The Gate of Salutation (Bâb-üs Selâm), entrance to the Second courtyard of Topkapı Palace
A friend is visiting her son who is spending a college semester in Istanbul so it’s got me trying to remember my adventures there some 30 years ago. I traveled differently (don’t think she wants to stay at the youth hotel I stayed at) and it was a different time but many highlights remain the same, I’d guess:
The souk and shopping for Turkish carpets and spices while tea served in little cups dangling from a silver tray; Topkapi palace; The mosques; the antique book shops – and meeting a famous dervish who ran one and gave me as a gift page of the Koran which I promised I’d honor (and I have – it hangs framed high on the wall in my house in Des Moines); the boat ride up the Bosphorus to the Black Sea. Here are a few more cutting edge places from a recent NYT story:
Munferit – Turkish restaurant; Mangerie for breakfast; Anjelique (a nightclub); boutiques around Galata including Nicol and the Grand Bazaar.
Interior view of the Hagia Sophia, showing Islamic elements on the top of the main dome.
TakeBetsywithyou 