planes, trains, boats, subways and taksi!!

A long overdue post about our trip to Istanbul. I wanted to share some of the highlights (which were plentiful)with you in a mostly pictorial post. Istanbul is a beautiful, urban, friendly, historical place to visit, high on my list of recommendations. The majority of Istanbuli's are muslim, which we are very used to, so - no culture shock for us.

We arrived mid-day in the heart of the European side of Istanbul, right smack dap in middle of palaces, mosques, the old city wall, parks filled with brown, red and orange leaves falling down in the cool crisp breeze..... (ahhhhh heavenly!!!) People hustling around from place to place, and the city was packed with tourist as well, so we did not feel the least bit out of place. We made a quick walk around our neighborhood, scoping out what it was we wanted to hit the next morning and made it back to this amazing place (the blue mosque) all lit up in it's glory.

The souvenir shops were screaming at me..... "please come buy me".... are these not gorgeous? These lanterns were everywhere..... restaurants, hotels, streets, homes, stores.......

sadly, I could only fit one into my suitcase.......

FALL was in the air...... five glorious days of fall!!!!

Turkish people were very very patriotic. (so are Omani's but that's beside the point).

Byzantine meets 21st century......I cut, copied and pasted an overview of wikipedia's take on Istanbul, which makes it such a fascinating place to visit........ Istanbul historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople is the largest city in Turkey and 5th largest city proper in the world with a population of 12.8 million, also making it the second largest metropolitan area in Europe by population, and the largest metropolitan city proper. Istanbul is also a megacity, as well as the cultural, economic, and financial centre of Turkey. The city covers 39 districts of the Istanbul province.[8] It is located on the Bosphorus Strait and encompasses the natural harbour known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country. It extends both on the European and on the Asian sides of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world that is situated on two continents. During its long history, Istanbul had previously served as the capital of the Roman Empire (330–c.395), Byzantine Empire (c.395–1204 & 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). Thereafter, the new Republic of Turkey, moved their capital to Ankara during the Turkish War of Independence.

the subway system..... a first for the boys!!

The New Mosque - the largest mosque in all of Turkey.

beautiful arabic stained glassed windows inside the New Mosque.

Light fixtures inside the New Mosque.

Fish market on the Bosphorus, this is the asian side of the Istanbul.

running up a tunnel staircase system inside the Aya Sophia.

A charming example of the streets throughout the city. Cobblestone, picturesque, inviting me to take both paths.... choices, choices......

beautiful city scene from the Bosphorus boat trip - The Asia Side.

A fine example of a European style window box with my FAVORITE Dean Family flower.

Old, Old, Old city wall around Istanbul. (sorry about my lack of knowledge of time periods..... explains why I am not a history major.... just trust me it's old!!)

the infamous Bosphorus Bridge to take you from one continent to the next.

beautiful turkish calligraphy........ He crafted a picture for me in less than 10 minutes.... It's says Istanbul with mosques, palaces, birds.. and so on. I was thoughly impressed.

The end of the road as they say....... It was a charming and fascinating place to visit. I would definitely go again ..... and again and again.

Sorry it took so long to get these to you. My December was very busy.

Love to you and yours, hope your holly-days were bright, cheery and filled with peace, love and happiness,

I leave you with this funny you-tube about Istanbul........ (my friend Guinievere shared it with me...)

xo,

amt