Trips

After our Windstar cruise from Istanbul to Athens, we flew back to Istanbul to begin our Road Scholar Voyages to Antiquity tour around the Black Se on the Agean Odyssey. This tour included several days touring in Istanbul, something we really like to do even though we have been there several times before. It is a fascinating city.

Trip Map
8/29-9/1	Istanbul; Bosphorus
9/3	Trabzon, Turkey
9/4	Batumi, Georgia
9/5	Feodosiya, Ukraine
9/6	Yalta, Ukraine
9/7-8	Sevastopol, Ukraine
9/9-10	Odessa, Ukraine
9/11	Nessebar, Bulgaria
9/12	Istanbul to Denver
Map of the Road Scholar Voyages to Antiquity tour around the Black Sea (Istanbul counterclockwise to Istanbul)

Thurs., 8/29/13 - Istanbul and the start of our Road Scholar Tour of the Black Sea
       We went up to the third floor terrace for a very nice buffet breakfast. We could even squeeze oranges for fresh juice – Gale opted for what was called “forest fresh sherbet” juice. It was purple and had a hint of cinnamon. Instead of scrambled eggs they had a large round pan of “omelet” with tomato, ham, and onion - like frittatas. There were all kinds of nuts, fruits, cheeses, yogurt, cereal, and rolls. We were hungry from yesterday’s adventure – and little food – and really enjoyed ourselves. The view from the terrace is of the top of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia on one side (which we also see from our room) and of the shipping on the Sea of Marmara.
       It was too hot to go out and do much, so we opted for a recovery day in the room.
       At 6 PM we met our Road Scholar group of 36 people and the tour director, Eleni, and the Istanbul guide, Sami. Eleni is a Greek from Athens and has been in tourism for 38 years. Our group is the usual mix of retired nurses, educators, computer people, etc.
       We had dinner on the hotel terrace. It was very pleasant up there. We had a Turkish menu but I don’t have names for anything but the grape leaves stuffed with meat and rice.   It was served with wonderful yogurt.

Fri., 8/30/13 – Istanbul – Victory Day in Turkey (In 1932 Turkey became a republic.)
          Our Istanbul guide is very knowledgeable but talks endlessly. It is interesting that he considers himself one of the 95% of the population that is Sunni Moslem but doesn’t practice the rituals and did not have good explanations of the religion or mosques.
        Our Friday tour began with a visit to the Museum of Archeology on the grounds of the Topkapi Palace. There are several museums in this complex.
       We looked at other relics and then went upstairs to a new exhibit on the Roman Hidden Harbor of Yenika that was discovered recently as Turkey started to build a subway under the Sea of Marmara to connect the European and Asian sides of Istanbul. Thirty-seven shipwrecks have been identified.

Gale at the shoe-shine stand

Tiled Kiosk Pavillion

Tile on the Tiled Kiosk Pavillion

Very ancient skeleton in the Museum of Archeology

We also went through the Museum of the Ancient Orient. Most of these Mesopotamian glazed wall tiles are now in the Pergamum Museum in Berlin, which we saw in 2012. Some of the painted reliefs of bulls and dragons that lined the Procession Street in Babylonia in the 4th c. BCE were on display. The highlight of this museum (and not stolen to another country) is the small cuneiform of the 1250’s BCE peace treaty between the Hittites and Egypt. The Kadesh Treaty is the oldest peace treaty in known ancient history.

Panels from the Ishtar Gate in the Museum of the Ancient Orient

Hieroglyphics in the Museum of the Ancient Orient

Kadesh Treaty in the Museum of the Ancient Orient

Next our group of 36 walked to Hagia Sophia. Three churches have been built on this site, the present one in 537 CE. Because of earthquakes and age, some of the walls are leaning out and the floors in the balcony are cracked and slanted. Much restoration is ongoing. (See the descriptions from 2009 - use your back arrow to return here) In 1204 to 1264, the 4th crusade sacked and devastated Istanbul and Hagia Sophia. In 1453 the Turks invaded and sacked the city. We are lucky anything has survived.

Hagia Sophia - looking down from the balcony

Hagia Sophia - the dome

Hagia Sophia - dome detail

Hagia Sophia - mosaics

Hagia Sophia - Macchia aperta marble

Muslim artwork imposed over Christian artwork

We went to an included lunch and it was good to sit down for a while. The entre meal was an unusual stuffed, baked melon. It was delicious. After lunch we visited the Basilica Cistern (lately of Inferno [Dan Brown] fame) and then walked, slowly, up to the Hippodrome where the ancients used to race horses around the narrow oval. In the middle of the Hippodrome is two-thirds of an1490 BCE Egyptian obelisk from Karnak, in Luxor, and the Serpent column.
We then walked to the Blue Mosque, built in 1606, stood in a queue to enter, took off our shoes, and put on scarves to enter. It was very crowded. (See description from 2009 - use your back arrow to return here)

Stuffed baked melon

Medusa head in the Basilica Cisterns

Serpent column in the Hippodrome

Blue Mosque just after sunrise

Blue Mosque

Very interesting speed bump

Dinner tonight was a traditional Turkish meal with several starters and flat bread. The entree was fish. The Sur Balik Fish Restaurant was on Kennedy Blvd. around the corner from our hotel and at the seaside.

Sat., 8/31/13 – Istanbul
            Today was another long day of repeating tours we took twice with our tour groups in 2009. When we got inside Topkapi Palace, Marge and I begged out of Sami’s commentary/tour, turned off our “whisper” devices, and went to see the things we missed last time or wanted to see again that this group would never get to. We got our tickets from Sami and went through the Harem. The explanation signs were in English. First we went through the Eunuchs’ quarters and posts, then the apartments of the concubines, those of the royal dynasty, and then the Queen Mother’s apartment. The Ustas were the female supervisors of the concubines and the Kalfas were their senior maids. There is a Golden Road that connects to the Sultan’s quarters. The place connects to the Sultan’s dining room, the privy chambers, the courtyard of The Favorites (for the pregnant consorts who possibly will perpetuate the dynasty), and a turban chamber.
            We then went to see what we wanted to see again: the beautiful tile in theTurban Chamber, the Circumcision Chamber (used for the crowned princes at an age of 10 to 12 years!) and the Bagdad Pavilion built by Sultan Murat IV to the honor of the Baghdad campaign.
            We had time to go back to the museum housing the things of the Caliphs – the relic arm of Saint John the Baptist, Mohammed’s beard, and the bowl he drank from. A new exhibit displaying ceremonial arms – jeweled swords, maces, pistols, etc. – and another exhibit of old clocks from around the old world. Both were interesting to see, but no photos in this section. Marge rested as Gale went again through the exhibit of royal jewels including the 85-carat Spoon Maker pear-shaped diamond surrounded by 49 “smaller” diamonds. It was nice to tour at our own pace and we saw so much more than the rest of the group.

(If you like looking at the tile work, there are many sites on the internet. Google Topkapi Palace).