Blogography Logo
spacer

  Home  

Day Fourteen: Istanbul, Türkiye

Posted on Friday, May 18th, 2007

Dave!The final port of call on my cruise is the amazing city of Istanbul.

Once the capital city of three empires (Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman), the city formerly known as Constantinople is bound to have some interesting history behind it. Unfortunately, a single day of sightseeing can barely scratch the surface, but I gave it my best shot.

The natural place to start is the world-famous Blue Mosque, which is just as beautiful as its reputation suggests...

The Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque

From there, it's a short walk to the Haghia Sophia Museum...

Haghia Sophia Museum

And then onward to a spooky cistern, one of forty-three scattered around the city's underground...

Istanbul Cistern

And no trip to Istanbul would be complete without a trip through the Grand Bazaar, home to 4000 merchant stalls selling everything and anything you can imagine...

Istanbul Grand Bazaar

And, just like that, my vacation is over.

I think I need a vacation from my vacation now.


Categories: Travel 2007Click To It: Permalink
   

Comments

  1. ajooja says:

    That place is cool looking. Thanks for sharing.

  2. Andre says:

    Istanbul rocks, nothing more to add! Did you had a chance to test one of the turkish baths?

  3. Avitable says:

    You should take two weeks and eat pudding and hot pockets and watch TV and recover.

  4. Karl says:

    Sounds like you need five or six finale ice cream cones.

  5. shari says:

    Breath-taking photos of the mosque! What a great trip!! Safe travels home, man.

  6. bogup says:

    I’ll bet you do “need a vacation”! What wonderful stops along your cruise.
    BTW, do I win a bad monkey t-shirt for my prognostication of last Sunday, “Can Istanbul be in your future?” Wild guess on my part./

  7. Jill says:

    What a *great* trip! Thank you so much for sharing 🙂 Just out of curiosity, not counting the cruise ship obviously, did you run into language barrier problems while visiting the ports? It definitely seems like two weeks was not enough time to thoroughly explore all the places you visited, that’s for sure!

  8. borysSNORC says:

    Sounds like you’ve had a fantastic if tiring trip… I am heading to Istanbul next Tuesday 22/05 and have 6 days planned in the city before heading on a 21 day tour of Turkey… looking at your photos is making me so excited! 🙂
    RMB

  9. James says:

    I think that vacation from vacation is called…work.

  10. Nancy says:

    OK, I’m dying to know, how many women hit on you in Istanbul?

  11. kim says:

    Your pictures are great! Thanks for the mini tour of Istanbul. I now want to go even more. The stalls at the Grand Bazaar look much more permanent than I expected.

  12. Dan says:

    Sweet dude. So how much did all of this cost you?

  13. Hilly says:

    I have no idea why but I absolutely am drawn to your spooky cistern picture; it seems more calming than spooky. As usual, all of your photos are beautiful and I am suffering from a slight amount of jealousy ;).

    Have safe travels back home and get some rest!

  14. Laurence says:

    Fascinant ! 🙂

  15. Jeff says:

    Awesome pictures. I kind of feel like my vacation just ended too. 🙁

    I’ll leave the Turkey/Tryptophan pun for Karl.

  16. Dave2 says:

    Ajooja… Unfortunately, it’s actually a lot cooler-looking than I am capable of shooting with my camera. 🙁

    Andre… No Turkish Bath for me. I did take a shower while the ship was docked in Turkey though!

    Avitable… I was going to say that I only really need a week, but if I am eating Hot Pockets, then I guess it really would be two weeks!

    Karl… Alas, no more ice cream for me. I did have three yesterday!

    Shari… Don’t you think that Wenatchee needs something like that to make the skyline more interesting?

    Bogup… I think a little Istanbul is in EVERYBODY’S future! Hah! 🙂

    Jill… Most people in port speak better English than I do, so no problems at all.

    borysSNORC… No doubt that you will have a most excellent time. I loved what little time I spent in Turkey, and dearly wish that I had more. 🙁

    James… Hey! That’s not much of a vacation! But I’m afraid that’s all I got.

    Nancy… None. That I know of. 🙂

    Kim… There are parts of the bazaar that are pretty messed up, but it’s all fascinating, and I needed much more than the hour I had to explore it all.

    Dan… Istanbul? The tour I took was like $50 or something like that.

    Hilly… The cistern reminded me of that scene with the cistern in DUNE! I couldn’t help but say “Muad Dib” and let it echo in the chamber! 😀

    Laurence… It’s even better in person!

    Jeff… So now you need a vacation from my vacation too? 🙂

  17. Michelle says:

    Wow, those are some great photo’s. Sounds like you are about ready for it to end though.

  18. Patty says:

    Instanbul looks awesome! I have seen some pics as my mom’s been there, she’s been everywhere it seems.
    You may go through ice cream cone withdrawals on your way home. Be prepared.

  19. kilax says:

    Thank you for sharing your vacation with us! Hopefully the assimilation back into working is not that bad 😉

  20. Bre says:

    Whew! You certainly didn’t do a lot of kicking back and relaxing!

  21. yellojkt says:

    I had never heard of the Haghia Sophia until a few months ago but it is on all sort of modern marvels lists.

    Gotta check it out someday.

Add a Comment

Blankatar!

   
I love comments! However, all comments are moderated, and won't appear until approved. Are you an abusive troll with nothing to contribute? Don't bother. Selling something? Don't bother. Spam linking? Don't bother.
PLEASE NOTE: My comment-spam protection requires JavaScript... if you have it turned off or are using a mobile device without JavaScript, commenting won't work. Sorry.




   


   


   
   
   
Your personal information is optional. Email addresses are never shown, and are only used by me if a public reply would be too personal or inappropriate here. The URL link to your web site or blog will be provided, so only fill this in if you want people to visit!



   

  Home  

spacer
Welcome:
Blogography is a place to learn and grow by exposing yourself to the mind of David Simmer II, a brilliant commentator on world events and popular culture (or so he claims).
Dave FAQ:
Frequently Asked Questions
Dave Contact:
dave@blogography.com
Blogography Webfeeds:
Atom Entries Feed
Comments Feed
translate me
flags of the world!
lost & found
Search Blogography:
thrice fiction
Thrice Fiction Magazine - March, 2011 - THE END
I'm co-founder of Thrice Fiction magazine. Come check us out!
hard rock moment
Visit DaveCafe for my Hard Rock Cafe travel journal!
travel picto-gram
Visit my travel map to see where I have been in this world!
badgemania
Blogography Badge
Atom Syndicate Badge
Comments Syndicate Badge
Apple Safari Badge
Pirate's Booty Badge
Macintosh Badge
license
All content copyright ©2003-2022
by David Simmer II
   
Creative Commons License
This weblog is licensed under
a Creative Commons License.
ssl security