Istanbul, Turkiye, city sights

May 2

Istanbul is a beautiful city

It’s a cool, misty morning when the 5 am call to prayer wakes us up. We eventually enjoyed breakfast on the 6th floor of our hotel, which boasts a lovely view of the city and river. We had a great start to the day with our very happy and funny waiter, who handed us a $1000.00 breakfast bill for a meal included in our stay.

Our day is spent walking, riding a bus, taking a train, and boat tour exploring this fantastic city. Every block you visit has its own unique character. We walked through a local street market and also tasted foods such as pickle juice, which tasted like sauerkraut juice; Aryan, a salty yogurt drink; beans cooked with Turkish Pastrami; Lokma, dough balls in syrup, and plums that are very tart and crunchy.

At supper, we had a fabulous meal. Unfortunately, during dinner, we heard a thunderous crash of breaking dishes and learned one of our servers fell down the stairs and had to be taken to the hospital. I hope he is okay.

The following day, we are awake at 5 am and enjoy another entertaining breakfast with our happy and funny waiter. We visited some city highlights such as the Topkapi Palace, the Hagia Sophia (also known as the Aya Sofya), the Blue Mosque, and the Grand Bazaar. We didn’t have time to go inside any other than the Grand Bazaar. Unfortunately, when we went to the Blue Mosque, it was closed for prayer. No, Biggy, we will try again on our return trip.

After spending the first part of our day exploring, we hopped onto a bus and headed for Bolu, about a three-hour drive. Our guide had to make alternate arrangements to get us out of the city today. May 1 is Labour Day, and the government shut down the roads coming into the city, and all forms of transportation, buses, subways, trains, ferries, and taxis are shut down. Most stores are closed within a particular district. We heard from locals this is new and is a form of punishment for not voting in the current government. Our regular bus could not come in to get us, so we had a different bus take us to Bolu and had to take alternate routes to get around closed roads. These are pretty bizarre circumstances that nobody seems to understand.

Visiting Tekfur Sarayı. Tekfur Palace is the only palace to survive from the Blaherne Palace complex in Istanbul, turned into a ceramic, pottery factory.