Day Eleven

Today we had a whole day to see the sights of Istanbul! We woke up early to have breakfast at the buffet lounge of the ship, and then it was announced that we would arrive earlier than scheduled so we could see the ship arriving into the port as we were eating breakfast. It was really beautiful. Istanbul is such an old and culture-rich history, which you can definitely tell just from looking at the outside. The buildings are so pretty, some of which date back to the year 2 AD. From what our tour guide was saying, it seemed like the majority of the larger buildings were built in the 15th century, and are still standing and as important to the population today as they were back then.

We started off our tour today with a visit to the Blue Mosque, or the Sultan Ahmed Mosque. I got in trouble because I was wearing a dress with no sleeves, and was covering my shoulders and back with a long scarf, but a small patch of back was showing for about ten seconds. I was told off pretty well and was paranoid about accidentally revealing skin for the rest of the visit. But it was a really beautiful and peaceful place, and I found it difficult to take photos because none of the pictures I took gave the place justice. I couldn't capture it in a photo so I had to take plenty of "mind pictures". The tiles are so beautiful and are a perfect example of why the art and architecture in Istanbul is so amazing. It was so beautiful, and like many of the places we've seen, it was difficult to believe that such intricate detail, and giant domes, could have been constructed in the 17th century in just 7 years.

Next we visited Hagia Sophia, which was a short walk away. Hagia Sophia is much older than the Blue Mosque and looks way more Byzantine in its construction, and is less decorated, although the ceilings had some impressive mosaics and a beautiful dome featuring the Archangels Gabriel and Michael. I actually loved Hagia Sophia more than the Blue Mosque for its richer history, going from church to mosque to museum over time, and for its ancient ramps that felt like secret passageways from the main level to the upper level. The interior design is fairly understated, with striped marble instead of floral tiles on the walls, and I loved the intricacy of the mosaics, especially the one featuring Emperors Justinian and Constantine. Hagia Sophia is much older than the Blue Mosque, and the marble steps to enter the building were completely worn down by millions of feet over more than a thousand years. It reminded me of Pompei where you could see where the chariots rode down the stones of the main street by the indentations left by the wheels.

Then we visited a carpet shop in the main part of the city for a chance to sit in some air con, drink some apple tea and see a carpet-making demonstration. There was one carpet I really wanted to buy but one of the other girls snapped it up before I had a chance to ask how much it was - shame. It was a really rich-coloured, geometric style carpet that I would have hung on a wall if I had been quick enough.

We had a small amount of time to visit the Grand Bazaar which wasn't enough in my opinion. Next time I'm in Istanbul I would definitely be interested in spending hours there. I can see how it would be incredibly easy to get lost though. We only stayed on the main 'road' of the bazaar and it was still disorienting. It was so busy, so full of people, but there were so many treasures to be sorted through that we just didn't have enough time to do it justice, especially since we didn't have time to visit the antiques part where I most wanted to go. Next time!!

Next, we visited Topkapi Palace to have lunch and wander the palace gardens. There were so many cats lying around that we started taking a picture collection of "Cats of Istanbul". Lunch was delicious Turkish fare and we were so full by the end that we sat under big trees in the garden until pinecones started raining down on people. Topkapi was also an amazing example of classic Turkish architecture and interior design.

After Topkapi Palace, we were free to go back onto the ship if we wanted. However, it was only 4pm by this time, and 'all aboard' time was 7:30pm, so we decided to visit the Spice Markets of Istanbul. It was only a short walk across the bridge (and across continents), where there were so many men fishing from the Bosphorus. The Bosphorus is a clear blue-turquoise colour, which I am not used to considering the muddy brown of the Yarra. It seemed to be constantly choppy, definitely not like a normal river.

At the Spice Markets we were treated to so many free tastings of Turkish Delight. It was funny to see where the Turkish men thought we were from - one man went up to a girl and just asked, "New Jersey?", and she's from Sydney. But it was a really good place to shop and get some presents for people (and maybe for myself), and the shopkeepers were friendly and open for a good bargain. It seemed to be like the Grand Bazaar but on a much smaller scale, and with aromas of delicious spices. After we had finished shopping, we decided to get a Turkish ice cream from one of the stalls out the front. Turkish ice cream is way chewier than normal ice cream, but infinitely more delicious, especially with chopped pistachioes on top. Someone said that it was chewy because it's partially made from grape skins, but I don't know if there's any truth to that.

I would definitely love to spend longer than one day in Istanbul in the future. It is such an interesting city with the richest history, and there is so much more to see. The good thing about doing a tour is that you see the basics, and then are incredibly inspired to see more and more.

After the market, we retired to our ship, and hung around before going to one of the nicer restaurants for dinner. The good thing about staying on a cruise ship is that all our meals are included with the price of staying in a room. So you can go to eat in the buffet and have an assortment of cuisines for dinner, or you can go to a classier restaurant and have some delicious Turkish seafood dish, but you won't have to pay for either of them. It is excellent.

Something new about this leg of the trip is that most of us have developed the "Contiki Cough", which happens to everyone who does a Contiki tour. It's not quite a headcold, not quite a sore throat, but somewhere between the two. It's funny though because whenever we're all on a bus or in a room together, everyone is coughing at the same time. Thankfully it'll probably be gone by the time I get back to Melbourne.

Tomorrow we're visiting Izmir at 2pm! We'll probably go to the bazaar there and do a bit more shopping before sharing a nice shisha by the seaside, and then it's back to the boat.