Mediterranean Tour 2007: Istanbul is Constantinople

So I made my second stop on the Mediterranean Tour 2007, Istanbul. Granted I only had about 3 hours to do any sight seeing, but from what I saw, WOW! Amazing city. The minute I got into the cab from the airport I could feel the cultures of Asia and Europe coming together. The contrast between the modern architecture and the mosques set down right in the city is incredible. On the way to the hotel, I sat and watched the freighters and cruise ships (at least that what I think they were) moving across the Bosporus. It was really pretty beautiful

Like I said only had a few hours to do any sightseeing but I did manage to make it to the Grand Bazaar, the Blue Mosque and the exterior of the Aya Sofia. The Grand Bazaar was, well, it was. I thought it was pretty cool, but nothing spectacular. It's basically a maze of enclosed stores selling every knock-off hand bag you can imagine plus a whole bunch of random local things (and things from India). There was definitely some cool stuff, but I think you'd really have to hunt to find something good there. And honestly I didn't have the time. But I did manage to have a cup of tea with my colleague Ridwan which was pretty fantastic. I mean, I like Turkish coffee and all that, but at heart I'm a tea drinker so this was pretty spectacular. They drink the tea in these tiny little glasses and dose it up with a lot of sugar. At least that's how I was drinking it. Very tasty!

After that Ridwan and I headed off to the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sofia. We made it inside the mosque which was really pretty. I had to wear a headscarf (bright turquoise I might add!) in order to go inside. It's funny, bare arms and shoulders were ok in the mosque but a bare head was not while in Israel at the Western Wall bare arms and shoulders were completely forbidden. Gotta love cultural/religious differences, eh?

After taking many, many pictures of the mosque Ridwan and I tried to get over to the Aya Sofia (the Catholic church that looks like a mosque from the exterior). Unfortunately it was closed, but I'm definitely going back to Turkey so next time I'll make sure to see it.

I spent the night out to dinner with an old client of mine, Gustavo, who's about to move back to Brasil now that his trainee program is over. He has been in Istanbul for the last six months now and it was fantastic to hear about his impressions and to hear him speaking the bits of Turkish he's picked up over the last few months. Plus, he took me out for the best brownie I've had in ages and it was overlooking a bridge over the Bosporus with a mosque sitting right at the river edge. So not only was it great company and good food, but it was a beautiful view too! Obrigada, Gustavo!

And that, sadly, was the extent of my time in Istanbul, the rest has been spent working, working working before I head off to Athens. But then again, that's why I'm here, right?