We arrived back in Istanbul and it seemed such a huge, busy city after the 3 days in the quieter villages and countryside of Cappadocia. Thursday, Cathy and I went to visit the Topkapi Palace while Jackie and Isabelle took a day to chill. The Palace is huge and is on several acres of land overlooking the sea. There were huge crowds and it was difficult to see the displays, so we didn't actually stay too long. That afternoon we met Jackie and Isabelle at the Grand Bazaar. I wasn't really in the shopping mode so I headed back to the hotel for my own chill time.
The next day we took the ferry to the Prince's Islands - 5 islands in the Bosphorus that do not allow motorized vehicles so there are lots of bikes and horse drawn carriages. We went to the 4th island which is the largest and most popular with the tourists. We had lunch at a water front restaurant where we watched a fisherman pull up in his boat and drop off fresh fish. Had the best calamari ever! We walked through the shops and up a hill past some beautiful houses that are the vacation homes of some of the wealthier Istanbul residents. The gardens were lovely and it was so quaint to have the carriages rolling by. Cathy and Jackie hiked up to the very top of the island where there is a monastery; while Isabelle and I enjoyed a short snooze in the park. The trip on the ferry was fun - it was absolutely packed and the people-watching was great!
On our final day in Istanbul we went to the bazaar district. It was Saturday and I think the entire population of Istanbul was there! I had a couple of near panic moments when I had to talk to myself saying, "It's OK; you'll be OK." The crush of humanity was incredible; but we all still managed to find some interesting things to buy (of course)! We must have walked 10 miles that day and when we finally got on the plane to head back to Doha we were quite exhausted . . . . . and filled with wonderful memories - it was an amazing trip!
Next stop - Calgary; can't wait to see family and friends!
No comments:
Post a Comment