Day 3 - Istanbul

Each morning on this trip started with a great breakfast buffet. Always a nice selection of breads, meats, cheeses, olives, and yoghurt among other things. I was especially fascinated by the way they presented the meats here.

Chora Church

Traveler's Tip:
Get to popular sites early, to avoid the big rush. We got an early start this morning so we could be the first group to arrive at the Chora Church[*]. This is a lesson I learned from Mine. She always tried to get us to the popular sites when they opened so we could see them in relative quiet before the big tour groups got there. (I followed this lesson in Greece and I was sure glad!)

Out in the garden, I met a group from Australia. They were painting their way around Turkey.

Istiklal Street

What I learned:
The parts of Istanbul that we visited are both in Europe. The older part (where we spent most of our time) is south of the Golden Horn, while Istiklal Street is north of it. Part of Istanbul is also across the Bosphorus in Asia.

Istiklal Street is in the modern part of Istanbul. It looks very European; very few women are covered. The main part of the street is pedestrian only, with a trolly line running the length. After spending several days in the older part of the city, it felt almost like walking into another world.

Taksim Square

What I learned:
The term 'riot' was actually a bit of an exaggeration. The government wanted to take away this park and build something there. People occupied the park. (I believe there was a confrontation with the police, giving rise to the term 'riot'.)

When I was first thinking of traveling to Turkey, I heard several stories about riots[*] going on in Taksim Square. I was a bit worried about this, but by the time I went, the stories had died down; however, I did want to visit the square. There was no sign of any problem.

Pera Palace Hotel

Some of us got to our meeting point a few minutes early, so we decided to take a peek into the Pera Palace Hotel. It's the hotel Agatha Christie stayed in while she was writing "Murder on the Orient Express." I understand that there is a small museum in the room she occupied, but I didn't have time to look for it.