My Trip Souvenirs

The Land of Ottamans offers :
a) Blue Mosque 👍 b) Hagia Sophia 👍 c) Black Sea d) Suleimani Mosque e) Bridge to 2 Continents	f) Turkish Lamps 👍 🛒 g) Hammam Massage 👍 h) Top Kapi Palace i) Persian Cats j) Grand Bazaar 👍 🛒	k) Ephesus and Troy l) Galata Tower m) Artemis, Halicarnassus n) Capadocia, Pammukale 👍 o) Whirling Dervishes 👍

We visited Istanbul only for 3 days. Istanbul has plenty of Ottoman style mosques including the famous being Blue mosque which was also our fist top. Interior of this mosque are well designed and maintained. We spent quite some time here post which we moved to Hagia Sophia which was one of the proposed wonder of the world. Hagia Sophia has mix of Christian and Islam culture as evident by interior architecture and paintings. There are various other mosques like the Suleimani and others near to the Black sea. However one common and unique feature is the slender four minarets. Dubai has built one similarly modelled mosque.
Afternoon was reserved for the Grand Bazaar, one of the largest indoor Souk. We brought turkish lamps, ceramic bowls and mosques replicas. You can easily spend a day here exploring these colourful shops.
Next day was reserved to get up close with the bridge connecting the 2 continents, Asia and Europe. Post this we visited Hammam centre for different kind of experiences where the marble slabs are heated naturally with the sun rays. A natural sauna of sorts post which local guys applies foam and being the ancient process. This was very refreshing and ensured a very good sleep in the night :). Istanbul roads are very narrow, so need to be careful while crossing. Persian cats are found through out the city. After the Hammam, we went over to Galata tower to have the top view of the city and then the Grand bazaar kept us busy. Being in Dubai, I found the food quite similar like the Kebabs, Shawarama etc apart from the Turkish Coffee. It is a pity that we missed out on Bodrum, Capacdocia and Pammukale. Probably next time !!

Blue Mosque Entry to Mosque Blue Mosque Closeup Blue Mosque Interiors Hagia Sophia Hague - Interiors Top Kapi

Grand Bazaar Turkish Lights Souvenirs Turkish Tea Entry to Galata Galata Tower Obleisk

Narrow Roads of I Marmara Sea Bridge for Continents Fishing Taksi Persian Cat Hammam