Finally a day to sleep in and relax on deck as our ship sailed toward Istanbul. We read on deck, sipped some drinks & enjoyed the sights & landscape of Turkey as we worked on our tans.
On our lastLes mer
Finally a day to sleep in and relax on deck as our ship sailed toward Istanbul. We read on deck, sipped some drinks & enjoyed the sights & landscape of Turkey as we worked on our tans.
On our lastLes mer
The Blue Mosque continues to be a place of worship and tourists conform to strict dress restrictions to respect the culture of the country, so we covered our heads and bodies and removed our shoes andLes mer
Across the grounds from the Mosque is the imposing Hagia Sophia which was originally built as a Byzantine Church, then converted into a Ottoman Mosque and finally secularized and turned into a museum.Les mer
There's a wall in the Hagia Sophia with a small, perpetually damp indentation framed in copper. Legend has it that if you put your thumb in the hole & turn it clockwise, your physical ills may beLes mer
Dan Brown's "Inferno", which Larry read last year, contains a vivid chase scene through the Basilica Cistern. We had to check it out! Plus it was very cave like. The underground cistern originallyLes mer
Just up the street from our hotel was the Old House Restaurant which was highly rated on Trip Advisor and a great choice for my birthday dinner. Great food & service as the hospitality extended to teaLes mer
Our morning began with a brisk walk to the Spice Bazaar, where we were charmed by the vendors into several purchases. Larry even got a genuine fake Gucci wallet!
The home of the Ottoman Sultans is a massive grand compound filled with impressive architecture, mosaics and porcelain treasures. After touring many of the hundreds of rooms, we made our way back toLes mer