After visiting Greece we went to Turkey. We landed in Istanbul. Our hotel was close to the historic downtown on the Asian side of the city. Istanbul is divided by Bosphorus into the Asian and the European side.
There are only few Roman ruins as the Persian empire basically built on top of them, but there are still some remains of the Byzantine Empire also known as the Eastern Roman Empire.
One of the first monuments/buildings we visited was this gigantic mosque, I had never been inside one so we were curious and to enter we had to take our shoes off. There was not much inside but the smell of stinky feet was quite strong =/
Then we walked around the historic downtown with rich architecture from the Ottoman Empire.
There are only few Roman ruins as the Persian empire basically built on top of them, but there are still some remains of the Byzantine Empire also known as the Eastern Roman Empire.
One of the first monuments/buildings we visited was this gigantic mosque, I had never been inside one so we were curious and to enter we had to take our shoes off. There was not much inside but the smell of stinky feet was quite strong =/
We visited the Topkapi Palace, it was the home of the Sultan until the last century. It was beautiful and the jewelry collection was magnificent. The most memorable piece was the Spoonmaker's Diamond that is 86 karats, the biggest I have seen on my life, and it may look too big on my finger =)
They offered us apple tea everywhere and Lucas loved it:
We couldn't resist and ended up buying carpets:
After Istanbul we went to Ephesus. We absolutely loved the Roman ruins. I am not sure if I want to go back to Istanbul but I'd go back ot Ephesus.
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| Roman Library in the back |
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| Preserved Luxurious residence |
We also stopped in the house where supposedly Holy Mary spent her last days. The story is really fishy =)
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