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Day Twelve. Istanbul, Turkey
Overnight we travelled up the Dardenell Straight, past Gallipoli towards Istanbul. The only city in the world built on two continents (Europe & Asia) it is home to around 17 million people.
We had some lunch and docked at 1pm. We had booked a tour for the afternoon and were on the bus by 1:20pm.
The bus drove us to our first stop which was the Hippodrome and Blue Mosque. The Hippodrome was a great stadium of 80,000 people where chariots raced and gladiators fought. Sadly now all that remains is a replica track. The Blue Mosque is the most famous Mosque in Istanbul and we lined up for a quick tour. The place was packed with people praying and after a 30 minute wait we went in. Being female, Donna was required to cover her head, arms and legs with a shawl. Men just needed to cover their knees and shoulders. Inside the mosque was spectacular. Like many of the buildings we have seen on our trip, much work has gone into their appearance and design.
From here we went to the Topkapi Palace which housed the sultans for 300 years. The gardens were fantastic and we stopped off for a coffee high on the hill which overlooked the bay and the bridge that links Asia with Europe.
Time to get back on the bus and head to the Grand Bazaar. This is the largest covered Bazaar (or market) in the world with over 4,000 shops. We had a look around and bought some mosaic bowls and had a coffee and ice cream.
From here we caught the bus back to the ship and had tea. Tomorrow we are heading back to the Grand Bazaar and Ancient Cisterns, as well as having a bit of a walk around taking in the sights and culture.
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Tani T Still loving your blog! It sounds like a brilliant trip so far. :-)