Port Diary: Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul is one of those ports that makes history come to life. I had a chance to walk back in time to visit Istanbul’s Ottoman past and I also had a chance to enjoy some of the wonderful food and culture from the region.  Sadly my time in the city was limited to a full-day excursion, so getting to see everything (like visiting a Turkish bath) will have to wait until I return.

One of the challenges of being a cruise tourist is that my time in port is limited. Cruise passengers in town for a day or two (at the most if the ship overnights in port) will quickly realize that the largest city in the Republic of Turkey has a lot of top attractions. Below are some of the photos I took while on tour from my cruise on Princess Cruises getaway in the Med (read about that trip by clicking here).

Sultanahmet Mosque – Blue Mosque

Our guide quickly showed us how to tell an imperial mosque from a “regular” mosque, which dominate the Istanbul skyline. Imperial mosques have more minarets. The slim towers rising from mosques are used to announce the call to prayer.

 

Dress Code: For those cruise passengers that are going to the mosque, plan to wear modest clothes. Ladies are given coverings to drape over their shoulders. You can see in the photo below, that I brought my own.

 

Hagia Sophia – A Byzantine Cathedral (called Ayasofya in Turkish)

The name Hagia Sophia means sacred wisdom. The name changed to Ayasofya during the Turkish era.

 

Around Town

 

Have you been to Istanbul? Share some of the things that you did in the comments.