As the novice travel agent, I poured over websites and maps and tried to figure out an itinerary. It wasn't easy....I had no idea of time, distance, ferry travel schedules, which islands, etc. I figured out a budget and possible schedule, only to discover that I was packing too much into 12 days, according to a travel agent I contacted in Athens. With her advice, we were able to put together a vacation to remember....and at a price I don't think I could even touch doing it myself. I booked our own flights....she booked hotels, transfers, and ferries. What a way to go! Being met at airports, ferry docks, and hotels with everything pre-paid made us feel like VIPs.....and no stress! What a stress-reliever!
We flew from Paris to Istanbul, landing on the ASIA side, the residential part of the city. Did I know that Istanbul is both in Asia and Europe? There are airports on each side of the Bosphorus Strait, separating the two continents. What I also didn't know was that the Asian side airport is a traffic nightmare into the city on a Friday night. It took two hours in two vans (the van to pick us up only made it half-way so we were put into another van, then transferred on the side of the road when they two met up!) But the travel agent did her job and got us to the hotel safe and sound.
Ah, Istanbul. What a history...under the rule of the Persians, Greeks, and Rome for over 500 years. The apostle Paul made journeys all across Turkey, converting many to Christianity. Then Constantine, 330 AD, established Christianity as the state religion, but wars with Arabs, fighting between the Latin Church and the Orthodox Church, and crusaders marching through the city weakened it. The city was conquered by the Ottomans in the 1400s, and became the center of the world of Islam. Churches were turned into mosques. Now, Turkey is considered to be more of a secular Islamic country, after Ataturk's reforms in the the 1920's. Women were given more freedom than in other Islamic countries. We did notice the European feel to it, but also noticed how the restaurants and streets were filled with mostly men in the evening. I asked our driver about this and he gave me two reasons: religious - women are not supposed to be out with each other or in groups, only with their husbands. And economic - they needed to be home watching the children while the men were out. Hmmm.....it made me sad. Turkey is now nearly 99% Muslim.
It is a huge city....12 to 15 million people, with 2 million tourists visiting every year. We stayed in the old historic area of the city with a beautiful view of the Marmara Sea, connecting to the Black Sea with the Bosphorus Strait. It was filled with huge tankers and other ships every day.
We began our next day with our own private guide (to our surprise), who took us on a walking tour to the major sites and gave us the history and facts. We started at the old Hippodrome area (once only second in size to the one in Rome) to view a 3500 year old Egyptian obelisk....
...and the serpentine column brought back from the Apollo temple in Delphi by Constantine, dated 479BC. Behind this is the Constantine obelisk, from the 10th century....
Okay....if I tell about the history of every thing we saw, this blog will turn into a tour guide. So, to be more brief, we spent the morning visiting the Blue Mosque ......
...completed in 7 years in 1616, considered the greatest and most beautiful mosque in Istanbul (our guide told us that most mosques are nearly empty during prayer time, as they are not as "religious" as those in other countries...reminded me of Paris)......
.....then on to the beautiful Hagia Sophia, a church built by over 10,000 laborers in 5 years in 537 AD....
......decorated with 107 marble columns, beautiful tiles and mosaics showing Christian scenes. Then it was turned into a mosque in 1453, the frescoes covered with lime and verses of the Koran. When Ataturk turned it into a museum in 1935, much of the lime was removed and you can now see Christian mosaics and Muslim symbols side by side....
....where the sultan, his family, harem, servants, soldiers and officials lived and worked (over 5000 in a space that was twice the size of the Vatican). Now many parts are not open, but it does have a huge museum and holds the treasury full of jewels and ancient relics. Among them: David's sword, Moses' staff, and John the Baptist's hand and part of his skull! (???) Pictures weren't allowed for the most part. And the story of the harem is quite interesting, often taking Christian women as captives.
1 comment:
I can't wait to sit down with you and hear about this trip. Unreal...fascinating....thanks for this blog...Merrie Jo
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