Istanbul, where east meets west

Istanbul, where East meets West

We arrived in Istanbul at 7:00 this morning. It is, perhaps, the most unique city in the world because it is the only city in the world built on two continents, Europe and Asia.

Bridge east and west

It is on the shores of the Bosphorous and one of the longest suspension bridges in the world connects the two parts of the city. Over the course of 10,000 years, Istanbul has been the seat of three different empires. The Ottoman Empire, the last of these, lasted from 1299 to 1918, when Turkey picked the wrong side in WWI. The League of Nations started to divide up the spoils with the Greeks being interested in Turkey. But the national hero, Mustafa Kernal Ataturk organized his people and forced the establishment of the Republic of Turkey as we know it today. Istanbul has more than 2,000 mosques and 99% of the populatioln is Muslim, yet this country prides itself on having a secular government. Bill and I chose the Ottoman Istanbul tour which allowed us to see the Topkapi Palace (everything but the old harem section), the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar.

Topkapi Palace

Topkapi Palace was once the home to Ottoman's sultans and their harems. Mehmet II built this in the mid-1400s and it was home to three generations of sultans. Suleiman the Magnificent is the one who enlarged it from a small Summer palace into a great complex of buildings set in beautiful gardens. Within the final section of the palace a museum has been arranged with household items (including a diamond encrusted baby cradle), the famous Topkapi Diamond and the Spoon maker Emeralds, each over 8 carats and traded for a spoon. The gardens are quite beautiful still and there is a corner courtyard that looks out over the city and the Golden Horn that is an amazing view.

View from palace

We lost a tour member on this section of the trip because between the bus and the palace she stepped into one of several holds in the street and broke a bone in her foot. Saw her back at the ship later in a cast and black and blue. She won't be touring the rest of the trip.

The Grand Bazaar was our second stop because it was Friday and there are extended prayer times on Monday at the Blue Mosque so we would not get there until after 6 p.m. The grand bazaar, which I think could be titled “The Grand Bizarre” in a huge market place with both covered and uncovered sections. There are merchants with permanent shops there and also lots of men who try sell you “100% silk, hand loomed rugs, 2,000 knots per sq. inch....only 50Euros!) You can buy anything you can think of there, rugs,leather, jewelry, silver, souvenirs, antiques, textiles and artwork. It was overwhelming so Bill and I sat down and had a Turkish coffee, very good.

Blue Mosque

We were finally able to get to the Blue Mosque after the 6 p.m. Prayers were finished. It is also called the Mosque of Sultan Ahmed and is the only mosque in the world with six minarets. The blue in the name comes from the thousands of blue Iznik tiles which line the wall of the mosque. The stained glass windows also have blue as a predominant color and the domes and half-domes are full of beautiful mosaics. We had to take off our shoes at the entrance and carry them in a little bag. There are many,many faucets with small stools in front all around the outside of the mosque, where worshipers stop to wash their feet and faces before they enter. The interior of the mosque is all carpeted and there is a small altar at the front. We were not allowed to walk past a certain point.

Women are not allowed to worship on the first floor, but must sit together in the second balcony, “so they won't be a distraction to the men” our guide pointed out....right. And he presented to us a young boy about to be circumcised which is a tradition moving to manhood, who was enjoying all the attention and adulation – little did he know!

We had a “connect the dots moment” in front of the Blue Mosque when Sinan, our guide said that the entire area had once been the Hippodrome, the site of chariot races, and the large entrance to the hippodrome had four large and beautiful bonze horses over it. The horses were stolen by the Italians. “They're in Venice,” we said at the same time!
Hagia Sophia where they are restoring minarets as seen from ship.

The Blue Mosque sits just across from the Hagia Sophia which was once the largest Eastern Orthodox church in the world and the home of the Patriarch of that religion. It is said that 10,000 workers participated in it's construction and that Emporer Justinian had marble brought in from all over the world. It has been a museum for some time now and is full of beautiful mosaics and byzantine art. The Hagia Sofia is in the process of restoring its minarets.

The traffic in Istanbul, which is now a city of 15M people, was incredible and there is a haze of smog over everything. We were warned that pedestrians do not have the right of way ANYWHERE and to beware of the traffic. We were also taught the Turkish word for “NO” and told to use it repeatedly as the merchant will just follow you and keep following you trying to sell you something, even after you have repeated said, “Hayer.” I am taking back everything I said about Italian disorganization because they are models of precision compared to the residents of Istanbul.

We spent a day and a half in Istanbul, but Bill and I used the second day as an opportunity to rest, get some sun and enjoy all the ship has to offer. We haven't talked much about this ship, the Celebrity Solstice, but I'm going to ask Bill to post some of the “ship” pictures here.

While we have not played croquet at the lawn club, the beautifully manicured large area of real grass on deck 15, we have strolled up there in the evening when attendants are watering and it smells wonderful.

Lots more grass too!!

The ship has a library, a card room, a world map room and offers enrichment lectures on a variety of topics during the cruise.

Bill is just back from the astronomy lecture and we both went to a lecture last week on the connections between the Etruscans, Romans and Greeks. We have met people from all over the world and crew members from all over the world and we have eaten far too much good food in every venue on board. We have heard a world class Polish violinist and a 1950s Irish comedian in the big theater.

We are off tomorrow to Kusadasi, Turkey)

Kusadasi and the beautiful ruins of Ephesus

We knew we were getting close to Kusadasi when we saw pigeon island with the old pirate castle on it.

pigeon island with unknown foreground

Kusadasi is a small (50,000) and thriving metropolis Turkey's West side, right on the Aegean Sea. It has become a big holiday destination over the last few years because of the beaches, deep water harbor and because it is within a few minutes of Ephesus, the showplace of Aegean archeology.

Harbor Kusadasi

We boarded an early busy for Ephesus and were glad because I think it is going to be at least 85 today and there are not many trees around the ruins. We have learned (after a week!) that if the ship's news tells you to be at a certain place for your tour at 9:00 a.m. You should be there by 8:40. Otherwise you will be on bus 35. We were the first people in line and were on bus#1 this time, so the first one at the ruins. Our local guide, Tahir, as born here and other than a year, spent as an exchange student in Buffalo, New York, has lived his whole life in the area. Our buses drove along the Arcadian Way a ceremonial road built during the Hellenic period. Our buses dropped us off at the top of Ephesus and we were able to tour the ruins while walking downhill. As opposed to others buying their tickets at the bottom of the hill, who had to walk up in the heat.

Ephesus was colonized by the Ionians in the 10^th Century B.C. The city itself was established by one of the Generals of Alexander the Great. Excavations have been going on for some time and so far have uncovered the Artemis Temple (only one of the 127, 60' tall pillars of one of the seven wonders of the world, still remains), the theater, the Prythaneion Temple, the Marble Road, the Trajan fountain, the temple of Hadrian, the Serapis Temple and the Celsus Library (which alone was worth the price of admission), and the baths of Scholastika. The great theater, where St. Paul preached, is in amazing condition. It originally seated 24,000 people and they still have concerts here. They are still repairing damage suffered after a Sting concert almost 20 years ago, where the acoustics brought down part of the wall. The last concert given here (can be seen on You tube) was Elton John's concert. He had his piano lowered to the stage by helicopter!

Great Theater

The Library of Celsus was my favorite, perhaps because the facade has been so well restored by the

Austrian Archeology Institute over a period of five years.

Library of Celsus

There were feral cats all around the ancient city. Our guide told us not to worry about them as they are fed by the soldiers that guard the site. It didn't look like the soldiers were feeding them very well and I wondered if our guides explanation was merely to preclude us from asking about the hungry cats.

The Tourism Board had arranged a small entertainment for us, a triumphal procession of Marc Anthony and Cleopatra along the very road they had once used to enter the city. Then a gladiator fight, some dancing and juggling. I did not think Cleopatra looked very happy....of course, her costume was heavy, it was really hot and Marc Anthony did not look like Richard Burton!

Cleo and Marc Anthony dropped by for a visit (as they had in the 1st century)

We were dropped off downtown for shopping, which we did and our guide had recommended a small restaurant for lunch down a few alleyways. We had a little table outside and some very good food. A small feral cat waited quietly under Bill's chair for bits of chicken he conveniently (and unobtrusively) dropped. When we were finished, the cook came out of the restaurant and had someone ask me if he could have the #1 yellow sticker on my blouse (which the tour bus uses to identify us) and I gave it to him. He pasted it on his apron and said, “I am number 1 cook.” He was very funny and he as a good cook.

We walked slowly back to the ship, stopped to eat some fresh Baklava and write some post cards and made it back in time for a nap before dinner.

Tomorrow is a sea day, which they give us if we've had a pretty intense couple of days of touring. Everyone will sleep late and spend the day by the pool or playing bingo or reading in the sky lounge or getting enriched, like Bill. I will have him post some more ships pictures here and before you know it (like 8 a.m. Tomorrow) we'll be in Athens and we'll be able to tell you everything about the Acropolis and shopping at the Plaka.