Capital of Two Empires

Arrived in Istanbul today. We arrived at noon so we got to see the city as we arrived, saw the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet) and Aya Sofia from the ship. Once docked we got on our tour bus which started off by stopping at the New Mosque, which we went inside to see. This mosque was built in the 16th century. We went into this mosque and not the Blue Mosque because it is Ramadan and the Blue Mosque is closed to tourists during this time. After the New Mosque, which was really beautiful, we went to the Blue Mosque to take pictures of the outside and then walked over to the Aya Sofia. This was first a greek orthodox church which was destroyed from fire and earthquakes and then the site became a christian church in the 6th century and then was later taken over by muslims. It is no longer a practising religious site but a museum so we went inside and were told alot of the history. It was beautiful inside, even though it doesn't look like much from the outside. After that we walked over to some underground water system. After this it was to the Grand Bazaar. All you can say is Wow, think WEM but all small shops and has men standing outside each shop asking you to come into their shop. Tonight last night on the ship. Tomorrow off to the hotel and next day back home.

All in all a great trip!

written by

Caroline on September 16, 2009 from Istanbul, Turkey

from the travel blog: Europe 2009

Send a Compliment

comment on this...