Sun Oct 6, 2024
Hi Gang! We docked overnight in Istanbul so we got another day in this great city. (Don’t tell anybody but on the next leg of this journey we come back here for another 3 days! And we still won’t get to see everything!!)
Our tour started early today and went to some cool places. We visited the Suleymaniye Mosque, the Topkapi Palace and the Spice Market.
The Süleymaniye Mosque is an Ottoman imperial mosque located on the Third Hill of Istanbul. The mosque was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent and designed by the imperial architect Mimar Sinan. It was built in 1550.
It’s one of the best-known sights of Istanbul and from its location on the Third Hill it commands an extensive view of the city around the Golden Horn. It is considered a masterpiece of Ottoman architecture and one of Mimar Sinan’s greatest works. It is the largest Ottoman-era mosque in the city.
The Topkapi Palace served as the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire, and was the main residence of its sultans. Construction, ordered by the Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, began in 1459, six years after the conquest of Constantinople. The palace is now a museum.
The Istanbul Spice Market is one of the most colorful bazaars in Istanbul. And given that today was Sunday and the Grand Bazaar was closed, the Spice Market was extra crowded!
They have every spice imaginable as well as Turkish delights, caviar, dried fruits and nuts. Our guide took us first to a shop that let us try tons of the goodies and also sample some teas. We were thinking we’d just stay there and have lunch!
After that we got back on the ship, had a late afternoon snack and got ready for the evening events. I’ll do another post after dinner. Happy Sunday to all!
The Wandering Italian 