Great City for a Honeymoon

After a 15 hour flight from San Francisco via Paris we arrived in Istanbul.

Formerly known as Constantinople, Istanbul was once considered the "New Rome", then the capital of the Ottaman empire, with its Sultans, and now the cosmopolitan Muslim capital of Turkey.

We eventually found a great place to stay in the old  area of the city called Sultanahmet.  The streets are cobble stone and narrow.  Many of the buildings are in terrible shape while others are like historical monuments.  And everything that you want to see on your first visit is easy walking distance. A great place to stay!

That evening we heard the call to prayer for the first time.  The Mosques have loud speakers on them and the call to prayer literally echoes throughout the city.  Very romantic and exciting for both Daph and I.

Later we had a chance to take a bit of a walk up the street to see the Blue Mosque.  It is lit up at night and absolutely beautiful.  The hotel recommended a little restaurant up the street where we  cooked our own food.  Not bad but a little pricey (especially once we got used to the prices later in our trip)

The next morning we awoke to the sound of the call to prayer at 4:30 in the morning.  Sounds strange but very romantic and exciting - makes you feel that you are truly in someplace completely different than home.

..... to be continued

Visited - blue mosque - sophia - palace - grand bizzar - spice market - looked for the orient express but could't find it