Lost in Venice with a taste of Turkish Delight and Souvlaki

[get me outta here]

Pushka, having just returned from IST not long ago your wonderfully evocative photos are a delight. IST people are so friendly and tolerant. I loved all the tiles and hectares of beautiful carpets in the mosques.

 

[Anna]

Both times I have done Celebrity cruises, once onboard they have said there is a disembarkation option that if you are prepared to carry all your own luggage off the ship, you are allowed off first as soon as the gangways are in place. I think you have to be waiting at the gangway door with your bags at whatever time docking is. They haven't advertised this option beforehand as they obviously want to persuade people into buying transfers or post cruise tours instead.

Anyway, as both Celebrity disembarkations I have done have been absolute zoos, coupled with a complete lack of interest - nay, almost contempt - from crew towards pax who are disembarking thus paying no more tips and submitting no more feedback forms, I think if I cruise with Celebrity again I will go with the self-disembark option.

 

[Pushka]

Early in the morning here in Istanbul.

Some more photos from yesterday.



The IC used to have a great view of the suspension bridge and used that on their welcome cards. Until ....



Pre sunset view from the bar up top

 

[Pushka]

Cute condiments tray from last night. This bar is ridiculously expensive but a stunning view.




Yesterday we fell for a con. Shoe shine.

Walking towards the hotel near Taksim Square and saw a shoe shine guy drop a brush. We called out to him but thinking about it now he was about to turn back anyway.

Then he said he'd clean MrP's sneakers. We thought as a reward. But I kept saying No Lira. We didn't have any small change.

Then he was joined by 'his brother' and of course his wife was giving birth next day. He said he'd clean my shoes and again I kept saying - no lira. They said that's fine. Job done. Then they asked for lira for the baby. I just said again - told you we had no lira and we walked off. Hmmm. Who was the sucker here? All of us I guess.

 

[Pushka]

[video=youtube_share;IWzXGSXrm-s]http://youtu.be/IWzXGSXrm-s[/video]Here's a video I took of Edi from our favourite bar. He was giving a special performance.

 

[Pushka]

MrP and I did some serious touristing today. Lots of walking.

First off the HoHo bus to The Blue Mosque. You need to time the visit to avoid prayer times when it is closed.

Strict dress codes are enforced at the door:



And this got through but is wrong on so many levels:



Women are required to cover their hair, shoulders and knees. Shoes off at the door. It's not a feet smell you are left with but shoe smell.

It is beautiful inside

 

[Pushka]

Then off to Hagia Sophia. I'd purchased an online Museum pass that allowed us to skip the queue here. A great move.

The Hagia started it's life as an Orthodox Christian church then was converted to a Mosque. Now it's a Museum. It has a great feeling of age.



It needs extensive renovation which is currently underway.

 

[Pushka]

Both Christian and Muslim artefacts live side by side.





Reminiscent of the Vatican Museum



Ancient doors

 

[Pushka]

Next, off to the Basilica Cisterns. These are quite amazing.





Fish live in the water.



Two heads of Medusa are deep within and turned sideways and upside down so no one is turned to stone.

 

[Pushka]

Then off to a traditional Turkish lunch.





Gozlem

 

[Pushka]

Refreshed we ventured into Topkapi Palace. The museum pass worked again and avoided the queue. Plus entry into the Harem.

The Palace entry



The Harem inside the Palace



Queen Mother ruled the Harem and the eunuchs.



Some beautiful rooms in here

 

[Pushka]

More Harem









The Courtyard of the Favourite concubines

 

[Pushka]

Then into the Palace. My objective was to find the Topkapi Dagger and the fourth largest diamond in the World. These were located in the Treasury building but sadly no photos.

The jewels on this area were stunning. Huge cabochon emeralds and rubies with diamonds. Vases. Daggers. Gold orbs. The dagger itself was beautiful.

So we dusted off a few things today. Pretty much done until tomorrow - the Grand Bazaars.

 

[ellen10]

Great photos!
Thanks for sharing.

 

[love_the_life]

Oh I can just see you at the Grand Bazaar. Hope you took an empty suitcase!
Today's photos are fantastic. You said you could bypass the queue with you prepaid ticket; what were the queues like? Very long? I know you don't like waiting around in line much.

 

[Pushka]

Hey Dame. Yep. I don't do queues.

There were no cruise ships so I'd say maybe 30 minutes? We did have to queue for the Cisterns. Maybe 15 there? Just wasn't as busy as it'd been Saturday with three ships in when we did the first hoho trip.

But worse. Our intra Europe flights have luggage restrictions of 20 kilos. We are both currently on around 17. And there's some beautiful clothing we want to get in Oia in Santorini.

Buying lots of fridge magnets for the mother though.

 

[love_the_life]

There is always the post office :mrgreen:
Perhaps you could wear a lot of your clothes when you board. It's called taking layering to the extreme but cuts down on checked luggage weights, freeing the space up for new purchases!
Aren't fridge magnets quite heavy in relation to their size? But then again you can carry them in your handbag.

 

[TomVexille]

Perhaps you could wear a lot of your clothes when you board. It's called taking layering to the extreme but cuts down on checked luggage weights, freeing the space up for new purchases!

That just sounds like something you would see on Air Ways...

 

[love_the_life]

I have seen similar occurrences - with people wearing heavy coats, a thick jumper and hiking boots. Not so good when you disembark in Singapore!

 

[drron]

Well I have my Rex coat for when I am flying to Burnie or Broken Hill.Several quite large pockets I can fit an extra 7-10kg of stuff.So much for their 15kg limit for bags.