6th stop - Istanbul

I was very excited to go to Istanbul for a variety of reasons.

Geographically - Because of its location on the Bosporus Strait, all traffic going to/from the Black Sea by water has to go through Istanbul. It is also the only city which is situated on two continents. This ensured a flow of many ethnic groups through Istanbul, and allowed the city to prosper through trade. Something I found very hard to believe - they built the FIRST of the two bridges that span the Bosporus Straits in the 1970s, and the second one later. Prior to that time, the Asian side was mostly "summer homes" and people had to boat over.

Historically - The original settlement was Greek. Rome conquered and took it over. With the fall of Rome, Istanbul became the seat of the Byzantine empire. The Ottomans conquered the city, and eventually Turkey became a republic. Remnants of all these groups exist in Istanbul, both in tangible items such as buildings and monuments, and also in the cultures of the people who live there.

Religiously - Because this is where basically East meets West, there is amazing religious and cultural diversity. On the streets you can see "ninja turtles" (strict adherents to Eastern religion that requires head to toe black coverings) walking right next to someone wearing the absolute newest in western clothing. And at least on the surface, everyone coexists peacefully.

Unbelievably - Istanbul surpassed even my expectations. I would go back in a heart beat. I don't even feel like I scratched the surface of the history and culture that exists there.

Out of the few places we had time to visit, I enjoyed the Blue Mosque the most. Our wonderful guide Hale gave a wonderful detailed explanation of the Islam religion while we sat on the floor of the mosque, just absorbing our surroundings. The building is absolutely breath-taking. Almost every inch of the interior is covered with mosaics in exquisite intricate designs. It is called the Blue Mosque not because of the exterior color, but because the interior mosaics make it appear blue inside at first glance. One interesting sidenote -Muslims wash themselves outside any mosque before entering, and there are very specific "rules" about the parts of the body that are to be washed, and in what order, and even how.

FYI - Our earlier stops included the spot where the literal crossroads existed in historic times, and an ancient Egyptian obelisk that was transported to Istanbul centuries ago.

Hagia Sophia (pronounced iya sofea), also known as St. Sophia, was another major stop. Hagia Sophia was originally a Catholic Church, but was modified into a mosque due to the overwhelming number of Muslims in the city. It is universally accepted as one of the greatest buildings of the world. The exterior is a beautiful pinkish hue, with the added minarets common to mosques. The inside was modified to accommodate the Islam culture and religion, which included moving the altar and adding interior structures. The mosaics were all covered, but current restorations are uncovering at least some of those.

fyi - if you're as confused as I am right now ;-) .... followers of Islam are known as Muslims.

ok... so back to the tour...

Our last major stop was Topkapi Palace, built in the mid-1400s in typical Ottoman style. There are four courts, replete with pavilions, fountains, kiosks, gardens, etc. We had lunch at the Palace at an outdoor dining establishment that was kind of "fast food" - basically a cafeteria line where you chose the items you want. It was fabulous dining overlooking the Bosporus Straits! Anyway, we wandered mostly around the courts, but did go through the Treasury rooms, which contain jewelry and other jewel-encrusted items - the Treasury is the biggest national treasure in the world! It was quite amazing and overwhelming. We also did go into the Circumcision Room - built specifically for that purpose, and only used once. The mosaics inside and out were absolutely beyond belief - just amazing exquisite detail.

Another sidenote here - on our cruise, Annie, Greg and I all got sick from Norovirus - what most folks think of as the stomach flu is really Norovirus. And yes, it can proliferate any where there is a "captive" audience, such as schools, nursing homes, and cruiseships. Cruiselines take just about every precaution they can, but if even one person gets on the ship sick and doesn't keep their hands sanitized, Norovirus will spread very quickly... So anyway, Annie was in pretty rough shape in Istanbul, and I wasn't much better. Our guide, Hale, suggested the local cure to alleviate the major symptom. So Annie and I both choked down a heaping tablespoon of ground coffee that had a drizzle of lemon juice in it. ACK!!! OMG - you cannot believe how horrid that is! It just sticks in your mouth and throat, and it's hard to swallow and almost hard to even breathe. And well... it really didn't help. :-( But hey - we tried!!!

And even though Donnie didn't get Norovirus, his back started causing him problems early in the trip (actually he had problems before we even left), and it was really bad the day we were in Istabul.

So that being said, after these stops, we took Donnie and Annie back to the ship, and Hale and Greg and I continued. We went to a part of town where the locals hang on weekends and evenings. It was on shore near one of the two bridges. There were little vendor shops and a promenade. And there were BAKED POTATOES. ??? Blow Greg and I away! If you think about what Milwaukee (or Wisconsin) would have for street food: brats, burgers, french fries, deep fried cheese (or anything else possibly deep fried!), elephant ears, etc. - all the typical fair food.... here we were in Istanbul and almost everyone was eating a huge loaded baked potato. Weird. LOL