We had a wonderful long weekend in Istanbul - I went with my friend Jane and got to enjoy the autumn sunshine for the last time! hot during the day (about 28-30C) then cool overnight.
Istanbul is a great city - very vibrant, colourful, busy, easy to get around, beautiful skyline with all those minarets. The bosphorus river is teaming with fish and every bit of shoreline is lined with fishermen. Haggling in the bazaars is good fun and without pressure.
We stayed in a wonderful little motel that was literally within a few minutes walk of the big monuments - ie the Blue mosque, the Ayasofya Museum, the Palace. a bit further afield but still only about 10mins walk were the narrow, windy street bazaars and the Grand Bazaar. And the river was probably about 15mins walk down the hill. Needless to say we didn't use the public transport at all.
Highlight was definitely the blue mosque - absolutely beautiful and we made the good decision to get up before breakfast to take photos before the sun was too harsh. And then took the opportunity to have a look whilst there were no queues. We also got to enjoy this stunning structure from the terrace of a fantastic restaurant - whilst enjoying our dinner we listened to the calls to prayer by three different muezzins in three different mosques all around us. Magnificent!
[ Last edited 01/10/2012 02:19am ]
