April 14 – Istanbul – Asia Side

Today we are heading to the Asia side of Istanbul.  Istanbul is the only city in the world that sits in two different continents, Asia and Europe. 

Some of the sights while driving around Istanbul.

To get to Asia we drove over the first bridge that spanned the Bosporus Strait.

The Bosporus Straits.

And just at the base of the bridge on the Asia side is the Beylerbeyt Palace, summer palace of the Sultans, built in the early 19^th century.  Again, no photos inside so we took photos of the palace exterior and the grounds. 

We picked up a brochure on the palace and took photos of the interior photos in the brochure…so we can have pictures.

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More Beylerbeyt Palace Brochure Photos
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We also visited the Sakirin Mosque.  This one is much different than others we have visited.  It is smaller than most and is much more modern than others we have seen.  And is the first mosque in history designed by a woman. 

The spherical, stainless-steel fountain in the courtyard was very interesting.

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More Sakirin Mosque
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From there we drove up to Camlica Hill for views of the Bosporus Strait, the Bosporus Bridge and Istanbul. 

By then it was just about lunch time, so Erdal took us down to the Kadikӧy waterfront where there were many ferries shuttling people back and forth across the strait to various locations throughout Istanbul.

Then we wandered into the interesting streets and viewed the goods in various shops.  Erdal lives in this neighborhood, so he knows it very well.

We stopped to briefly peek into an Armenian Church.  Services were in progress, so we didn’t go in.

And then we had lunch at a very good neighborhood restaurant, one of his local favorites.  We have both decided we really like Turkish Food.  At one point Mary headed upstairs to use the bathroom.  There was a large room on the second floor with a group of about 20 or so having lunch.  While chatting in line with another woman she found out the group was a Rick Steve’s tour.  How neat!  They have found Erdal’s favorite neighborhood restaurant.

After a bit more wandering we were back in the car and heading back to our hotel.

A bit later that afternoon we went down to the tearoom in our hotel for their High Tea.  The ambience was great.  The food was ok.  We have decided the Turks do a better job on Turkish desserts than Western desserts. 

Tea was accompanied by a pianist on a grand piano.  He had a great repertoire but pretty sketchy skills.  However, he was forgiven...turns out he is 99 years old.  And is very rich.  He does this as a hobby.  Amazing.  And he got a large group out to dance.  What fun.

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Video of pianist and singing
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We decided that tea was enough for dinner so stayed in for the evening as we have a very early pickup tomorrow as we have a plane to catch.