Posted by Kanga.
One last Istanbul kitty.
And one last glance at our hotel building.
Only 48 hours back in Dubai and where are we having dinner? Why Harput Restaurant for Turkish food, of course.
Starting with red lentil & mint soup.
I forgot to take a picture of the pide and iskender kabab before we descended on it like ravenous wolves.
Very tasty and I would definitely recommend this place.
Posted by Kanga.
On our last full day in Instanbul, we went to Miniaturk Park. This is a park with miniature reproductions of major buildings and structures throughout Turkey. As I was walking around, I thought “maybe we should have come here first,” but then I decided it was just as good, maybe better to look at the reproductions after having seen the real thing in person.
We had already decided that Miniaturk should be on our list of things to do before seeing the advertisement in the Basilica Cistern, which consists of a miniature of Miniaturk (slightly ironic?).
So here are a few real life/miniature comparisons.
Remember Rumeli Fortress from our boat trip up the Bosphorus Strait?
Galata Tower
The Basilica Cistern
Sogukcheshme Street/Cafe Turing
Hagia Sophia
Anadolu Kavagi/Anadolu Fortress
The Fountain of Ahmet III
St Antoine’s Church
Galatasaray High School
And, last, but not least, the Blue Mosque.
Posted by Kanga.
Just to prove that we are not total cat elitists, here are a few Istanbul dogs.
With it being winter and rather nippy, the dogs on the streets are often curled up and trying to keep warm.
And they seem to think they can nap just about anywhere.
I know that they look dead, but I swear that I saw life signs from all of these dogs.
This poor doggy was tied up and the birds were just teasing him.
Posted by Kanga.
We took advantage of a brightly sunny and mild day to take the ferry up the Bosphorus Strait to Anadolu Kavagi and back. There were many beautiful sights along the way.
Even though we were on a boat, I still managed to get a picture of a cat.
DaddyBird’s bare hands got cold after a while.
Our destination – Anadolu Kavagi
The ultimate in hawking – men were calling to us as the boat was landing, telling us that their restaurant was the best and cheapest.
If you have a house on the waterline, it is important to have a boat garage.
We had some lovely fish for lunch.
After our three hour exploration of Anadolu Kavagi, it was back to the ferry.
Our day was far from over, however, once we were back to shore. We headed up to Galata Tower.
And this is why we didn’t climb the tower -
We had dinner and did some souvenir shopping along Istiklal street and then took the funicular tram down the hill and then home to the hotel for a deserved rest.
For all of today’s pictures, click here.
Posted by Kanga.
We ventured across the Bosphorus to the Asian continent today.
Food vending carts are common all over Istanbul wherever pedestrians are present. This one has sesame seed covered bread rings. Roasted chestnuts are also common.
DaddyBird gave in and got his dirty shoes shined.
The other day I asked DaddyBird if we’ve ever had bad lentil soup. The answer is still “no.”
DaddyBird tried the cig kofte (chee coff tay) which is raw meat mixed with bulgar and spices.
The view out the window of our restaurant.
Posted by Kanga.
Brunch followed by rice pudding and tea, started our day.
Then off to the Blue Mosque to see it from the inside. (Kris, this will explain why it is called the Blue Mosque even though it looks mainly white from the outside.)
But, first, Mr. Affable (DaddyBird) got into a conversation with a stranger. This time not a carpet salesman, but a guy who asked to take a picture of DaddyBird’s beard. The beard continues to be a big attraction.
The Blue Mosque is so called due to the inside being covered in beautiful blue tiles.
It is supported by four massive columns.
For more pictures – click here.
Then we took a taxi up the Bosphorus to Istinye harbor.
We stopped in at Fish Var restaurant.
The waiter said the fish soup was good. He was seriously understating it. It was perfect.
Then came the fish, followed by dessert. We don’t know what this is, but it was delicious!
In the land of Turkish carpets, one hardly expects to see a masterpiece like this one. Today’s agenda, which was decided upon after we got up and were dressed, consisted of breakfast, walking through the Hippodrome area, walking down the hill along the tram tracks, and seeing the basilica cistern.
Breakfast, well lunch, but what’s in a name. This is at the Doy Doy Restaurant, just up the street from our hotel.
Then on to the Hippodrome area. There was once a hippodrome here, but now all that remains are three structures – Walled Column (above), Serpent Column (below) and Egyptian Obelisk (below that) all from the 4th century C.E.
Then we were off down the hill to get a closer look at things we’ve seen at higher speed from the tram.
Like this old growth tree.
This is the Parade Pavilion where sultans would view parades.
On to the Basilica Cistern…
…which is inhabited by fish.
See the rest of the photos at
http://picasaweb.google.com/kangayayaroo/HippodromeBasilicaCistern#
Posted by Kanga.
Years ago, I think it was 1993, my mother and I flew to Alaska, rented a car and drove from Anchorage to Fairbanks and back again in a big circular route. We stayed in a different hotel every night and the days consisted mostly of madly driving to the next town. I concluded there and then that was NOT the way to travel.
Current day, my husband and I are in the middle of a two week stay in Instanbul. We have a lovely little hotel room that has a well equipped kitchenette. It is in a tourist area, but in a neighborhood where the houses have been converted into hotels, so it does not have the usual hotel district air.
We have adopted an atypical vacationing style. We don’t have a tightly scheduled itinerary of activities to be checked off. We get up and ask “what should we do today?” We were here four days before actually stepping inside a museum. We are happy to walk the streets and get the feel of the city. Our first day, I was walking down the street with a silly “I’m just glad to be here” grin on my face.
I’m sure there are important things we won’t get to, but I don’t think vacation should be work. Isn’t the idea to take a break from work, enjoy yourself, and be refreshed by the end of it? That’s our goal.
This post has been entered into the Grantourismo HomeAway Holiday travel blogging competition.
http://grantourismotravels.com/2011/01/10/grantourismo-travel-blogging-competition-january/
Posted by Kanga.
A lot of fuss is made about the impact of technology on children. There are definitely some negatives, but I was heartened to see a group of school children on a museum field trip NOT bored and distracted, but with their arms in the air taking cell phone photos.
Posted by Kanga.
After the Hagia Eirene Museum, we toured the Topkapi Palace.
I’m actually glad we came during the winter. In the spring, these trees would be covered with leaves, which would be lovely, but the bare trees have their own grandeur.
This is the library, which no longer has any books. How sad is that? A beautiful place to study.
We picked the right day in terms of sunshine and clear skies. This is the view from the terrace restaurant.
Here is one of our lunch companions.
The tiles on nearly everything are quite beautiful.
This is the view up the Golden Horn from the Topkapi. The bridge is the Galata Bridge where we had tea and coffee a few days ago.
To see the rest of the pictures, check out the album at
http://picasaweb.google.com/kangayayaroo/TopkapiPalace#
Unfortunately, taking pictures was not allowed in the treasury. I don’t think I’ve ever seen emeralds that large. It is an amazing collection. You’ll have to visit yourself to see them though.
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