What We Did This Spring...Final Chapter

Day 20 (of the trip):

We ended our holiday in our favourite city of Istanbul!

Years ago, Husby did his doctoral thesis on Suleiman the Magnificent with a lot of emphasis on Istanbul, itself. He gets very emotional when we are here!

We left the ship and went to the hotel we stayed at the last time we were here. The HHK.

Sadly, it's not been kept up.

Still, we were comfortable and knew our way around from there...

But with the most amazing view (sorry my camera doesn't do 'night') of the Golden Horn. And, just past the Galata Bridge, the Bosporus!

It is just a block or two from the Sulemanye Mosque, so we dumped our stuff and headed out!

Day 21: Topkapi Palace. The home of the Sultans of Istanbul for centuries!

What do I remember most? A sink in every room. These people loved washing! And YOW! This place was huge!

Then, dinner at The Orient Express Diner (Yes, THE Orient Express used to terminate here!) with our wonderful friends, Sarah and Simon!

Day 22: The Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia Mosque

The Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia are on opposite sides of a great square.
The call to Prayer is sung taking turns. A wondrous experience!

We ended the day with a harbour cruise and then dinner with our dear, dear friends from our sailing all of whom were both headed home in the morning. Best meal of the trip!

Day 22: The Grand Bazaar! Words simply can't describe the greatest market I've ever seen. Over 4000 shops!

Then a visit to the temple of the Whirling Dervishes. An amazing and very spiritual experience!

Day 23: Walked 14 km to the Dolmabahce Palace (the 'new' palace of the Istanbul Sultans). Yes, I was fairly amazed as well! Sadly, one cannot take pictures inside. But I got a few...outside.

Accepted footwear when touring inside!

Feed me NOW!

Then, because it was our last night, I had to go through the Egyptian Spice Market one more time. (You have to know it wasn't far from our hotel and we went there nearly every day, en route to somewhere else!)

And our final dinner in Istanbul--at the restaurant next door...

Husby. Contemplating leaving the next day...

Day 24: Home. A grueling 27-hour spectacle that, interestingly, started in Istanbul at 4:00 AM, went through Paris, then Montreal, crossed nine time zones, and landed finally in Edmonton at 10:00 PM ON THE SAME DAY! 

We had a wonderful time! We do wish all of you could have joined us. I hope these pictures gave you a hint of the spectacular trip it was.

Thank you for sharing it with us!