asian side of the city. Really cool - 1 minute in Europe and then 1 minute in Asia. I couldn't phycially walk across the bridge - it is not allowed. The best I could do was by bus. We first went up to the highest point on the Asian side which had a view of the whole city. I didn't reealize Istanbul has some hig-rise buildings -- they are off in the "New City" portion. My hotel, and the major tourist attractions, are in the "Old City".

After the view, we went to tour the Beylerbeyi Palace. This was a summer home to the Ottoman Sultans. We had a guided tour of the facility. This was really interesting. I'm always stunned at how precise, elegant, and sophisticated ancient culture can be. A sultan was the ruler of the Ottoman Empire - kind of like a King or Emporer (the Big Cheese). Each sultan had 4 wives, 10 favorites, and 12 concubines. The mother of the sultan decided who he would be with each evening. This is somewhat similar to the Forbidden City in Beijing - and how the Emporer would function. Very interesting. The women and men had separate entrances into the palace. There were endless meeting rooms, all symbolizing something unique. There are 2 other main Palaces in Istanbul where the Ottoman Sultans lived. The Topkapi Palace and the Dolmabahce Palace. The Topkapi Palace being the largest - 175-acres and accommodating a communicty of 40,000 people. Wow.

We ended the day around 6pm. Due to my self-imposed current limitations, I took a nap. I ended up getting up about 10pm. I went out and grabbed some dinner and came back and fell asleep again around 2am. All in a day's work.