Here we are on a long-awaited Friendship Force (FF) Journey to Turkey with 17 people, many of whom were from the FF Club of West Michigan. It is simply miraculous that we arrived here considering we survived a stressful time with Hurricane Ian that directly hit our home in Punta Gorda. Flights were rescheduled and our cat, Bleu Kitty's, sitting arrangements were saved due to the extreme generosity of Judy Carson, a dear fellow member of our club. Istanbul was amazing! Check out some of the pictures below.
Watch us fly from Miami to Istanbul courtesy of Google Earth: Click Fly Now
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| Meeting Fellow Friendship Force Ambassadors at the Airport |
From watching Ian's horizontal rain from our motel window on Thursday, changing our flight reservations on Friday, adding Bleu Kitty to Judy Carson's troop of two dogs and one cat and driving to Miami for our flight to Istanbul on Saturday, our arrival at Istanbul's Airport Sunday afternoon felt relaxing and peaceful. Our Friendship Force group assembled and located our local guide, , for our bus transfer to our hotel, Sea Mansion Suites.
I interject here with a word for TMobile. Over the years our experience with international phones and plans has been mixed. TMobile with the Magenta 55+ plan provided excellent service throughout Turkey.
From our hotel room we looked out on the Sea of Miramar. After unpacking, we walked a few blocks down to Marbello, a small restaurant with a balcony overlooking the sea. All is well.
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| Dinner at Marbello Restaurant with of Ships at Anchor |
About the Cats - Kedi is a full length very high quality movie featuring Istanbul's cats. Cats are everywhere in Istanbul, actually everywhere in Turkey as well and have been for thousands of years. The beloved cats belong to no one and everyone.
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| Around our Hotel - Cats, loved by the people are everywhere! |
Why so many cats in Istanbul? provides an in depth look at cats in the Islamic world. Basically, Mohmmad loved cats. Cats devour mice that would otherwise consume libraries and spread the plague.
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| Street Scenes Around Our Hotel |
Where are we anyway? Istanbul is practically at the center of the worldwith the Black Sea to the North, the Aegean Sea and Greece to the West, the Mediterranean to the South. South and East lie Syria, Iran, Armenia and Georgia. Turkey spans Asia and Europe with Bulgaria to the Northeast. See map below.
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| Turkey at the Center of the World |
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| From the Mediterranean to the Black Sea |
From the Mediterranean, ships pass through the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara and the Bosporus to reach the Black Sea and ports beyond.
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| Historic Istanbul |
Of the places we visited in Istanbul, most were located on the peninsula boarded by Sea of Marmara to the South. the Bosporus to the East and the Golden Horn to the North. The historic places are not far apart although as we rode around on the bus, it did not seem that way. We never crossed the Bosporus to the Asian side of Istanbul.
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| Historic Istanbul |
Click on the map for a better view.
After a wonderful breakfast on our first morning, we crossed the Golden Horn in a light rain to visit Dolmabahçe Palace, completed in 1856 on the western bank of the Bosporus. This is the place that "broke the bank" as the Sultan spared no expense outdoing King Louie using borrowed money to do so. Photography was not allowed inside so I lifted a couple of photos from the Internet. I suppose I didn't know what to think a harem would look like; it is almost as expansive and spectacular as the palace.
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| Gotta Get Lira |
After some of us filled up with Lira, we boarded a tour boat for a ride on the Bosporus and the Golden Horn. Fortunately the rain had stopped.About the Lira. The exchange rate was 18 Turkish Lira to 1 US Dollar making everything a bargain for us. Not so for the local population; inflation was running 100%!
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| Under the Bridge |
We consumed more great food after the boat tour and then wandered about the colorful Spice Bazaar. I do believe we skipped dinner and just sacked out after returning the hotel in the evening.
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