Mediterranean Cruise 2012 |
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Links to Port Pages
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Istanbul, Turkey - Overnight 26 March, Disembark 27 March Monday, 26 March After our last day at sea we arrived in Istanbul early Monday morning. We docked across the Golden Horn on the Bosphorus side and had our first views of the old part of Istanbul - Sultanahmet. After breakfast we took our last ship's tour to the Spice Market and then enjoyed a real turkish bath at the AyaSofya Hamami near the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque. What an experience and a real treat to experience a turkish bath. We highly recommend this treat to anyone who travels to Istanbul. The hamam is the restored structure built in the 1500s by Suleyman the Magnificent for Roxalana, the sultan's only wife. It is absolutely exquisite inside - marble, wood, and gold. Unfortunately that is not a place you take pictures, but then again not sure I would share any of them with you! Turkish baths are not for the shy and as an American you kind of have to let go a bit and just not be worried. It is worth setting aside those feelings as the bath and treatments are luxurious. You walk away feeling so relaxed and pampered. What a great way to start our time in Istanbul. If you want to know more about this hamam, go to their website here through this link Aya Sofya Hamami.
Tuesday, 27 March Tuesday morning we disembarked the Silver Wind saying farewell to the crew and our fellow travelers. The cruise was every bit as incredible as we had hoped, and then some. We transferred from the ship to our last "base" on the trip - Four Seasons Sultanahmet. The hotel is ranked as a top ten in international hotels and it definately deserves and earns that reputation. It is a beautiful, luxurious hotel located right in the heart of Sultanahmet. You can walk to all the important sites - Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern, and the Grand Bazaar. We checked into the hotel in the morning but our rooms were not available yet as it was only about 9:30 am. So we headed off to wander the area. We visited the Blue Mosque and got "picked up" by a local Turkish mafia "friend/guide". The kind who starts out with "Are you from America?, Can I help you? Here, let me tell you the history of the Blue Mosque, let me take you to my cousin he sells carpets, here let me take you ..." He was quite something but actually helpful in the long run. We were able to find some nice souvenirs, locate a ceramics shop, and Amy and TJ found some carpets they wanted for their home. All in all a success! In the evening we had dinner across the street at the Seven Hills Restaurant which is at the top of a building with views of the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, across the Golden Horn and Bosphorus. We were not impressed with the food, it was okay, but the views of the area lit at night were spectacular.
Wednesday, 28 March Our last full day in Istanbul. After a great breakfast in the hotel we headed over to the Basilica Cistern. The cistern was built in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian I. The cistern could hold up to 2.8 million cubic feet of water and is supported by 336 marble columns. It is definately something to see. Our next stop was Topkapi Palace walking through the cobbled streets behind the Hagia Sophia. The area was very steep and we had not realized that Istanbul is not flat! It is a steep and rocky terrain up to a slight plateau where the palace grounds overlooks the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus. The palace is another place you could wander for hours seeing the various buildings within the complex. But with numerous visitors that day it was a bit crowded and hard to linger very long in one place. Lunch time and we headed to a local restaurant called Palatium which was just down at the end of the street from the Four Seasons. We had wonderful kebabs and Turkish beer in a quiet, relaxing atmosphere. Since we've been back I have noticed that there are numerous reviews on Trip Advisor about the Palatium and we agree - for a great meal, good price, and a chance to relax and soak it all in, go there! We shopped for cermaic tiles and found some beautiful pieces that used the same design and techniques used during the construction of Topkapi and the Blue Mosque. These are our special treasures that we had shipped home from the store. One more major site to visit - the Hagia Sophia. It was late afternoon and we were uncertain that we had enough time to go in, but Amy checked with the entry and found a guide and off we went. What an extraordinary place - I'm so glad we did not miss it. The history is incredible, the mosaics and decor throughout leaves you nearly breathless. Our guide took us straight up to the upper gallery to see the mosaics and views of the entire facility before we wandered the main level. Smart way to do the visit since you really get the perspective first before walking through the main floor. We returned to our hotel and shared our last dinner in the restaurant at the Four Seasons. It was an extraordinary meal and the perfect cap to our adventures.
Video of Hagia Sophia Photos
The next morning, 29 March, we flew home from Istanbul through London and Dallas arriving about 24 hours after we left Turkey. Unfortunately for them, Amy and TJ did not have smooth travel back home and ended up stuck in Germany overnight.
And so, the chronicles and this visual scrapbook of our wonderful vacation in Europe, the Mediterranean, and Turkey is complete. So, what's our next trip and when??? Just have to watch and see!
Postings before the Trip:
Update on 16 November 2011: We are now scheduled to arrive into Istanbul Monday morning, 26 March 2012, at 8:00 am and overnight one night on board the ship. Silversea changed the itinerary in November and dropped Crete, but added a day in Istanbul. So our hotel arrangements for two nights are still good. We will disembark from the Silver Wind on Tuesday morning, transfer to the hotel for two more days and then fly back home on Thursday 29 March. We are staying at the Four Seasons Sultanahmet, in the Sultanahmet district, where the majority of the sites are located - Haggia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar, and more.
From Wikipedia - "Istanbul, historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople, is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province (municipality) had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe (if its Asian half is counted) after London and Moscow. The city in its administrative limits had 8.8 million residents counted in the latest Turkish census from 2000.Istanbul is a megacity, as well as the cultural, economic, and financial centre of Turkey. 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 (Thrace) and on the Asian (Anatolia) sides of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world that is situated on two continents. Istanbul is a designated alpha world city. During its long history, Istanbul has served as the capital of the Roman Empire (330–395), the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). When the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed on 29 October 1923, Ankara, which had previously served as the headquarters of the Turkish national movement during the Turkish War of Independence, was chosen as the new Turkish State's capital. Istanbul was chosen as a joint European Capital of Culture for 2010 and the European Capital of Sports for 2012. Istanbul is currently bidding to host the 2020 Summer Olympics. The historic areas of the city were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985." Update on 13 November 2011: We've booked our hotel stay in Istanbul at the Four Seasons at Sultanahmet. It is located near all the key sites we want to visit. We'll stay two nights and then fly out on Thursday morning.
"Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet. Created from a century-old neoclassic Turkish prison in the core of this fabled city – steps from the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace. Just 65 guest rooms and suites frame an open courtyard, for an atmosphere of personal attention and ease unprecedented in Istanbul." Read more about the hotel on their website at Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul.
Update 22 January 2012: With the change in the itinerary, we will dock in Istanbul on Monday and remain in port overnight before we disembark and transfer to the Four Seasons. This gives us an extra day in Istanbul. So we checked to see if there was an interesting excursion before we explore on our own the next two days. We found an incredible excursion that we would not have thought of on our own. All four of us went "thumbs up" on this one! From the Silversea Website Tour List - "Silver Shore Collection - Spice Market and Turkish Bath 26 Mar 2012 | 4 Hours | Morning Experience a unique and authentic Silver Shore Collection excursion during this half-day tour. Depart the pier with your guide for the short drive to the fragrant and colourful Istanbul Spice Market Spice Market Find the flavour of Istanbul here… known as the Egyptian Bazaar in Turkish (Misir Carsisi), this is of one of the best places from where to take a taste of the city home with you. One of numerous markets in Istanbul, this is a great one to stroll through, sampling the aromatic air of spices from across Turkey, the Middle East, and Northern Africa. Be enticed by other shops of all flavours and types, selling goods ranging from sweets and spices to clothes, watches, Turkish souvenirs, exotic aphrodisiacs, Iranian caviar and Turkish saffron. Hurrem Sultan Turkish Bath Hamam in Turkish means 'public bath', and the baths were a very important fixture in Ottoman society, a tradition passed down from the Romans to the Byzantines, and then the Turks. Hagia Sophia Hurrem Sultan Bath was built in 1556 by the famous architect Sinan by the order of Sultan Suleyman, The Magnificent to honour his wife Hurrem. Men and ladies will go to their separate changing areas and then to the main bath. The raised marble platform, known as the 'Gobek Tasi' or navel stone is positioned above the furnace, providing the heat and steam for the bath, and is the heated surface for massages. After your massage, be exfoliated, cleansing the body, prior to your bath. Slip back into your towel and reality and enjoy some refreshments, including soft drinks, tea or coffee as you marvel at this uniquely relaxing Turkish experience. At the end of the tour, return to the pier." |
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