Istanbul in twenty-four hours before the start of our seven day family cruise.
We arrived in the cultural cross-road, the capital of Turkey bright and early in the morning via Turkish Airlines which flies in direct from Hong Kong. After checking into Raffles Hotel, we freshened up before starting our sightseeing at around 9:30am. The best way for me beat jet lag is to try to keep my mind pre-occupied otherwise I just want to doze off.
First things first, Persian carpets. We've been looking and trying to replace our carpet at home and this has been something that we're trying to get right. We really like the ones made in Nain, a town in central Iran famous for beautiful hand knotted carpets. Of course there are many different Persian carpets but we prefer the ones from this region for its color and material. There are many tricks and tips on how to tell the quality of your carpet, from the medallion in the centre, knot density, wool vs silk preference, the feeling on both sides of the carpet and how easily you can fold it into many compact layers.
Time to start our own PJ heirloom :)
Grand Bazar, the world's oldest and most evocative shopping market you can get lost in.
Simit or grevek, a Turkish circular bread usually encrusted with sesame seeds.
Inside of Hagia Sophia Museum, first served as a greek orthodox church, then converted to roman catholic cathedral, then mosque and finally a museum..
Off to lunch by the Bosphorus strait followed by a little dessert of baklava, pistachio ice cream and trying our own turkish coffee reading :)
Sultan Ahmet Mosque aka Blue Mosque. This 17th century mosque, facing Hagia Sophia, is famous for its beautiful blue tile work ornamenting its interior walls. Its got six slim minarets outside to distinguish its importance from other mosques, which normally have two or four minarets.
I bet you can't tell how much we're sweating (and starting to get tired & cranky from this heat) :P
Inside the royal Topkapi Palace. I'm so glad I managed to squeeze in this visit.. absolutely breathtaking architecture from the Ottoman empire.
The Imperial Hall in the Harem
hehee yup, this place has good feng shui.
Starving and ready to have our Turkish meal.. A tad disappointing but I guess the focal point of this restaurant was the entertainment.
The little bears they gave us after the butler saw my bunnies. They're meant for couples celebrating their honeymoon because the bottom of their t-shirts say 'Happy Honeymoon' but they folded the bottom of their t-shirts so we wouldn't see the message. <3
After breakfast, time to head to the port of Istanbul to start our journey to the Greek Islands.
