Ahmet Erkun

A 19,083-step day wrapped up our overnight visit to İstanbul, Turkey.

After breakfast at the Terrace Café, Mui and I set off on foot towards Galata Bridge. Spanning the Golden Horn, a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of the Bosphorus, this is the fourth bridge at this spot. It is just as popular today with fishermen (and fisherwomen) as the first bridge was in the mid-1800s.

Once across the waterway, we asked Google Maps to navigate us to the Şerefiye Cistern, which dates back to the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II. Our reason for going there was to see the sound and light show … which we thought was well done. It was definitely worth the ₺30pp ($2) special admission for Turkish nationals.

From there, we dropped down to what used to be the Hippodrome of Constantinople. The site, which dates back to 203-303 CE, was used by Romans, Greeks, and Ottomans for celebrations, protests, and more, but was mainly a place for chariot races. Along its length, one can see several monuments ... the Serpent Column from Delphi and the Obelisk of Thutmose III (aka the Obelisk of Theodosius) amongst them.

The whole area — including the adjacent Sultanahmet Square — was packed with people … foreign and domestic tourists. So, we escaped to the peace and quiet of the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum [T&IAM in the photo captions]. The museum overlooks the Hippodrome. Admission was ₺60 (~$4) for me (covered by the Museum Card, which I was able to purchase at the rate offered to Turkish Nationals) and free for Mui. (The cost of the card has already been paid off with this one museum visit, so everything else will be gravy.)

The museum is housed in the palace of Pargalı İbrahim Paşa, who was not only a close friend of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent but also his brother-in-law and grand vizier. The collection includes artifacts from Turkic cultures that preceded or were concurrent with the Ottomans, as well as Islamic artifacts. In one section is a Museum of Ethnography that gives a glimpse into Ottoman Era life.

After spending a couple of hours in the museum, we entered the melee around Sultanahmet Square. We followed the hordes into Sultanahmet Mosque (aka the Blue Mosque), but were so disappointed to see all the scaffolding inside that hid the true magnificence of the interior that we walked right back out again. Luckily, we’d seen the mosque in its full grandeur on previous visits to the city.

Munching on a simit from a street vendor, we next walked towards Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya in Turkish). Built in 537 as a Byzantine Christian Cathedral, it later served as a Latin Catholic Cathedral during the early parts of the 13th century, became a mosque during 1453-1931; was converted to a museum in 1935, and again became a mosque in 2020 … currently known as the Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi. Seeing the crowds there, we didn’t even attempt to go inside even though we were curious to see how they handle the covering of the Byzantine era mosaics during the five-times daily prayer service. I was later told that only the mosaics that are on the Mecca-facing wall are covered to avoid any sense of idolatry, and that is done only during prayer service and unveiled afterward.

Next, following a meandering path, we found ourselves in front of one of the many branches of Hafız Mustafa 1864 … the number a reference to when this sweets shop was first founded in İstanbul. It is rightfully known as the best place to get baklava outside of the city of Gaziantep in Southeastern Turkey. A connoisseur of this pistachio-filled Turkish sweet treat, Mui convinced me to take a break so we could taste some of their delicacies … in lieu of lunch.

Thus fortified, we retraced our route down to the waterfront, crossed Galata Bridge, and strolled back to Galataport. It was only 2:30p when we arrived at the cruise terminal. Though we still had an hour before embarkation for Insignia’s 4:00p sail away, our feet signaled — quite strongly — that they’d had enough. So we skipped our return visit to see the remainder of the exhibits at the Painting and Sculpture Museum at the port and went back to the ship.

Since our feet were protesting any form of standing, we went to Horizons on deck 10 forward to have afternoon tea while we watched the sail out towards the Sea of Marmara.

We really could use a sea day tomorrow. Instead we have our last port of call prior to disembarkation in Athens. So we will soldier on. But first … a well-deserved good night’s rest.Read more