Turkey Travel Diary, Day 2: Time travel to the 16th century
Turkey itinerary, click to enlarge
Fulya the tour guide from Orion collected the tour group from Istanbul airport at 0530 and delivered us to our hotel in Taxim Square. En route she pointed out places of interest—a Roman aqueduct from the 4th century, the Sea of Marmara beyond those buildings, the wall of Constantinople, the Bosphorus strait, the Golden Horn—casually rattling off names from Byzantine and Ottoman history as if they were the people next door. Because they are the people next door.
In Turkey history isn’t dry textbook material; it’s a living presence. For instance they’re building a metro line under the Bosphorus, the strait that separates Asia from Europe. Fulya explained that 97 percent of Turkey is in Asia and 3 percent in Europe; the people who live on the Asian side take the very efficient ferry across the Bosphorus to go to work in the European part. So a metro line was designed. But while they were digging underwater, they discovered the remains of an ancient Roman harbor with 35 well-preserved shipwrecks, a major archaeological find. So construction of the metro was halted while archaeologists went through the site.
By 0615 I was in my room at Best Western Eresin Hotel in Taksim Square. It’s newly-renovated, efficient, rather narrow beds but comfortable, popular with tour groups.
By 0800 I was having second breakfast (the first had been served inflight at 3:30 in the morning) at the Terrace: coffee, borek, sausage, yogurt with honey and I don’t know what its Turkish name is, but in Indian restaurants it’s called gulab jamun.
By 0830 we were on the bus to Topkapi Palace, seat of the Ottoman Empire.
I’m about to pass out so I’ll explain these photos when I’m online next.
March 3rd, 2013 at 06:31
loving this travel diary so far. can’t wait for next update. :)
March 3rd, 2013 at 07:02
It was a beautiful day in Istanbul yesterday, sun shining and there is already a hint of spring. I’m happy that your days in turkey started with this day. I’ve never gotten tired of looking at the bhosphorus. I always enjoyed riding the ferry. There is a 30 minute one that goes from kadikoy to besiktas and vice versa where you can even buy snacks (cheese toast and tea, for example). Hope you get over the jet lag soon!
March 4th, 2013 at 13:18
Wow, Istanbul is gorgeous!
I didn’t imagine it like this. I thought it was all desert.
March 4th, 2013 at 22:49
brewhuh23: Istanbul is very cosmopolitan. The ancient structures are surrounded by modern buildings. Turkey is so huge it has many different climates. Later this week we’re moving to the steppes.
March 5th, 2013 at 08:46
Jessica – Awesome sauce!
Now that you’ve been blogging about Turkey, there’s this tune in my head that is on constant playback, hahaha!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vankaSlfSr0