Turkey – Istanbul final days

My last few days in Istanbul earlier this week were very enjoyable.  I tried to take them at a much more relaxed pace as I knew that the tours in Israel and Jordan would probably move along at quite a clip.  I did however so many of the things that were tops of my list.

I went across to the new part of Istanbul to do some exploration.  Rose and I had been here a few days prior when we were at Taksim square, however, I particularly wanted to go up the Galata tower which was originally built by the Genoese as a lighthouse in the 13th century.  It is now one of the best vantage points to view Istanbul.   There is a restaurant at the top, however the price of 6 Lira for a cup of tea really put me off (normal price is 1 Lira).

Galata District from the old Istanbul side of the Golden Horn

Galata Tower

View of Old Istanbul from the tower

I took a long 6 hour boat cruise down the Bosphorus which was lovely and relaxing as I just sat and admired the scenery of the many little towns we stopped at.  The main reason for the length of the cruise was it stopped at the last stop for 3 hours forcing us all off for some lunch and to stretch or legs.

Cruise ship – rather like the Wolfe Island ferry but no cars

I didn’t neglect to also attend some of the wonderful museums that Istanbul has. Primary of where for history lovers like me is the Archeology Museum.  Unfortunately I found that Turkey is in a fit of upgrades and renovations of its public monuments and museums.  So unfortunately half the Archeology Museum was closed and the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts is completely closed.  Disappointing but what was open was still interesting.

Sections of the chains used by the Byzantines to block access to the Golden Horn and Bosphorus effectively preventing enemy invasion by sea

Cute lion guarding the entrance to the Archeology Museum

The Ceramics Pavilion

Sarcophagus of the mourning women – contained the remains of an emperor who loved women

Of course I also did some last wandering through neighbourhoods and the bazaars.

A highlight though was my visit to a historical Turkish bath that was originally built in the 1500s by the Imperial architect.  Sorry no pictures of the actual experience!!

Here is a link to their website.  Of course the pictures in their gallery is a true representation of how we behaved and looked.  It was fun though.  When you arrive they give you a bag that contains disposable bathing bottoms and a scrubbing mitt as well as plastic tickets for the services you will have.

My bath kit with undies, scrubbing mitt, and tags for services.

I opted to have an attendant.   She first took me into the central steam room where she lay me down on a heated marble platform.

After dumping buckets of warm water over me she used the scrubbing mitt to vigorously scrub all the dead skin off me from head to toe.  She got quite a layer off!  After more buckets of water over my head, I was then scrubbed down with lovely scented bubbles.   After more dousing I was rinsed and sent off for a lovely relaxing massage in my own private little room.

It was very relaxing and lovely!

My last tourist stop was a visit to a small Byzantine Church commonly called Little Hagia Sophia as it was supposedly a model for the large Hagia Sophia. Unfortunately there wasn’t much of the old Greek decorations left so the inside wasn’t very interesting.  However, as I had to wait for prayers to finish before I could go in I sat on a bench to just enjoy the quiet.  I was joined by a very cute companion who was determined my lap was the only spot acceptable for a nice nap.

Little Hagia Sophia

My new friend

Ducks wandering around the mosque grounds

I very much enjoyed my time in Istanbul and Turkey and was sad to leave early on Thursday morning.  I will definitely try to go back to Turkey again in the future.  Though next time I would like to see more of the north east portion along the Black Sea.