Sat Oct 5, 2024
Hi All! Today we are docked in Istanbul, Turkey (formerly Constantinople)! Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, straddling the Bosporus Strait, the boundary between Europe and Asia. It is considered the country’s economic, cultural and historic capital. The city has a population of over 15 million residents, comprising 19% of the population of Turkey, and is the most populous city in Europeand the world’s fifteenth-largest city.
In 330 CE, the Roman emperorConstantine the Great made it his imperial capital, renaming it first as New Rome and then finally as Constantinopleafter himself. In 1930, the city’s name was officially changed to Istanbul.
Istanbul was the 2010 European Capital of Culture. The city has surpassed London and Dubai to become the most visited city in the world, with more than 20 million foreign visitors. The historic center of Istanbul is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
On our tour today we visited the Blue Mosque (named for all the blue mosaic tiles inside), the Byzantine Hippodrome (where horse and chariot races used to happen), the Hagia Sophia Mosque (once a church now a mosque), the Basilica Cistern (built in the 6th century and used to be filled with water) and the Grand Bazaar (over 4,000 shops!). Those were all very impressive buildings!
I’ll let the pictures do the talking for now and send another update after dinner. Hope everyone’s having a great weekend!
The Wandering Italian 