Titanic Hotel Taksim
17th April: Arrived in Turkey expecting the weather to be warm but soon discovered that it was colder than home - everybody is still dressed for winter here as Spring has not arrived.
Made contact with my cousin David and went on a guided walk of the areas that tourists don't get to see. Later after a fantastic tour in the car with David and Altin we went out for dinner and were able to experience the delicious local cuisine. David and Altin were the perfect hosts and we are most greatful to them. (they should become tour guides as they know all the history of the area) It was so good to catch up with someone we know
in a different country.
Next day we set off underdressed and ended up quite cold and wet for the day. While pouring with rain we visited the Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque, Underground Cistern and the Grand Bazaar. All places were amazing and in the Underground Cistern we felt like we were part of the Phantom of The Opera movie and were expecting the boat to come sailing through the tunnel at any moment.
The Underground Cistern was used to hold water for the city via aquaducts in the 6th century. It covers an area of 9800sq metres with 336 marble columns each 9 metres high and arranged in 12 rows of 28. You can imagine how impressive this all looked with a few metres of water in it and dimly lit.
After dinner in the Taksim Square area we wandered around and found a Turkish Delight shop and stocked up for our 9 hour journey on the bus to Cappadocia. Tomorrow morning we are off to do hot air ballooning over the town of Cappadocia.
Topkapi Palace
Looks fantastic, can't believe it is so cold over there!
ReplyDeleteDid you buy up big at the Bazaar?
The underground cistern looks eerily awesome.
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