Today was the final class of the year for the Coffee Club Spanish class that I attend. Our homework for the final class was to write a short story about some trip that we have taken in the past. The instructor suggested I write about Turkey. Some other students suggested I do a photo presentation […]
Turkey 24 – Life in Istanbul
Now that our latest vacation is complete, this is a summary of what it feels like to live in Istanbul, even if only for a couple of months. First, mosques are everywhere and a part of daily life, even for those who are not practicing Muslims. There are 2,995 active mosques here, and every one […]
Turkey 23 – Safety and Security
[NOTE: This post was written before the bombing at the Istanbul airport. The contents here still applies though. Such mass attacks have occurred in Belgium, Paris, London, and… Orlando. The world seems to be rapidly going crazy. Anytime you choose to leave your home, you at risk of an attack… or simply being hit by […]
Turkey 22 – Market – Tarihi Sali Pazari
We read about a large market on the Asian side (where we are staying), and decided to go there. We got the address and directions from a web site on local Istanbul markets, and off we went. First we walk to the metro, take that to the end of the line, then find bus 8A, […]
Turkey 21 – Ortaköy
The “Blue Hour” at Ortaköy Camii We traveled by ferry to Beşiktas, today, then took a long walk to Ortaköy Mosque, which is located right at the foot of the Bosphorous Bridge, specifically to photograph the “camii” (in Turkish) as the sun set. When we arrived at Beşiktaş, we tried to find the bus to take […]
Turkey 20 – Dolmabahçe Palace and Eyüp
Yesterday, we started at a crafts market in Üsküdar, then took the ferry across the Bosphorous to tour the Dolmabahçe Palace, which was built in 1853. It is easy to look at all these palaces, and wonder why “each new sultan had to build his own“. In this case, though, it was replacing Topkapi Palace, […]
Turkey 19 – Sea Life Aquarium
We are now in our final week in Istanbul, and are starting to explore places that have been on our “would like to see if we had time” list. Today, that brought us to the Sea Life Aquarium. Because our first two businesses back in the early 1970’s related to tropical fish (a long story […]
Turkey 18 – Bosphorus Cruise
Today, we cruised along the Bosphorus Strait, a body of water that connects the Sea of Marmara (where we start) to the Black Sea (where we turn around), as well as separating the continents of Asia and Europe. The cruise takes about 90 minutes, plus a 3 hour break at Anadolu Kavagi, then 90 minutes […]
Turkey 17 – Historic Churches
We also visited three other famous landmarks in Istanbul. They had been built more than 1500 years ago, converted to mosques 600 years ago, then two were converted into museums, while the third remains as an active mosque. The image above is the central dome from the church of St. Saviour in Chora. Chora is […]
Turkey 16 – City Views and Lights
Mehmet, the leader of our photographic tour of Turkey (www.fantasticphototours.com), took us on an afternoon walk around parts of Istanbul today. We wandered around parts of the Grand Bazaar again, and then up a hidden set of stairs. He talked to a guard, who at first insisted we could go no further. As usual, Mehmet […]