Category: Travel

To start our final full day in Istanbul, we had our throats and noses swabbed for our return to the USA COVID-19 test.  Fortunately, we tested negative!

Following the bodily fluid sampling in the hotel lobby, with prices set by the Turkish government (only 250 lira each – or about $17!), we walked over to Arasta Bazaar for some shopping and to see the gorgeous Mosaic Museum.  The mosaics, unearthed in excavations in the northeastern section of the cloister in Eastern Roman Grand Palace in 1935, are magnificent in terms of both artistic and the richness of depictions of the scenes. The works exhibited in the Great Palace Mosaics Museum, dated between 450-550 AD do not have religious content. The depictions taken from daily life, nature and mythology probably owe their vitality to the many experts under the leadership of the leading masters of the era. (https://muze.gen.tr/muze-detay/mozaik)  I found the mosaics to be beautiful!

About a month before we left for this journey, my C6 disc started acting up, something it hadn’t done in nearly 14 years.  To prepare for this trip and to hopefully prevent the need for surgery, I’ve been going to physical therapy twice a week and the chiropractor once a week.  Something I’ve been working on is standing straighter and not walking hunched over.  Well, this new walking posture paid off while we were looking for a place for lunch!  Since I wasn’t looking down, I saw people on a rooftop terrace above a nearby restaurant.  We went there for lunch and had not only tasty food but also a phenomenal view!

Of course, there’s no way we could go to Istanbul without seeing the Topkapi Palace! 

Following the conquest of Istanbul in 1453, the construction of the Topkapı Palace was started in 1460 at the request of Fatih Sultan Mehmet and was completed in 1478. Topkapı Palace was enlarged with the supplementary buildings added until the 19th century.

Topkapı Palace is located in one of the oldest historical regions of Istanbul and is one of the iconic structures of Istanbul. Topkapı Palace, established on an area of 700,000 square meters on the Eastern Roman acropolis in Sarayburnu, was the administrative, educational and artistic center of the empire for approximately four hundred years from Fatih Sultan Mehmet to the 31st Sultan Abdülmecid, as well as housing the dynasty. Although Topkapı Palace was gradually abandoned by the mid-19th century when the dynasty slowly moved to Dolmabahçe Palace, it preserved its historical importance and value.

After the founding of the Republic of Turkey, Topkapı Palace was converted into a museum on April 3, 1924, having the distinction of being the first museum of the Republic. Today, Topkapı Palace is one of the largest palace-museums in the world with its buildings, architecture, collections and approximately 300,000 archive documents. (https://www.millisaraylar.gov.tr/en/palaces/topkapi-palace)

At the Palace, we visited the Archeological Museum (a bit overwhelming), the Harem Museum, and the Hagia Irene Museum.  (Slightly annoyingly, several of the museums on our museum pass were closed…)  My favorite was the Harem Museum, which showed the life of the sultan – a bit different than my preconceived notion of anything related to the word “harem.”

Another requirement:  The Whirling Dervish Show!  That evening, we watched the mystical ritual of the Mevlevi Order, whose whirling dance has been declared a UNESCO Heritage of Humanity. The Sema ceremony is a journey through man’s spiritual ascent to “perfection” through mind and love—a truly unmissable and astonishing experience of music and moves (https://www.hodjapasha.com/en/whirling-dervishes-sema-ceremony).

Our third day in Istanbul was DELICIOUS!  It was a full day of decadent eating and eating and eating.  With four other travelers and one guide, Benoit, we ate our way through Istanbul’s European side’s Karaköy neighborhood, after crossing the Bosphorus via ferry,  the Asian side’s Kadıköy (https://culinarybackstreets.com/tours-food-tours/tours-istanbul/2016/two-markets-two-continents).  What made the tour so delightful – in addition to the fabulous food! – were our dining companions, especially two friends who met in college, one works in launching startups and the other is a writer for Reuters who is based in Nairobi and pregnant with her second child.  (Okay, the two guys currently attending Harvard Business School were a bit arrogant…and not as fun to hang out with!)  Benoit shared stories, showed videos, and fed us so much food I thought I’d never eat again!

We had to hurry at the end since the tour went on over an hour longer than expected, and we wanted to go to Purim services…

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday, Joel!  For Joel’s birthday, we scheduled a Jewish Walking Tour, a hammam, and a nice dinner.  What a wonderful day to celebrate JOEL!

At 8:30 am, we met our guide, Alp, in our hotel’s lobby. Alp proceeded to show us multiple synagogues, the street scenes in Balat and Galata, the Jewish Museum, and the Spice Market.  He treated us to lots of yummies and Turkish coffee at a local establishment, where he also feted Joel with cake for his birthday.  The sights, scenes, and stories highlighted multifaceted Jewish and Turkish life.

After the tour, we returned to our hotel for naps – and then ventured out for our second hammam.  This one was totally different than the previous one!  At the first hammam, I felt pampered and refreshed; at this second hammam, I felt beaten and depleted.  We picked Suleymaniye hammam since it caters to couples, thinking it’d be a nice birthday treat.  However, the sauna was too hot, we stayed in it for too long, and the massage was too hard.  I had to remind myself that this was my choice.  If I wanted to leave, I could do so.  Nevertheless, I did not leave – and instead have a story to tell!  Haha!

For our final event, we had a lovely dinner at the Kybele Restaurant – authentic atmosphere with good food and some wine.  Excellent!