BLUE MOSQUE AND TOPKAPI

We took a tour today. Walked around to the Blue Mosque and took our shoes off and went inside. Really is very beautiful and since it is in use, it is interesting that they let people in without charge. Just cover your head and take your shoes off. We only saw that one mosque - our tour guide said “if you have seen one mosque you’ve seen them all”. Then we went to the Harem rooms at Topkapi Palace. The harem rooms were the family rooms of the palace, not just for the concubines. The gardens of the palace were beautiful. There are 4 large gardens. The tour guide said we were lucky that there were so few people in Istanbul ---- I CERTAINLY DO NOT WANT TO BE THERE WHEN IT WAS CROWDED! It was hard to see things for all of the people. We were “let go” in the bazaar but we weren’t sure we found it. Nice spice shops, lots of rugs, scarves, leather and jewelry of all kinds and prices. Yep, we bought some scarves. Found our leader and went for a slow bus drive through parts of the city. There are about 17 million people here in Istanbul and Turkey is about 40 million I think. They have thousands of refugees from Syria here now. Istanbul has about 50 universities so lots of young people. I guess the cost of living is very high in the Europe side especially. A great many people live on the other side and all day long the harbor is filled with people ferries coming and going. This is the busiest harbor I have seen yet. Of course we had a nice dinner and watched a show. The next day we were in Instanbul also so we took a hop on hop off bus. It is easy to see lots on these things from the top because the traffic is so bad they only go slow. However, it was cold and windy up there. We went over the bridge across the Bospherous to the other side and turned around and came back. Saw a VERY crowded spice market and crowds every where so Pete and I decided we had gotten too cold and got off at the Port. Just because we were in sight of the ship did not mean the shopping opportunities were over. Get your perfume, hand bags rungs right here madam! We had the next two days on the ship at sea. Finished a couple of books and did a lot of visiting. Saw two excellent shows. Last nights show was extraordinary. Great dance and acrobatics. Today we are in Naples. Everyone went ashore but I stayed aboard ship because I have a sore throat and it is not necessarily warm. I am enjoying the time alone - well, there are a few others here but not many. We are going to celebrate our last dinner in “Le Bistro” tonight, try to get checked in at the airlines, pay our bill and pack. I’m almost done with that packing bit. We leave the ship tomorrow morning, go to the airport (for a few hours), fly to Amsterdam, sleep overnight, leave Amsterdam in the morning of Sunday and get home in the morning of the same day I think. Sorry this blog has been lacking in information - history , etc. The access to the internet limits my ability to run on and on., Later.

Some of Istanbul

It’s raining! This is the first rain we have had in this month cruising. We are expecting a long day today from 1 pm and hope that it will cease to rain sometime during our tour. We are prepared however. Hoods and umbrellas at hand. We left Ismir yesterday at about 6 pm and have been at sea since. We expect to get into Istanbul by about noon. We are now in the Sea of Mara Mara, went through the Dardanelles during the night and early this morning. Istanbul is mostly in Europe on the Bospherous Strait but some of the city is in Asia Minor across the Bospherous. Oh yes, Turkey has Lira not the Euro, so we will have to gather a few of those to spend today and tomorrow.. I have been avoiding talking about the food and the effects of my consumption of it,, but now I will give you a clue - weight watchers here I come. It really doesn’t seem as if I have overloaded at any one meal but I think maybe I don’t always eat three meals a day. I sure have walked each day but suppose I should have done even more. We will see when I get home just how much I will have to add (exercise) and subtract (food). That doesn’t make me happy. I also miss painting with my friends. Guess I’ll just have to stay home from now on. More tomorrow.