Istanbul
Our last stop was Istanbul Turkey. This was the original final stop of the cruise, so when it was changed we already had our airline reservations from there and not Rome. We arrived at the Istanbul SAW airport around 2:30 and were met by our driver to take us to our hotel, the Blue Istanbul. The city has many narrow streets and we finally arrived in a small neighborhood hotel where they met us and helped us to our room. The hotel is in the historic peninsula, the center of ancient Istanbul. The reception told us we only had about 45 minutes before the
Grand Bazaar would close and it would not be open the next day (Sunday).
We dropped our stuff and ran off to the market. With only about 20 minutes before closing we ran through several aisles it was huge! Closing began so we started walking out of the market to head back to the hotel.
On the way we passed the Constantine Column. 
The column was erected in honor of Constantine in 330 AD, when Istanbul was dedicated as the capital of the Roman Empire. It stood in the center of a large oval-shaped square on top of the second hill of Istanbul. This square, surrounded by colonnades, was called the Forum of Constantine. It is also known as the Burnt Column, It was originally taller than it is today and was topped by a statue of Constantine dressed as the sun god. Restoration of the column started in 1955 and restoration was completed in 1975.
We headed back to our hotel to get ready for dinner, our hotel told us about a good local restaurant just up the street so we headed out about 8 pm. It was Ramadan for the Muslims so they fast until sunset, about 8:30. We got to the restaurant in time to miss the crowds. The food was great, Janice had lamb kebabs and John tried the Istanbul kebabs. No alcohol so we were served water then apple tea and last Turkish black tee. It was a lovely dinner
First some facts about Turkey we did not know before going there. Turkey has almost 80 million inhabitants, there are only around 120,000 Christians. Christians are certainly seen as second-class citizens. A real citizen is Muslim, and those who aren’t Muslim are seen as suspicious.
While people sometimes looked at us in disdain, maybe because we were dressed different in shorts or because we were eating during the day (everyone as fasting for Ramadan) but in general people were always very nice. The locals that did wear burkas were mostly very young, which was surprising. Most of the women wear long dresses or pants always with a scarf, men have long pants, no shorts. What was strange but interesting is that 5 times a day there is a call for prayer. The loud speakers are all over the city, around 500 mosques in Istanbul. We were awaken at 11 pm and 3:30 am for two of the calls that lasted about 10 minutes, we have no idea what they were saying. Imagine being born and all you hear 5 times a day is a religious message your entire life, it is almost like being brainwashed.
The next morning when we woke they view from our windows was out to the port. 
As many as 50 to 100 ships are always waiting to enter the port. We asked why so many ships and were told they are all waiting for clearance, apparently the process is very long. We headed down stairs for a lovely breakfast mostly meats and cheese with an egg based pie.
The day started with a walk to the Blue Mosque. Inside it is quite a site, the prayer area faces towards “mecca”.
This is called the Blue Mosque because of the blue tiles inside on the ceiling, it got that name when it opened its doors to non Muslims and the tourists started calling it the Blue Mosque. The mosque’s real name is Sultan Ahmed Mosque. Since it was easier to say Blue Mosque it is generally called that. The mosque was built between 1609 and 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. just like many other mosques, it also comprises a tomb of the founder, a madrasa and a hospice. This mosque has been open to the public since the mid 20th century. They were allowing us to enter for a short period just before the next prayer, We had proper attire, John wore long pants and 
I brought a scarf. For those that did not come dressed properly they provided skirts for both men and women that wore shorts and a scarf for women for free. We were required to take off our shoes before entering. This was really a privilege because the mosques in Jerusalem were closed to non-believers as are many mosques around the world. Another factor is that month was Ramadan.
We departed the mosque and headed to the Topkapi Palace. 
The Topkapi Palace is a large palace it was designated a museum back in 1924.
It was one of the major residences of the Ottoman Sultans for almost 400 years (1465–1856) of their 624-year reign. Outside the main palace are of number of buildings
off the courtyards that house the tombs 
of many of the sultans and their families.The Ottoman Empire completely dominated the Mediterranean Sea and a large part of Europe, Asia, and Africa at the height of the reign of Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent. Archaeologists have started excavations, of what is likely his tomb, in the south of Hungary in April of this year. Next we walk down to the water to take a boat ride but after walking through the hundreds 
of shops down the hill we needed to stop for lunch. By then it was getting late and we wanted to stop at the Spice market so we headed in that direction. It was so interesting to look at all the spices and dried fruits. We found a spice only shop and bought several spices for meat and rice and some Turkish black tea, lemon salt and apple tea. We completed our walk through the spice market and headed back up the hill past many other stores to the hotel. Istanbul is an extremely hilly city so walking back in the heat was very difficult, we were soaked with sweat.
After resting we headed back to the same restaurant for the second night and sat up on the third floor that overlooked the sea. It was a lovely evening and we had some lamb kabobs, cheese bread After dinner they serve hot apple tea followed by black Turkish tea, no alcohol is served.
We went back to the hotel
since we were being picked up at 3am for our 6am flight from Turkey back to home with changes in Amsterdam and Atlanta.
Here’s the part of the story that gives us chills. By now everyone knows about the bombing at the Istanbul International airport. The InternationaI building at the airport is separate from the others and has security right at the doors when you enter the building. We were standing right there at the checkpoint only about 30 hours earlier on June 27 at about 4am. We literally “dodged a bullet”. It was not our time we have decided. Would we ever go back to Istanbul? Probable not right now because of the current situation but it is a fantastic city and worth seeing it if you have the chance.
What a trip
It is hard to describe the past 10 weeks of travel, we have learned much. We covered thousands of miles by cruise ships, trains and planes. We visited 17 countries from Bermuda to the North of Norway to the depths of the middle east. We saw sites that one could only imagine and they will forever be in our thoughts. We were blessed to visit this world over the last 17 years of marriage (that is July 3). Hope everyone enjoyed our blog!
