If you have not done so, read the previous related post here, or start from the beginning of the Turkiye posts here.
This is the final entry on my vacation to Turkey, a very nice place with a good mix of things to view. Took me more than a month after I returned to complete documenting the entire journey.
The time has come for our final day in Turkey. Being on a holiday for 8 days (excluding flight) somehow makes you think that it will be nice to be on holiday all the time. Our last day in Istanbul started off with some free time in the morning. As our hotel was near Taksim square, a retail area, we went out to take a look around. At noon, we were going for a cruise along the Bosphorus, the straits that divides the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea. Essentially we will be cruising between Europe and Asia. After the cruise and our lunch stop-over, we headed to the largest shopping complex in Europe. Although it is actually average sized by most standards elsewhere.
Some sort of monument in Taksim square
A rare sight, a church, notice they have dome designs too
Pushing off in our cruise ferry. Paid quite a bit, the ferry could easily carry 200 or more but there were only like 20 of us chartering the whole ferry.
Picking up speed
Asia side of Istanbul
Minarets galore!
The first bridge we encountered that spanned the Bosphorus. We crossed it when we came back from Bolu.
A mosque by the sea, there are a few of these
I think this was some government building during the Ottoman Empire
The sultan's summer palace
Reaching the first bridge
Another mosque, we will return here later for lunch
Passing under the bridge
Seagulls
Some old fortifications
Passing the second Bosphorus bridge, after which we were bordering the Black Sea and the ferry made a U-turn.
Expensive houses that are conserved
One of the conserved houses. They can cost something like USD$60 million and you are not allowed to change the exterior design.
Military school
Another Mosque
We disembarked next to this mosque, there are lots of food stalls and relaxing cafes around here too. The black soot on the mosque is a result of heavy shipping.
Lunch, a really huge potato! I think they call it Kampir
Looks familiar? We also saw some stalls selling prata -- yes they called it prata.
Efficient use of parking space
A glass blower showing some tricks
The time came for us to leave this place, our coach captain was pretending that there was something wrong with the engine since he cannot stop at this side of the road for long. Rather hilarious!
The roof of the largest shopping mall in Europe -- a clock that did not seem to be working. There is also a small indoor amusement park here.
Evening came and it was time to catch our flight back home. Thus ends our vacation with a heavy heart, some wine and hazelnuts.
Return to the first post and index here.
Return to the first post and index here.
4 comments:
eh i never read your blog so long suddenly so many things to read. turkey damn nice leh, i also want to go! i'll come back and read in detail..
Yup Turkey is a very nice place, got few hundred year old building, few thousand year old building, and different types of scenery. Sort of a holistic place to visit.
Well, I live in Turkey and you have a mistake. There is a photo which you said "Asia side" but it is not. It is also the Europeon side. You actually thought that you were near the Bosphorus, but you were just near "Haliç". Look at the İstanbul map.
http://bildigim.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/kamera_harita.gif
See the thin line. That's haliç. The bosphorus is where there are the big bridges.
Only that photo or the rest as well? Could you please point out where the large minaret in that picture is on google maps?
Post a Comment