Jamie & Kim's European Adventure: Trip 13: Istanbul, Turkey

We just returned from a great trip to Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul is one of very few cities in the world situated on two continents (Asia & Europe). We decided to stay on the Asian side of the country which gave us a view of the less touristy attractions than the European side. And I think for the first time since living in Europe we stayed in an American hotel, the Doubletree Hilton hotel in Istanbul Moda, which ended up being a nice treat with their accommodations of a pool, steam room, sauna and hot tub after a long day of walking the busy streets of Istanbul. Staying on the Asian side also meant that we got to take the commuter ferries across the Bosphorus strait to the European side to see all of the sites.
We spent the first full day in the old town visiting and wandering the Spice Bazaar and Grand Bazaar, the oldest and one of the largest covered markets in the world. It kind of reminded me of the souks in Morocco with all of the spices, nuts, dried fruits and other goods but was much more grand in terms of the structure, size, history and offerings (jewelry, carpets, etc.). We also toured the Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent and admired the beautiful views from the hilltop. We ended the evening at a fantastic fish restaurant, Sur Balik, situated on the Sea of Marmara and then back on the ferry to Asia.
The next day we took the ferry over again to visit more sites. We started with the Blue Mosque (built in 1609-1616), known by the rich blue color of the handmade ceramic tiles that dominate the interior and it's impressive scale with six minarets. We also visited the Hippodrome (built in 4th Century A.D.), which was Constantinople's venue for chariot races and a place where the people of the city gathered and is now decorated with monuments from all over the world including the Egyptian Obelisk, Column of Constantine, Column of the Serpent and the German Fountain. Then we walked the grounds of Topkapi Palace and Hagia Sophia (a former Orthodox church and now a museum), unfortunately not able to go inside as they had just closed so we ended our tour of the historic city with a tour of the Basilica Cistern, a large underground reservoir dating back to Byzantine era to 6th century A.D. After our tour we enjoyed dinner outside at a Turkish restaurant and then purchased some Turkish delights for our stroll back to the ferry.