20 April 2025 Explore Istanbul & Hagia Sophia • Spice Bazaar • Bosporus Strait Cruise

 

This morning we travelled to the Hagia Sophia, built in 537 CE by Emperor Justinian.  For the first 1000 years of its existence, it was a Christian church.  However, after Sultan Mehmet II conquered Constantinople in 1453, he changed the church into a mosque.  In 1934, Kemall Ataturka, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, proclaimed it a museum.  But in 2020, it reverted back into a working mosque.  Its interior was designed as an earthly mirror of heaven, and it is still possible today to see its stunning Byzantine mosaics.

Hagia Sophia

Praying Area

Hallway in Mosque

Praying Area

Archangel Mosaic on Wall of Mosque

Mosaic of Jesus (Center)

Madonna and Child Mosaic

Mosaic

Madonna and Child Mosaic

 

Our next stop was to Misir Carsisi (the Spice Bazaar).  Although not as large as the Grand Bazaar, it is still one of Istanbul’s largest bazaars.  As you wander through the many alleyways lined with stalls, you are almost overcome with the delightful smells and colorful displays of the many different spices.  Before entering the bazaar, there was a smaller one that sold cat food and other pet supplies and a vendor that sold leeches.  People in Istanbul swear by them to help cure medical problems caused by excess or toxic blood, such as varicose veins, and also for pain management, especially with the knees.  And no, I did not try this therapy!!!

 

Mounds of Spices for Sale

One of the Spice Vendors

Turkish Delight for Sale

One of the Leech Vendors

Leeches for Sale

Cat Food Anyone?

In the bazaar we had the owner of one of the spice shops talk to us about the different spices they sold and how they can be used.  They primarily spoke about saffron as this is what most Americans are interested in.  Based on prices I have seen in the States, it is much cheaper to buy here in Turkey.  However, as I do not cook with saffron, I did not purchase any.  It was amazing to see all the piles of various spices that the vendors had for sale.  They also had all the Turkish Delight you could want.

 After our little visit, several of us walked to a nearby restaurant for a light lunch of lentil soup and bread before our Bosporus Strait Cruise.  While eating, it was time for the Muslum call to prayer.  There are six times a day when they pray.   The exact time varies from day to day, but it is approximately like this:  Fajr (Dawn) 4:00 am, Shurug (Morning) 5:50 am, Dhuhr (Noon) 1:00 pm, Asr (Afternoon) 6:00 pm, Maaghrib (Evening) 8:00 pm, and Isha (Night) 9:40 p.  As there were two mosques close to the restaurant, it was very noisy as the “call” takes about 5 minutes of loud, recorded chanting by the Iman.  And of course the mosques were not synchronized.

 Following lunch we walked across the street to where all the ferries and cruise boats were docked.  We were the only group on our boat so we spent a very relaxing 2 hours cruising up and down the Bosphorus Straits.  The Straits is a very busy body of water and the only access from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea via the Sea of Marmara.  Today, although the Straits belong to Turkey, as a result of the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits of 20 Jul 1936, the Straits are treated as an international shipping lane except that Turkey retains the right to restrict the naval traffic of non-Black Sea states.  As a result there are many Russian oil tankers that use this body of water. 

 Ahmet was our guide during this cruise pointing out the many palaces and old homes that line the Straits on both sides.  When we came to point where the boat turns around to return, there is an old fortress – the Rumeli Fortress.  It is an old Ottoman fortress built between 1451 and 1452 CE for a planned Ottoman siege on the Byzantine city of Constantinople.  On the opposite side of the Straits was an older fortress, the Anatolian Fortress, and the two worked in tandem to stop all naval traffic through the straits thus helping the Ottoman Empire conquer Constantinople in 1453.   It was a very relaxing and fun way to spend our last afternoon in Istanbul.

Dolmabahce  Palace

Suleymaniye Mosque

Houses Alone the Shore of the Straits

Egyptian Embassy

Rumeli Fortress

Anadolu Fortress

One of the Old Palace Homes

Homes Along the Shore of the Straits

Beautiful Red Trees behind the Homes

Military School

Maiden's Tower

 

Section of the Valens Aqueduct

On the way home we drove under some of the remaining aqueduct sections of the Valens Aqueduct built by the Romans in the 4th century.  It was the longest aqueduct ever built by the Romans.  

It will be an early evening tonight as we much get up at 2:45 AM to travel to the airport for our 6 AM flight to Cappadocia!  Farewell Istanbul, it was an enjoyable and educational experience!

 

 

 

18 April 2025 The Theodosian City Walls (Again)

 Today was the day the rest of our tour was flying into Istanbul.  There was nothing planned for today, so we decided to try again to do the walk around the Theodosian City Walls that we did not do yesterday.

From the hotel we walked to the closest tram stop, about a 16-minute walk.  Fortunately, Bill stayed with me, and we were on the tram up to the Walls.  Once we left the tram station, you could see parts of the wall.  These are the best preserved of the original walls that encircled the city. 

The first defensive walls built around the Constantinople (referred to as the Walls of Constantinople) were constructed by Constantine the Great when Constantinople was founded and became the capital of the Roman Empire in 324 CE.  However, by the 5^th century CE, the city had grown and Theodosius II (408-450 CE extended the original walls by 4 miles so that they stretched from the shores of the Sea of Marmara to the Golden Horn.  This new stretch of walls are known as the Theodosian Walls.  As a result of these walls, the city of Constantinople was impregnable to enemy attacks for 800 years.  When completed they were not only the largest, but also the strongest and most complex walls built during the ancient and medieval eras.

The Theodosian Wall were built so they were almost unbreachable from the top of the wall.  Surrounding the outside of the Wall was a 25-foot deep and 60-foot wide moat with its own 6 foot tall wall.  Beyond the moat was a 61-foot wide raised terrace called the Parateichion and a 26-foot tall inner wall at the edge of the terrace that was up to 6 feet wide.  Beyond this wall was a 55-foot trench called Peribolos, and finally at the end of the trench was the massive 15 foot wide inner wall that had 96 65-foot tall towers and a few heavily guarded gates  Each tower could hold up to three artillery machines.

Here is a great cross section drawing of what the wall looked like at its peak.

Cross Section of the City Walls

Over the final 1000 years of the Byzantine Empire, invaders only got into Constantinople twice. the Theodosian Walls held up great and invaders only got into Constantinople twice.  In 1204 CE, Catholics of the 4^th Crusade, used ladders to climb over part of the sea wall and occupied Constantinople for 57 years until they were expelled from the city.

The second and final breach of the wall occurred in 1453, when the Ottomans attacked and conquered the city, thus ending the Byzantine Empire.  It is thought that the Ottomans had inside help as one of the gate to the city that led to the main Southern road had been left open  After the conquest, the Ottoman’s leader Sultan Faith Mehmet II rode victorious through Gate of Charisius onto the main Northern road into Constantinople.

                                                                Photos of the City Walls

 

After viewing the walls, we walked to the Chora Church (or Kariye Mosque as it is known today), known for its amazing mosaics.  First built as a simple chapel in the early 5^th century, it was located outside the city walls (Chora meaning “outside of the city”).  During the Crusaders occupation of Constantinople, Chora Church was heavily damaged, but it was rebuilt and expanded by Emperor Theodore Metochites in 1313.  It was then that the entire inside of the church was covered with mosaics and frescoes, considered by many to be one of the most beautiful examples of Byzantine art.  These works of art show scenes from both the Bible and the Torah, in addition to the story of the Virgin Mary.  Sometime between 1495 and 1511, the church was converted to a mosque and most of the mosaics were covered with plaster and paint.  In 1945, the building was secularized and turned into a museum.  The mosaics were cleaned and put back on display.  However, in 2020 the church was turned back into an active mosque and was closed to the tourists until 2024.  Unfortunately, when we arrived at the church we found it closed for the day.  Hopefully, we will get back to Istanbul some time in the future and will be able to see the mosaics.  Here are a few that I found on the internet.

This evening we met our trip leader Ahmet Memis and several members of our group.  The other couple from Colorado are from Idaho Springs – Charlie and Katey.  Charlie was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, so he and Bill have some common grounds to talk about.  We went to sleep early tonight as our OAT tour of Istanbul starts at 8:30 tomorrow morning.

 

 

17 April 2025 Theodosian City Walls -The Walk that did not Happen!

 Yesterday (17 April) we slept in, still recovering from jet lag.  We walked back up to the square where the Blue Mosque is located, hoping to take a tram up to where the Theodosian Walls are located.  However, when I stopped to get our tram tickets, Bill did not notice and he kept walking up the street.  When I realized he had not stopped at the tram station, I walked up and down the street trying to find him.  After walking up and down the street for about 30 minutes we were finally reconnected, but by this time I was too tired to continue our planned day’s walk.  So we returned to the hotel to rest.

That night we went to a seafood restaurant that was just down the street from the hotel.  They had advertised raw oysters and that got Bill’s attention.  It was a small restaurant owned by a family.  Bill had the oysters, but said that they were not as good as others he had had in the past.  I enjoyed a shrimp casserole that was very good.  Returning to the hotel, we went up to their roof top restaurant for a desert and to admire the lit-up Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.  After our desert, our waiter brought us a cherry liquor that they made at the hotel – it was to die for – so good.  When we asked if it was for sale, they said no, it was only for use at the hotel.  But our nice waiter did bring us another small glass.

Hagia Sophia

Blue Mosque

16 April 2025 Istanbul Blog

Today we arrived in Istanbul early in the morning.  After arriving at our hotel, the Armada Old City Hotel, we stored our luggage and began our exploration of Istanbul.  We purposely planned an easy day as we knew we would be tired after our long flight from Denver.

 Istanbul is a very large city encompassing over 994.93 square miles with a population of 18 million people.  It is Turkey’s largest city and was once the capital of the Ottoman Empire (known by its former name of Constantinople).  It is also a city of cats – everywhere you go there are always cats.  While they belong to no one, they belong to everyone.  Shop owners and residents alike put out food and water for them and some even put out small box homes so the cats of shelter from the rain and cold.  They are well taken care of and the city makes sure they are up to date on their vaccines and many have already been neutered.  In fact, as we traveled through Turkey, we found cats (and some dogs) at every location.

One of the many cats in Istanbul

 Our first visit was to the Basilica Cistern (or Yerebatan Sarnici as it is known in Istanbul).  It was located a short 15-minute walk from our hotel, but what Google maps do not tell you is that it is mostly uphill on very narrow, cobblestone alleyways that you have to share with cars. Istanbul, like Rome, was built on 7 hills.  But we made it and soon were at part of town where the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia are located.

 The Cistern is located beneath concrete buildings on one of Istanbul’s main streets (Divan Yolu) in the old city.  It is one of the last remaining, intact monuments to Istanbul’s Byzantine era.  Built in 532 BCE by Justinian I, it is the largest surviving Byzantine cistern of the hundreds of ancient cisterns that lie beneath Istanbul.  Its roof, 213’ wide and 469’ long, is supported by 336 columns arranged in 12 rows.  The columns are believed to have been taken from other temples and buildings.  Located in the center are 2 columns that have a teardrop design and another column, known as the “Weeping Column,” has carvings of a peacock and tree branches created in memory of the hundreds of slaves who died during the construction of the cistern.  But perhaps the cistern’s most interesting columns are the 2 in the northwest corner that are supported by blocks that have been carved into Medusa heads with one placed sideways and the other upside-down.  The 2 Medusa heads came from another building, but why they are placed as they are remains a mystery.  Some historians believe that as Medusa was previously Athena (in Greek mythology) and could turn a man to stone by just looking at them, the head was placed upside down to avoid her eyes.  Another theory is that Justinian, a devout Christian, placed the head in a subservient manner to assert his religious beliefs and his religious dominance over the conquered Greek territories and their Pagan beliefs. 

 The cistern could hold 21,133,760 gallons of water which came from a reservoir near the Black Sea via 12 miles of aqueducts and was used to supply water to the Great Palace of Constantinople and later to the Topkapi Palace after the Ottoman Conquest in 1453.  

 After the Ottoman conquest, the cistern was closed and forgotten by city authorities.  Then in 1545, local residents told Petrus Gullius, a researcher of Byzantine ruins in the city, that they were able to obtain water by lowering buckets from their basement floors.  Some were even able to catch fish this way.  Gullius then explored the neighborhood and was able to find a house where he could access the cistern.  Unfortunately, the city authorities were not impressed by his findings and used the old cistern as a dumping grounds for junk and corpses.  Finally in the 18^th century restorations were begun, but it wasn’t until 1985, that it had been cleaned and fully restored with an artificial lake.  It opened to the public in 1987.  It also became a scene in the James Bond movie, From Russia with Love.  Today, once you descend down the flight of steps you can see the cistern in all its grandeur, lighted by red and blue spotlights.  And as in the past, you can also see schools of carp swimming in the water.

 

Basilica Cistern-Rows of Columns

Carved Top of Column

Upside down Medusa Head

Tea Drop Column

Cistern Columns

After leaving the Cistern we walked past the Blue Mosque, admiring the beds of tulips that were part of the Festival of Tulips held during the month of April.  Arriving back to our hotel, we could see part of the old city walls in front of the hotel, along with an Arch gate that led out to one of Istanbul’s main highways that traveled along the coastline of the Marmara Sea, a small inland sea.  We found that our room was ready early so we took a 4 hour nap before our dinner cruise on the Bosphorus Straits.

Beds of Tulips

Blue Mosque

Arch and Old City Walls by our Hotel

 Our pickup time for the dinner cruise was around 7:30, but the bus did not arrive until 8 PM.  It was only a short drive to our ship, and we were soon seated at our table.  I had paid extra for the wine and beer package and a VIP table.  We were seated right next to the dancer’s stage and the wine flowed freely.  There was another couple at our table from Morocco – a man on a business trip and his sister who was a Physical Therapist from Morocco.  Luckily, they spoke better English than we did Moroccan.  The scenery on the show as we cruised past was beautiful, but the reflection from the ships light on the glass windows made for very poor photos.  The picture of the Palace was the best I got.  The dancers performed several of the traditional Turkish dances.   It was a fun evening, although after the dancers performed, the floor was taken over by many younger Turkish people who knew the words to every Turkish rap song that was blasted our way.  I think Bill was really glad when we finally docked and could get off the ship!

Our Ship 

Ready for Dinner and the Show

Enjoying the Evening Fun

Passing by the Dolmbahce Palace

Dance Imitating the Whirling Devish

Show Dancers

Show Dancer

Show Dancers

 

 

 

 

 

 

15 April 2025 Turkey Blog

 

NOTE:  In these blogs I have tried to conform to the new designations for centuries -- BCE for Before Common Era (the same time frame as the older BC (Before Christ) and CE for Common Era (the same time frame as the older AD (After Death).  I have tried to be consistent, but I may have not found all the old designations (BE or AD), but they mean the same as BCE and CE.

On Tuesday 15 April we started the latest chapter in our “Trip that Never Ends.”  We flew to Istanbul for a 17-day tour of Istanbul, Cappadocia, Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, and Ephesus.

As you may remember from your world history (or Geography), present day Turkey encompasses two continents – Asia (the largest land mass known in ancient times as Anatolia and where most of our tour will be) and Europe (the smallest area known as Thrace which borders Greece and Bulgaria and which includes most of the population of Istanbul, although Istanbul straddles both continents).  The dividing border between both continents is the Bosphorus Straits.  Although inhabited since prehistoric times and considered one of the oldest inhabited areas in the world , the Republic of Turkey (as it is known today) did not come into existence until 1924.  Below is a brief summary of Turkey’s history from the beginning of Greek colonization to the present-day Republic of Turkey.  Although Turkey’s history begins in the prehistoric era,  there were so many difference groups, tribes, and kingdoms that inhabited and ruled the many different sections of the region, it would take a novel to discuss. 

Throughout the last 3000+ years of history, Turkey has been dominated by Persians, Greeks, Romans, and the Ottomans.  Beginning around 1200 BCE, the Greeks began to settle along the Anatolian coast along the Mediterranean Sea.  It was during this time that cities like Izmir, Ephesus, and Byzantium (later Constantinople) were established.  In 546 BCE the Persian King Cyrus began to conquer all the cities of Anatolia. This rule lasted for 200 years until Alexander the Great, in 330 BCE, took control of all the Anatolia from the Persians.

In the 2^nd century BCE, the two politically distinct lands – Anatolia and Thrace – were merged under the control of the Roman Empire.  Eventually they became the core of the Roman Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) that was centered in Constantinople (now Istanbul).  It was the Byzantine Empire that brought Christianity to the region.  However, in the 11^th century CE, Turkish nomads from Central Asia moved into the region and gradually conquered all of Asia Minor.  First it was the Seljuk dynasty (a Turkco-Persian, Sunni Muslim empire) dynasty that ruled in West Asia and Central Asia from the 11th to the 13th century.  Then in 1453,  Constantinople fell, and the Ottoman Empire (also called the Turkish Empire) took control of the area.  They ruled over much of the eastern Mediterranean world for 623 years, bringing Islam to southeast Europe.

Following the Ottoman’s defeat in WWI, the Allies had planned to carve Anatolia into spheres of influence.  However, a Turkish General, Mustafa Kemal, led a rebellion and the beginning of Turkish nationalism, forcing the allied forces to leave the region. On October 29, 1923, the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed with its capital at Ankara and Mustafa Kemal became its first president.  With the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne on 24 July 1923 between the Allied forces and Turkey, the last treaty of WWI, the world formally recognized Turkey’s status as an independent country.

In the places we visit, we will be learning more about Turkey’s diverse and complicated history.  We will certainly see many monuments, artifacts and ruins from the many empires that ruled Turkey over the years.  In addition to the history we will learn, we will also enjoy four nights aboard a Turkey gulet, a two or three masted wooden sailing vessel that was built in the coastal Anatolia towns and used on the Mediterranean Sea.

This is only the beginning of our never-ending journey.  At the completion of this tour, we will spend a few days in Malta and then travel to Berlin Germany for the start of our “Elegant Elbe” river cruise from Berlin to Prague.  But more on those trips later.  Now it is time to enjoy Turkey and all the wonderful delights (especially Turkish Delight) that it has to offer.

25 June 2025 Whiskey Tasting and OAT Tour Begins

 

25 June 2025               Whiskey Tasting and OAT Tour Begins

Today was moving day for us as our Overseas Adventure Travel tour began today and we joined our traveling companions who just arrived from the states.  For the next 2 weeks we will be traveling together around the northern and western coasts of Ireland.   Last night was the warmest night so far and the Temple Bar Inn does not have air conditioned rooms (in Ireland it is quite common to have no air conditioning and much smaller rooms than we are used to in the States.  So neither one of us got much sleep.  Thank goodness our new hotel will have air conditioning.

However, before we left the area around the Temple Bar, we had one more stop to make.  Although we had already visited the Whiskey Museum, you cannot visit Dublin without visiting the Jameson Whiskey Distillery (notice that I have ignored the Guiness Beer Brewery entirely – neither Bill nor I enjoy Guiness – it is much too bitter for Bill and I do not enjoy beer.  But we did have a sample taste of Guiness and it is much better tasting here in Ireland than it is in the states.  I found it to taste more like iced coffee.  And for those that do like Guiness, they also have a tour and tasting at their brewery here in Dublin

Founded in 1780, the Jameson Bow Street Distillery was the original site for the distillation of its famous Jameson Irish Whiskey.  It closed in 1971 when operations were relocated to a new distillery in Midleton in County Cork.  Today it is a visitor’s center that provides tours and whiskey tastings and includes a bar and gift shop.  Our visited included a cocktail made with Jameson Irish Whiskey to get us in the mood (I had a lime ginger drink and Bill had straight Jameson), a guided tour which explained the history and operation of the old distillery, and ended with a comparative tasting of three Jameson whiskeys (Jameson Crested (not sold in the States), Jameson Original, and Jameson Black Barrel).  We like the Black Barrel best.  Our tour guide explained the process of “Gran to Glass” that they use to make the whiskey – from the malting of the barley to the three process of distilling to the maturation in oak barrels.  The barrels are actually used bourbon barrels from Kentucky

In the late 1960s, when sales of Irish whiskey were falling, Jameson, Powers, and Cork Distillers combined forces and created the Irish Distillers Group.  All use the distillery in Midleton to make their whiskey.  Today, Jameson has over 2 million barrels/year of whiskey maturing in its warehouses.  It was a very interesting tour and the whiskeys were very good

Our Three Whiskey Samples

My Ginger-Lime Whiskey Drink

Following the tour, we found a taxi to take us back to the Temple Bar Inn to retrieve our luggage and then on to our new hotel – Hyatt Centric The Liberties.  We had lunch there and then met our Trip Leader (TL) Tom Kiely and several of our new traveling companions.

At 6 PM we all gathered (there are 16 on this tour) in the Hyatt’s restaurant for our welcome dinner.