A mysterious and beautiful city

We drove from the Gelilbou peninsula right into the centre of Istanbul - to Sultanahmet - where our hotel for the next few days was situated just 3 minutes walk from the utterly stunning Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia.

Dotty, our GPS, doesn't 'do' Turkey, and so we were on our own! No GPS, no map. And so armed with just a few jotted directions from Google maps we managed to take only one wrong exit off the Otoyol 2 (which quickly had us on a trajectory to Ankara) before we stopped and asked a local.  We needed to get on the Cevreyolu (Instanbul's inner beltway) and once we had found this we were back on the motorway and senor masterfully navigated the crazy Istanbul traffic to arrive safely at the front of our hotel.  (We had been pre-warned that Turkey has dispensed with manned toll booths and that we needed to buy an automatic KGS toll card before entering a motorway.  Thankyou Eric for this valuable piece of knowledge!)

We loved our days in Istanbul - the exotic city that sits on two continents. The mosques, the Grand Bazaar, the Bosphorus, the history, the architecture, the colour, the artwork all left us intoxicated with its beauty.  The food was fabulous - mezes and the Efes beer that senor declared perhaps the best in Europe.  Big call.

We also love Istanbul for its mystery - like the restaurant we ate in one night, when after paying the bill we were asked 'would you like to see the palace?' Seems that 10 years ago, during restaurant extensions, remains of a Byzantine palace were discovered.  Right under the restaurant!

We also love the hours we spent enjoying the hospitality of the Istanbul carpet merchants. It really is an entertaining way to spend a few hours.  We visited three carpet sellers and it was delightful to see magnificent carpets laid out in front of us.  First the carpet seller asks a few questions to try and identify your 'taste' and 'style'; then he sets about unfurling an array of carpets in the hope that he will unearth just 'the one' that you cannot leave Istanbul without. The carpets are thrown open and land on the floor - a kleidoscope of colours in front of us.  To display how the pile changes the colours of the carpet, he will pick up the carpet and with a flick of his wrist he hurls it through the air so it spins 180 degrees and lands displaying the opposite pile - what was dark is now light.  Magic carpets indeed!

We bargained in the bazaars; stopped and listened to the call to prayer, mesmerised; 'smoked' the nagile; and met interesting and charming Istanbulians.

Exquisite domes of Sultanahmet Camii- the Blue Mosque

The chandeliers seem to float above the prayer space

A section of the ancient ceramic blue Iznik tiles that give the
Mosque its name. 

The exterior architecture is beautiful too. 

Istanbul is a city of colour - even restaurant tables are beautifully
tiled.  Oh, and the Turkish bread is the best anywhere!

Dolmabahce Palace on the shore of the Bosphorus -
 a 'modern' palace - home of Sultans, and the place where
Turkey's beloved Ataturk died in 1938.

The Bosphorus runs through the city - Asia on the left, Europe on the right.

Comfortable cruising - Ottoman style

Getting your goods to the bazaar in busy Istanbul....

.......head transport is popular.

Beautiful ceiling of one of the arcades of the Grand Bazaar

Sultanahmet Camii - the Blue Mosque - complete with
Turkish singer and musicians making a music video in
Sultanahmet square.  Divine.

Taksim Square and the Monument of the Republic. Apparently,
 a monument of Ataturk has been erected in every town in Turkey.

The Basilica Cistern - this enormous underground cistern was
first built between 527 and 565.

KuruKavechi Mehmet Effendi is the oldest coffee company
in Turkey and we were told that 'if it is open there is a queue' to buy coffee.
 We went there twice and found this to be the case. It was one of the busiest corners
in the city.  Coffee is still weighed using brass scales and is wrapped and sold per 250g. 
You can see the stacked packets in the window on the left.  Turkish coffee is rich,
dark and very good.  I like that it is served in a small copper pot.

White mulberries at the fruit market. Also delicious.

The carpet sellers room

Carpet viewing, always accompanied by hospitality.
 In this case, apple tea.

Like a kaleidoscope the floor in front of you changes as
each carpet is 'thrown' on display.

I loved this colourful display of antique Anatolian hats.
Which one did I buy?

These two women were washing a number of Turkish carpets
when we left our hotel one morning.  When we returned at 5pm, they
were still sitting there - guarding the drying carpets, I guess.  At night the
carpets were removed, and again the next morning hung out to finish drying.

The nargile delivered with after dinner coffee!

Blue Mosque at midnight

The following is a series of photos taken at Hagia Sophia - my favourite mosque in this city of mosques. It was once an Orthodox cathedral, then a Roman Catholic one, then a mosque, and now a

magnificent museum.

It's breathtaking

Calligraphy panel

The huge and magnificent Byzantine done

Iznik tiles

Beautiful columns

Leaning columns!

11th century mosaics

The Imperial Doors - in Byzantine times only the
Emperors were allowed to pass through these doors.
Today, you and I can too!

And finally, to Turkish food......

Istanbul icecream seller.  Dare I say it....Turkish icecream is better
than Italian gelato!  I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't tasted it for myself.

We liked this restaurant so much we went there
three times.  But only once for the 'sultan's feast'!

..oh, and Haci Bekir for Turkish delight and Lokum, the Spice Bazaar.....stop me!