It was a while ago last August, but I never got around to summarizing my wonderful trip to Istanbul to visit my sister who was living in Istanbul at the time. Following is a summary of that visit with a suggested itinerary for those visiting this beautiful city. Generally, …
Somehow surviving the takeover by Islam, the byzantine church of Saint Savior in Chora managed to preserve most of it former beauty. It’s world renowned as one of the best preservations of a church dating back to Constantinople around the end of 4th beginning of 5th century. It’s as beautiful on the outside… …
If you needed more proof how stunning Istanbul’s mosques are, Ortakoy Mosque will do it for sure. Take a look at this Ortakoy Mosque down-up panorama (bet you didn’t see many of those)… Perfection. It doesn’t get much better than this. …
Istanbul has a mix of Europe and Asia and the Bosphorus is the strait that lies between the two parts. The Bosphorus connects the northern Black Sea with the southern Sea of Marmara which is connected to the Mediterranean Sea. How lucky is Istanbul to have such beauty. On one of the …
In a strange way, Turkish food reminded me how Israeli I am, or rather – how Middle Eastern, or maybe Mediterranean I am. After a few years of being confined to Asian food or Asian variants of food from other places of the world, Istanbul hit me with the best of the real thing. The […]
The Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, located at Istanbul’s old city and within walking distance from one another, are gorgeous landmarks of Turkish history and architecture. …
The Turkish folks are generally warm and happy people and this is well reflected in their music and dancing. It happens every once in a while that you catch locals dancing and enjoying themselves to the sounds of local musicians playing for tips. Watch this video, isn’t …
The Grand Bazaar, or the Covered Bazaar (Kapalıçarşı) is among the largest and oldest bazaars in the entire world and one of Istanbul’s top attractions. Overtaking the smaller nearby Spice Bazaar, the Grand Bazaar doesn’t seem to end, going on and on for a few blocks, and then continues outside to connect with the Spice […]
The Turkish Sufi order of Mevlevi became one of Istanbul’s most recognizable symbols and tourist attractions due to their eye catching “Whirling Dervish” act. What does it look like in action? Here’s a video of a …
The Spice Bazaar, or Egyptian Bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı), is one of the oldest running open markets in Istanbul. How old? 1664 old. For those of you who have been to Jerusalem, this one slightly resembles the one in the old city going down from the either the Jaffa or Damascus gates, only …
