March 25th: Bosporus Cruise, Tour of Istanbul, Dolmabahce Palace

Another amazing day!  I was awakened (Ian was up and in his jammies) at 8:55 with a call from the desk because our bus was here for our cruise of the Bosporus.  We thought we had another hour – as did another couple from our hotel.  Turns out that the clocks go ahead this weekend in Turkey.  Would you believe we made it out to the bus in five minutes flat?  Breakfast be damned!!  The rest of the day was pure pleasure.

We decided that we would take an organized tour today as we wanted a cruise of the Bosporus and didn’t really want to have to navigate the busy streets of Istanbul on our own.  Our tour was given in German, English, and Italian by five very able guides who all spoke all three languages, as well as Turkish.  In fact, our last guide, a very nice young man, spoke nine languages fluently, and could “get by” in a dozen more!

We cruised the Golden Horn, a waterway that wraps around old Istanbul, so-called because of its shape and because it was in such a wealthy part of the world.  Then we cruised the Bosporus, the link between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, which is simply lined with history.  We cruised by palaces, Crusader forts, Roman Walls, churches, mosques, synagogues, and dozens of elegant houses.

This is one side of the Crusader castle.  They attached a chain across this, the narrowest part of the Bosporus, right to a fort on the other side.  This prevented ships from sailing down the Bosporus and attacking the city.

This is me in front of the fort on the other side.  There's a wooden house in front now.  Good thing there's no chain!

We went under this bridge, standing on the top deck, and running a gauntlet of fish hooks!

This military hospital, from the Crimean War, is one of the places Florence Nightingale worked.

This former Ottoman Palace is now the Four Seasons Hotel -- and $1000 per night!

Cruising under the Bosporus Bridge, linking the European and Asian sides of Istanbul.

Next, we climbed to the top of Pierre Loti Hill, named for a famed French novelist and naval officer who wrote about his life in Istanbul.  We drove in buses up the inland side of the hill, and stopped to take pictures – in the middle of the largest graveyard in Istanbul!  I felt too uncomfortable to clamber over and between graves for pictures, so the one below is taken from the path.  We then took the cable car down.  The view of the Golden Horn was amazing, even though a mist hung over the city.  The weather had turned from chilly to molto caldo, as the Italians in our group pointed out.

The next part of the tour was along the city walls, which are 1600 years old, and which have only been breached twice in that time.  They are extensive, completely surrounding the old city, and were originally built in Roman times.  While they have kept out invaders, life certainly has gone on around them for a long time.  We saw community gardens at their base with sheds built right against the walls, and even laundry strung up along them!

Because it was a tour, they took us to a leather coat factory.  You can never really avoid the shopping on a commercial tour, but I guess that is one of the ways that the guides make their living. I preferred to stay outside, where I got enough sun on my nose and arms to make them pink for a while!

Lunch was very nice, at a restaurant that was really only about a block from our hotel, and  I really enjoyed my lunch companion, Sarah, who is from Montreal, but living in Cairo, where her father works in the Canadian Embassy.  She has only been speaking English for a year, but is taking her classes in English at the International School.  She was very bright, and I enjoyed her conversation very much.  I think Ian enjoyed speaking to her parents just as much.  It was nice to see other Canadians, even if from the other side of the country.

After lunch, we drove to Dolmabahce Palace. It was the last residence of the sultans, and was built in 1856.  After the Caliphate was abolished in 1924, it served as a presidential retreat for Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and many of his most important works and speeches were written here.  in fact, he died here in November of 1938,and the clock in his room was stopped at the time of his death, 9:05.  We all had to put on little plastic slippers over our shoes, which was a bit nerve wracking considering they were slippy, and there were steep carpeted stairs, uneven in height, and with no railing!  We couldn’t take pictures of the magnificent interiors.    We took a few pictures of the exterior, however.  I can only describe the interior as an excess of excess!  If this is the moderate, more modern palace, I am wondering what Topkapi Palace will be like.

Thousands of blue hyacinths.  The perfume was almost overpowering!

Even the exterior is ornate

The World's largest chandelier, an example of the interior "borrowed" from Wikipedia.

We traveled over the Bosporus Bridge to the Asian side of Istanbul, then went to Camlica Hill, the Highest peak in the Istanbul vicinity.  It was blessedly cool there!

The plan was to go to the hamam (Turkish baths) tonight, but the women’s side closes at 8:00, and it is now 8:35.  My computer informs me that it has adjusted for daylight savings time.  Thanks computer! We need to go to the bank machine and then get some dinner, but I am wondering if Ian is ever going to wake up from his "cat nap"!