Our TripToday was the start of our 14 day trip to Greece and Turkey including 6 days cruising the Greek Islands. This was Mark Guiletti's idea to celebrate the start of his retirement, but the great thing is we're going with 8 other people that we know. We're going to try out Gate1 Travel, which a few others have tried, but this will be our first experience with them.
We (Mary, Mark and I) flew from Denver to Frankfurt and on to Istanbul on Lufthansa. Good meal and Mary managed to get extra Bailey's for 'sleeping'. We met Mark, Steven, and Darcy in Frankfurt and upon reaching the Orsep Royal hotel, there were Bill and Flo waiting for us. We all went out for dinner together in a nearby restaurant to officially start our trip.
We started our Istanbul tour at the former Hippodrome, which at the time held 100,000 people. Today, only the obelisk and central columns remain. Next stop was the Sultanahmet Mosque. The interior has 17th century blue tiles and windows leading to the familiar name - Blue Mosque. The Mosque will hold 7500 with another 7500 in the courtyard.
We also paid a short visit to the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, a former palance which overlooks the Hippodrome. Inside are a large collection of carpets from the 17th-19th centuries and a display of typical homes and rooms across the centuries.
We (Mary, Mark and I) flew from Denver to Frankfurt and on to Istanbul on Lufthansa. Good meal and Mary managed to get extra Bailey's for 'sleeping'. We met Mark, Steven, and Darcy in Frankfurt and upon reaching the Orsep Royal hotel, there were Bill and Flo waiting for us. We all went out for dinner together in a nearby restaurant to officially start our trip.
We started our Istanbul tour at the former Hippodrome, which at the time held 100,000 people. Today, only the obelisk and central columns remain. Next stop was the Sultanahmet Mosque. The interior has 17th century blue tiles and windows leading to the familiar name - Blue Mosque. The Mosque will hold 7500 with another 7500 in the courtyard.
We also paid a short visit to the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, a former palance which overlooks the Hippodrome. Inside are a large collection of carpets from the 17th-19th centuries and a display of typical homes and rooms across the centuries.
Interior of Blue Mosque
The Church of Divine Wisdom, Hagia Sophia, was built by Justian in the 6th century. At the time, it was the largest church in the world (today it is the 4th largest) and it's dome was an engineering marvel. In 1453, it was converted into a Mosque after Istanbul was conquered by the Moslems. Many of the frescoe tiles were plastered over bcause they depicted people. In the restoration of the church they have slowly been recovering the original tiles. An interesting feature along the walls are the marble squares, where the marble stones were cut in two and laid next to each other to form symetrical patterns.
We finished off the day at the Grand Bazaar with its over 4000 shops under one roof. We stopped for lunch, gawking at the shops, and a few of us were buying. We walked back to our hotel, and then joined our cruise ship, the Cristal in early evening. There we were met by Panos from Gate1 travel. While not a guide, he was there to help us with choosing our side trips from the cruise.
We finished off the day at the Grand Bazaar with its over 4000 shops under one roof. We stopped for lunch, gawking at the shops, and a few of us were buying. We walked back to our hotel, and then joined our cruise ship, the Cristal in early evening. There we were met by Panos from Gate1 travel. While not a guide, he was there to help us with choosing our side trips from the cruise.
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