Istanbul Travel . . . St. Savior’s Chora Church - A Treasure among the Sultans’ Jewels.

St. Savior's Church Chora

Istanbul is a city of never ending experiences. Here Roger and I find a few real jewels among the Sultan’s treasures. 

The Seven Hills Hotel with its delicious roof top seafood restaurant overlooking the Bosporus, a horse-drawn phaetom ride through Bayukada in the Princes’ Islands just a short breezy ferry trip from the city and what I consider the highlight of our visit - a small 1300^th century church containing some of the finest Byzantine mosaics and frescoes – St. Savior’s Church Chora, in Turkish  - Kariye Műzesi. 

The church is simply the most beautiful I have ever seen.

Travel to Turkey - Blue Mosque, Istanbul Turkey . . . An Architectural Treasure Worth every Painful Step

The gradual crescendo of the alarm is a rising torture. Even the beauty of the first morning’s light through the kitschy curtains doesn't help the pain. I can’t believe it is time to start again. Every muscle and bone in my body is screaming for mercy.

I roll over and Roger is already awake. He is just sitting on the side of the bed, hands bracing him up and head hanging low. He slowly turns to look at me and we both just start laughing. The entire situation is so ludicrous that laughter is the only way to relieve the tension.

Katie & Roger at Ephesus

We are on Day 8 of our 10 day tour of Turkey. 

We survived the first five days in Ephesus with minor complaints but Istanbul has been a different situation all together.

Travel to Turkey . . . TŰRKIYE ODYSSEY – PART 2 – Ìstanbul, the Alpha City

Our Türkiye odyssey continues as we travel from the tranquil rustic landscape of the mountains along the Aegean coast to the majestic but jarring urban bustle that is the alpha city of Ìstanbul.

Ìstanbul welcomes us with an overload of sensory experiences; glorious cool weather, obscene traffic jams, lots of hills, more obscene traffic jams, old men sitting at sidewalk cafes, still more obscene traffic jams, lots of bright young people, still more obscene traffic jams and the national drink of Turkey, “lion’s milk” also known as Raki, which relieves all the pain of the traffic jams.

A Raki toast to traffic jams!

We still find Ìstanbul bedazzling with its kinetic, frenzied atmosphere that is contagious from the moment you reach the city.

As the third largest metropolitan city in Europe, after London and Moscow, it is immense. It is the only city in the world that occupies two continents – Europe and Asia.  


Straddling the Bosphorus, a strait that divides Europe and Asia, this alpha city climbs up the hills that ring the city for as far as you can see. We are enthralled by it all. Well, except for the traffic!

Travel to Turkey - TÜRKIYE ODYSSEY . . . A Glimpse of the Land of Emperors, Sultans and one idyllic mountain-top inn

It was a dark and stormy night ... Just kidding!!!! It was a sun-shiny day in Dubai as we boarded our flydubai flight to Istanbul. We are holding true to our promise to travel the surrounding region while living in Dubai. Roger's long standing appreciation of The Crusades and the rise of the Ottoman Empire sends us on a 10-day trek through Tűrkiye.  

         

Katie & Roger with the Blue Mosque at sunset

Our trip begins in a charming, actually drop dead, breath-taking, boutique inn located above a small village in the mountains along the Aegean coast. 

For four days we explore the ancient sites in and around Ephesus. And while the sites are astounding, we often wish we booked a day to just stay and enjoy this little jewel of a hotel perched on the side of a hill.

From there we travel to the “alpha city,” Istanbul, whose grandeur and sheer size completely takes us by surprise. This is a city of never-ending grand palaces, eerie underground cisterns, luxurious harems, jaw-dropping churches and mosques and ancient history on every corner. Our only regret is we leave before even making a dent in visiting all its wonders. Just means we have a great excuse to return!