Bob's Istanbul

Sunday, May 11th, 2008 Arriving in Istanbul we were struck by the panorama of the city as we descended into it. It goes on forever. We later found that from a city of two to three million in the 1960’s, Istanbul has grown to a city of over 15 million today! The city is on two continents, Europe and Asia. We crossed a beautiful bridge built in the early ‘70s to take a picture of the European side of the city from the Asian side. It was my first time on Asian soil ever!

Monday, May 12, 2008 We spent the day with Murat, our native born guide, who gave us a fine tour of the highlights that we had time to see in this bustling Metropolis. Everywhere we looked, things looked good, growing and prosperous. We visited the famous Blue Mosque, had lunch at a neat little shop, watched Mercer bargain with the rug merchant and finished with a tour of the Topkapi Palace, which the Sultans inhabited until 1924. The outside of the Turkish buildings are relatively plain, but the insides were spectacular. We saw emeralds in the Sultan’s jewels the size of a woman’s fist and a diamond that exceeded 86t carats! They didn’t allow pictures in the jewel rooms. Pictures seen above include: Picture of European side of Istanbul from the Asian side, Marat and Jim on the Asian Side , Inside the Blue Mosque, I sell it to you for Dis Much! as Mercer buys a carpet and The Topkapi Palace of the Sultans. Tomorrow we head for Cairo. Hard to believe that this Friday will see us back in Orlando at the halfway point in our journey! Bob End of part three