Travel Thoughts: ISTANBUL. Queen of Cities

Fatih district was where we landed on the feribot. (#9)

We caught a cab. A cab. He quickly realized that was not going to work so he got a buddy to help out. We were in the cab traveling toward Tulip House Hotel (#1) and I realized that, no, he was not texting while driving: he was finding his way to the address we gave him. In a city of 12.5 million people it would not be possible to know every route to every address.

Tulip House. I stayed here in 2012 and knew that it

would work well for us. It is a small hotel tucked into a residential street and two blocks from the Marmara Sea. The staff were really helpful and welcoming last year and this. Hospitality is part of Turkish culture and central to Islam. From my balcony on the fifth floor, this was the view. To the east the Sinan-designed mosque sweeping out to the West. At night you could see the planes landing lights off to the west at Ataturk Airport.

Sokulu Mehmet Pasha Cami viewed from my balcony

We got into our rooms, got settled and then walked up toward the Hippodrome to find a place to eat. One of the best parts of Turkey is the myriad restaurants with outdoor seating. Perfect as the sun was going down and the heat was escaping buildings and pavements. As we were sitting at one of these restaurants there was a loud noise behind us. Sean saw that a section of the cornice of the roof of the old building had just fallen thirty feet to the pavement below. Glad I was not sitting there. A couple of days later we were walking on the street near Tulip and one of the women from the hotel staff cautioned us to walk not on the sidewalk but in the center of the street to avoid stuff falling onto us. Breakfast was a full Turkish breakfast served on the terrace garden. This was also a nice spot to enjoy a second coffee with the English-speaking

reception guy. [We already have a standing agreement that when I come back he will show me the Black Sea Coast where his town is.]

The Hippodrome (#3) is no longer recognizable as the race track it once was. It has been filled in and the race course is gone.

It also is the site of some treasures brought back to Turkey from Greek and Ottoman times. There is the Serpentine Column brought from Delphi in Greece. The Egyptian Obelisk was shipped by Theodosius I in the 4th Century. Behind is is one the minarets of the Blue Mosque.

Topkapı looking to Asia Side across the Bosporus

Waterworks (#4).

Istanbul withstood centuries of attacks because of its system of double walls surrounding the city and its huge system of cisterns to collect and hold water. Even if the aqueduct were destroyed, Constantinople/Byzantium could not be taken. One of the best small museums at the other end of the hippodrome is the basilica cistern. This is nearest the Hagia Sophia/Aya Sofya. It is this mysterious cool underground museum of walkways along the water channels. What holds up the roof of the cistern (and the street above) are columns that were stolen from ruins and brought into Byzantium for recycling.

It is an eerie and beautiful place. Inevitably goldfish have found their way into the waters and large garp swim around in the cistern.

When the Ottomans (family of Osman) took Constantinople in 1453 the city was pretty much limited to the areas shown in the map above. The boundary extended west off the left side of the map. The Golden Horn housed the fleet and the Karaköy and Beyoğlu areas were separate and became the areas where the "foreigners" lived. Beyoğlu was known as Pera and was the booming, rich and fashionable area in the 19th Century. In the 21st, the European style houses are attracting people (and high prices) back into Pera. This is where the Taksimi Park and Taksim Square are. This is where the demonstrations and teargas mixed last year.

The Asian area of Istanbul is much different. There are more of the traditional Ottoman wooden houses there and the neighborhoods, though teeming with people, seem smaller. On the northern part of the Asian side is a large hospital building. This was where Florence Nightingale lived and worked. Her museum and a chance to explore the Asian side is worth the quick ferry ride over there. If one has time.

Grandson Forrest adapted very well to all the this traveling around. He got a lot of time in his stroller and a lot of time being escorted and carried. Lots of time to see and master new things, life the escalators that brought us out of the subway system near the Istanbul University. He likes escalators.