Hello from the Five Star Vagabond

Welcome to 700 travel blogs, to access a full index on your mobile please scroll to the bottom & choose from 700 locations. Email is [email protected]

Istanbul-Turkey-market-Asia
Istanbul-Turkey-market-Asia

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

Bosphorus Bridge

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe, experience the incredible diverse population that coexists in this huge metropolis. Minarets dot the skyline and there seems to be a noisy bazaar around every corner.

Istanbul, Constantinople & Byzantium are three of the names this ancient city has been called since it was founded in 660 BC.  However Istanbul may have been inhabited as early as 3000 BC, but it was not a city until Greek colonists arrived in the area in the 7th Century BC. The city has been conquered, fought over and rebuilt many times over the centuries.

Bosphorus bridge connecting Europe and Asia was completed in 1973,  it is the 22nd longest suspension bridge span in the world.

If the world were a single state, Istanbul would have been its capital” …said Napleaon Bonaparte.

Hop on, hop off

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

As in many other cities around the world the best way to quickly become acquainted is to ride the ‘hop on, hop off” bus. You can buy a two day pass for about $33, great value.

Istanbul cultures nations religions

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

I don’t think I have ever seen a city with so many markets and bazaars, I certainly have not seen one with so many mosques, there are over 3000 here and 83,000 in the whole country.

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

The ladies seem rather excited with their shopping.

Spice market

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

A fantastic area for fresh food and spices.

Fresh fish

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

As you would expect the Istanbul markets are chaotic and fascinating.

Fish roll

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

Fish sandwiches come as half loaves of bread, sliced in two and stuffed with a freshly grilled mackerel, the problem for was the little bones were still in the fish. After eating half I got tired of nearly swallowing bones so I left the rest.

The Turkish name is balık-ekmek, it’s a grilled fish fillet in a half-loaf of bread along with a scoop of alata, lettuce, tomatoes and onions.


Spice market

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

  The Spice market is one of Istanbul’s largest.  

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

So many photo opportunities here.

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

Everything is perfectly presented here.

New Mosque

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

Just outside the spice market is Yeni Cami, the New Mosque. Construction of the mosque began in 1597  with it’s reconstruction and completion between 1660 and 1665.

Live entertainment

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

Entertaining the crowd.

We are the Sultans  

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe      Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

Throughout the centuries some of Turkey’s rulers gave themselves some very good names, from 1494 to 1566 we had Suleiman the Magnificent. In 1453 we had  Sultan Mehmed II “the Conqueror”  who captured Constantinople and declared it the new capital of the Ottoman Empire.  

The Grand Bazaar

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

 The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 3,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily.

The Grand Bazaar

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

I’m quite sure the bazaar has not changed in centuries.

Nuruosmaniye Mosque in background

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

Located beside the Grand bazaar.

Hagia Sofia

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

 Hagia Sophia is a former Greek Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later an imperial mosque, and now a museum.

Webcam here

Hippodrome German Fountain

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

 This octagonal building with water taps around was constructed in 1898. Inside the fountain, there are lovely mosaics which depicts the signatures of Wilhelm II and Sultan Abdulhamit II, the sultan of that time. This fountain was to commemorate the alliance of German Empire and Ottoman Empire against the allied powers of Russia, Great Britain,France and Japan before the World War I.

The Blue Mosque

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is a historic mosque in Istanbul. The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior. It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I.

Blue Mosque from the other side

Fascinating Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

This amazing mosque was right beside my hotel.

 Hotel Spectra

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

  A great location 80 meters from the Blue Mosque, in fact the first photo above was taken from the hotel restaurant. The food is reasonable, the rooms are nice & the staff are very helpful. As usual I booked through Agoda and got a great deal.   To clarify my take on food and wine in Istanbul,  Wine is very drinkable , but the food was not to my taste, in my top 5 cities for food you have Tokyo, New York, Bangkok, Cape Town and Sydney, Istanbul would struggle to make the top 50. Here is an example to back up my comment, while paying my bill at the hotel restaurant I noticed the waiter and the barman were eating some nice looking food. I asked what is was because it did not seem to be anything on the menu. They said it is not from the kitchen here, we order from outside and they deliver, I rest my case.

Wine with dinner at the Spectra Hotel

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

The Turkish wine was very good indeed.

Galata Tower

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

On the hill in the distance is the Galata Tower, called Christea Turris by the Genoese, it’s a medieval stone tower in the Galata/Karaköy quarter of Istanbul. The boat above is a much nicer sister ship of the rust bucket that I spent 4 hours cruising on along the Bosphorus.

A couple of blocks from the Hotel Spectra

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

  There are many interesting streets to wander near the Hotel Spectra.  

 The local police station

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

    It certainly does not look like a police station.

Basilica Cistern

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

   The Basilica Cistern, is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul.

Nice Istanbul bar

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

A nice spot for a few drinks before dinner, 

Thanks for visiting my Istanbul Asia Meets Europe photo blog.

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe

    Istanbul, Asia meets Europe, this city certainly has it all. The people are friendly and the city seems quite safe.

Thanks for visiting my Istanbul, Asia meets Europe photo blog.

That’s all folks

Istanbul Asia Meets Europe 

                                     Here are some more posts to check out 

         Sydney                               Paris                                   Bangkok           
 497d0b6e-c0bd-4ba2-86be-c02100f050a8        65470622-d17a-4b90-bf97-2574df4c412d        1a2160c1-41f7-465a-954c-631e083eb229
          Tokyo                        Rio De Janeiro                        Budapest
f59e958e-8eaf-48b4-8e96-c291a0c13d1a        f044491e-69aa-4082-b49b-1ff33557d7d4        a6a948cd-f30a-49ea-a905-82be4d202cc9
           London                            Beijing                            Capetown
2246c6cf-5fa6-4fbe-ac30-b569253ad2a6        f65d714b-f44c-4b2e-9505-3511ebecbb80        4e82052a-24d0-41e1-ab84-10e8f27634d1
 
            Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you            
         book through these links below.  Book now & pay later.
                                                                 Plus free cancellation .
                                               Bangkok Hotels                    Pattaya Hotels
                                            d0c59ff5-7f2b-41b5-9312-4556d4a62037            01a75360-9573-473f-acba-3a187f779b7f
 
9a1fec74-4461-46cd-8663-97f5893c8f6e (1)

That’s all folks

1g Duck

 

    A short video on Istanbul riverside.

Istanbul river cruise Part 2
   

A nice river cruise in Istanbul

 

Not far west is the magnificent city of Budapest.

 

Budapest was united from three cities in 1873 and seven years later the Diet resolved to establish a new, representative…

Posted by Travel blogger Fivestarvagabond.com” on Monday, March 23, 2015

Check out my blog on the entire trip.

 

A stand out feature of this trip was my selection of hotels and apartments, everyone of them was in a perfect location…

Posted by Travel blogger Fivestarvagabond.com” on Thursday, March 26, 2015

Check out these great photo blogs.

 

Counter only started June 16 2020.

Author: David Herd

My history, particularly over the last 30 years is dominated by overseas travel. I sold my home in Australia October 20th 2011 and have have been living in Thailand since then. I don’t know where the time has gone? It seems like you go to sleep one night, wake up the next morning, and 20 years have flashed by. Not sure how many years I have left, however I have enjoyed a wonderful charmed life, and if it all ended today I would leave this world with no regrets. I was born in Sydney halfway through the last century, started my travels in the 60s with the usual U.K. Europe adventure at the age of 20, back to Australia and worked in Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide in Sales & Marketing with multinational companies including Sanyo, Canon & Remington. Engaged to be married 3 times and never quite made it to the alter, finally realized by the mid 90s I was not cut out for "long term relationships" so I moved to the Gold Coast in Queensland in January 1987, worked for a couple of banks as a Financial Planner, I took a year off work in 1998 to travel and never went back to full time work again, after 25 fun filled years on the Coast I packed up and moved to Thailand. What is the purpose of this blog? Well I really want to use it to record my travel experiences & to display my photographs, give and receive travel tips, comment on places I visit, restaurants I eat in and use it to replace the autobiography I intended to write, apart from all that it helps me fill in my day. :) I moved to Thailand mainly because I wanted to keep travelling while my health allowed me to, there are huge advantages being closer to all the places I want to visit. Cost of living in Thailand is around 35% of the cost in Australia, plus flights are 50% cheaper because you are much closer to everywhere. ???? Consequently I am able to travel to many more places compared to living in Australia. Having said all that, it is & has always been my intention to return to Australia when my travelling is finished, I predict this will happen around 2021.

Comments are closed.