We did not have much time. Despite the freezing night, we set up our agenda for the night sight seeing around the Sultanahmet’s popular spots. Our hotel was just 3 minutes walk around the restaurants area and 4 minutes to the Sultanahmet’s Tram station. There were all sorts of restaurants, souvenirs shops, groceries shops selling Turkish delights, etc., tour or travelling agents within that 100 meters radius of the Atlantis Hotel. In general, the surrounding scene was amazing.
We went to Sultan Ahmet Square or Hippodrome or Atmeydani in local Turkish, mean Horse Square. It is located in front of the famous Sultan Ahmet Masjid or the Blue Mosque. It was once the sport and social center of Constantinople during the Byzantine Empire and was once used as a Horse Racing track then.
Honestly, there was nothing much to see there except the remaining historical monuments: the Obelisk of Thutmose III from Egypt; Walled Obelisk built in the 10th century; and Serpent Column casted during the Persian wars in 5th Century BC. In 1900, the German Government built another ‘monument’ called the German Fountain or the Kaiser Wilhelm Fountain to mark the German Emperor Wilhelm II’s visit to Istanbul in 1898. Actually, we just passed through the square to have a close look of the Sultan Ahmet Masjid.
At that time, around 21:30 hours, the Masjid’s main gate was about to close and visitors were not allowed to enter the premise, probably because of the 2010’s eve. We took several shots outside the fence wall of the Masjid. Adjacent to the Masjid, is the Islamic Art Museum or Turkey. We spent sometimes admiring the building architecture and it was one of the best spots to shoot the panoramic view of the Sultan Ahmet Masjid.
I took a few shots of the Masjid from the North West, while Nana and the kids went to the amphitheatre garden opposite the Hippodrome. The full moon of Muharram helped lighting up the garden while the chilly breeze of the Marmara Sea cheered and energized us.
Around 10:30 hours, we went to the Hagia Sophia, pronounce as Aya Sophia, through Basilica Cistern or Yerebatan Sarayi (Sunken Palace) in local dialect, and relaxed at the garden in between the Hagia Sophia and the Sultan Ahmet Masjid. I will share my knowledge about the two prominent features of Istanbul, which had attracted million of visitors around the globe.
There were many stray cats playing at the garden. However, they were healthy, good looking and friendly stray Turkish cats. They did not savage the thrash, instead some kind fed them with good branded cats’ foods.
The full moon of Muharram brighten up the night helped setting the scene. Subhanallah
Hot Sehlah - Turkish Milk, anyone. One cup was 1 Turkish Lira. There were few of these vendors offering the drink to keep your body warm and definitely healthy.
Some of the restaurants, pub & bars, Leather Factory, etc. Attractive looking Promoters will politely explain you what they have to offer and if you are influenced, they will usher and seat you in.
This was one of the garden that we visitied and relaxed. And, this one is actually above the popular Yerebatan Cistern.
Hagia Sophia's main dome and one of its four minarets from the Cistern Garden.
The view of the Sultanahmet businest spots taken from the park near Hagia Sophia. Awesome!
We spent for almost an hour at the garden while enjoying people characters, the gorgeous Hagia Sophia and the Sultan Ahmet Masjid showered by neon lightings, the fountain and the landscape of the garden. We tried the Turkish Sehlab sold by local young teenagers on their portable stall. It cost us around 1USD and we met a ‘Tea-man’ named Mahmoud, who had been supplying various types of tea since more than 10 years. He was very friendly and spoke very fluent English. Well, all the Turkish that we met were friendly and helpful.
There were many benches in the middle of the garden for visitors to admire and appreciate the view of the Sultanahmet Masjid and Hagia Sophia. One can call Mahmoud - the Tea-man, to quench their thirst for a cup of tea or any other stimulant for 1 Turkish Lira.
Around 23:20 hours, we went back to the restaurants area looking for foods or anything that could dampen our hunger. Restaurants, Pub & Bars were fully occupied by the foreigners and locals alike, ushering and waiting for the count down of 2010.
One of the stationaries stalls or I called it tourist stations. One could find anything essential for tourists, such as, road maps, books, travelling guides, etc. Some of these stalls were selling tit-bits, drinks, sandwitches, etc. There are very attractive and clean.
Some of the locals selling localy made winter attire or accessories, such as hand gloves, scarf, etc.
The German Wilhelm Fountain at the Eastern entrance of the Hippodrome or Sultanahmet Square.
1 minute before 00:01 hours of 1.1.2010, colorful fireworks were fired around the Sultanahmet for around 5 minutes. Surprisingly, there were no shouting, yelling or any crazy stuff, and there was no the usual traditional countdown thing. People were well behaved at where we stood in the middle of the busy spots. Despite the hype, there was no grand happening around the area.
I was looking for Money Changer. One of the stupid things that I did – looking for Money Changer on the new year eve?! …in my head, I believed there must ne one or two Money Changers operating 24 hours especially around this tourist area. I met group of friendly Turkish near the old entrance of Yerebatan Cistern. There were 5 of them. I asked, “Excuse me, is there any Money Changer around this area still operating”. One of them responded, “What do you change?”. “US Dollar” I replied him jovially. The other friendly nice looking guy comforted me,”No Money Changer open now, but you don’t worry, all shops and restaurants here accept US Dollar”…”Ask them first, you don’t worry”, he continued. “Really…Thank you”, I replied him politely. Just before I wanted to capture the garden scene, the first guy, joking but frankly, invited me to see his friends with beers on their hands and said, “You see, the modern Muslim….you see what I mean?..he.. he….he…Muslim ah!..!!” He laughed and I gave him my cynical smile, thanked him and moved on. Let me reserve my comment at this juncture.
Before we knocked off, we went to one of the many Tour Operators and agents that opened for 24 hours, the Marco Polo. I peeped in and saw a man at early 50’ with narcotic-source material – cigarette on his fingers. He invited us in and I greeted him. We shook hand he invited me to sit. In front of him, there was a big 10’ X 6’ size poster of Malaysian Airline System (MAS) aircraft Airbus 777 boosted my self-esteem and pride. “You must be the premier agent of MAS, do you?” I expressed my thought to him to break the ice in which, he responded proudly, “Yes, we are…we had received few recognition from them…..””How can I help you?” he continued. I said, we would like to have an excursion tour to Bursa. Prior to that, he introduced himself as Nadir, Manager of the agency. Spoke excellent English, has vast knowledge and experience of the business, Nadir offered us good package to Bursa. He said, “If you are agree, I will give you my price – the Manager’s Price – 61 Euro per person”. The normal rate was 90 Euro per person. We made up our mind, cut the deal, and finally made payment, after he explained us the package, etc.
We went back to our hotel at almost 01:00 hours. All the kids dosed off 5 minutes after entering our rooms. We were extremely exhausted.
We did not have much time. Despite the freezing night, we set up our agenda for the night sight seeing around the Sultanahmet’s popular spots. Our hotel was just 3 minutes walk around the restaurants area and 4 minutes to the Sultanahmet’s Tram station. There were all sorts of restaurants, souvenirs shops, groceries shops selling Turkish delights, etc., tour or travelling agents within that 100 meters radius of the Atlantis Hotel. In general, the surrounding scene was amazing.
We went to Sultan Ahmet Square or Hippodrome or Atmeydani in local Turkish, mean Horse Square. It is located in front of the famous Sultan Ahmet Masjid or the Blue Mosque. It was once the sport and social center of Constantinople during the Byzantine Empire and was once used as a Horse Racing track then.
Honestly, there was nothing much to see there except the remaining historical monuments: the Obelisk of Thutmose III from Egypt; Walled Obelisk built in the 10th century; and Serpent Column casted during the Persian wars in 5th Century BC. In 1900, the German Government built another ‘monument’ called the German Fountain or the Kaiser Wilhelm Fountain to mark the German Emperor Wilhelm II’s visit to Istanbul in 1898. Actually, we just passed through the square to have a close look of the Sultan Ahmet Masjid.
At that time, around 21:30 hours, the Masjid’s main gate was about to close and visitors were not allowed to enter the premise, probably because of the 2010’s eve. We took several shots outside the fence wall of the Masjid. Adjacent to the Masjid, is the Islamic Art Museum or Turkey. We spent sometimes admiring the building architecture and it was one of the best spots to shoot the panoramic view of the Sultan Ahmet Masjid.
I took a few shots of the Masjid from the North West, while Nana and the kids went to the amphitheatre garden opposite the Hippodrome. The full moon of Muharram helped lighting up the garden while the chilly breeze of the Marmara Sea cheered and energized us.
Around 10:30 hours, we went to the Hagia Sophia, pronounce as Aya Sophia, through Basilica Cistern or Yerebatan Sarayi (Sunken Palace) in local dialect, and relaxed at the garden in between the Hagia Sophia and the Sultan Ahmet Masjid. I will share my knowledge about the two prominent features of Istanbul, which had attracted million of visitors around the globe.
There were many stray cats playing at the garden. However, they were healthy, good looking and friendly stray Turkish cats. They did not savage the thrash, instead some kind fed them with good branded cats’ foods.
The full moon of Muharram brighten up the night helped setting the scene. Subhanallah
Hot Sehlah - Turkish Milk, anyone. One cup was 1 Turkish Lira. There were few of these vendors offering the drink to keep your body warm and definitely healthy.
Some of the restaurants, pub & bars, Leather Factory, etc. Attractive looking Promoters will politely explain you what they have to offer and if you are influenced, they will usher and seat you in.
This was one of the garden that we visitied and relaxed. And, this one is actually above the popular Yerebatan Cistern.
Hagia Sophia's main dome and one of its four minarets from the Cistern Garden.
The view of the Sultanahmet businest spots taken from the park near Hagia Sophia. Awesome!
We spent for almost an hour at the garden while enjoying people characters, the gorgeous Hagia Sophia and the Sultan Ahmet Masjid showered by neon lightings, the fountain and the landscape of the garden. We tried the Turkish Sehlab sold by local young teenagers on their portable stall. It cost us around 1USD and we met a ‘Tea-man’ named Mahmoud, who had been supplying various types of tea since more than 10 years. He was very friendly and spoke very fluent English. Well, all the Turkish that we met were friendly and helpful.
There were many benches in the middle of the garden for visitors to admire and appreciate the view of the Sultanahmet Masjid and Hagia Sophia. One can call Mahmoud - the Tea-man, to quench their thirst for a cup of tea or any other stimulant for 1 Turkish Lira.
Around 23:20 hours, we went back to the restaurants area looking for foods or anything that could dampen our hunger. Restaurants, Pub & Bars were fully occupied by the foreigners and locals alike, ushering and waiting for the count down of 2010.
One of the stationaries stalls or I called it tourist stations. One could find anything essential for tourists, such as, road maps, books, travelling guides, etc. Some of these stalls were selling tit-bits, drinks, sandwitches, etc. There are very attractive and clean.
Some of the locals selling localy made winter attire or accessories, such as hand gloves, scarf, etc.
The German Wilhelm Fountain at the Eastern entrance of the Hippodrome or Sultanahmet Square.
1 minute before 00:01 hours of 1.1.2010, colorful fireworks were fired around the Sultanahmet for around 5 minutes. Surprisingly, there were no shouting, yelling or any crazy stuff, and there was no the usual traditional countdown thing. People were well behaved at where we stood in the middle of the busy spots. Despite the hype, there was no grand happening around the area.
I was looking for Money Changer. One of the stupid things that I did – looking for Money Changer on the new year eve?! …in my head, I believed there must ne one or two Money Changers operating 24 hours especially around this tourist area. I met group of friendly Turkish near the old entrance of Yerebatan Cistern. There were 5 of them. I asked, “Excuse me, is there any Money Changer around this area still operating”. One of them responded, “What do you change?”. “US Dollar” I replied him jovially. The other friendly nice looking guy comforted me,”No Money Changer open now, but you don’t worry, all shops and restaurants here accept US Dollar”…”Ask them first, you don’t worry”, he continued. “Really…Thank you”, I replied him politely. Just before I wanted to capture the garden scene, the first guy, joking but frankly, invited me to see his friends with beers on their hands and said, “You see, the modern Muslim….you see what I mean?..he.. he….he…Muslim ah!..!!” He laughed and I gave him my cynical smile, thanked him and moved on. Let me reserve my comment at this juncture.
Before we knocked off, we went to one of the many Tour Operators and agents that opened for 24 hours, the Marco Polo. I peeped in and saw a man at early 50’ with narcotic-source material – cigarette on his fingers. He invited us in and I greeted him. We shook hand he invited me to sit. In front of him, there was a big 10’ X 6’ size poster of Malaysian Airline System (MAS) aircraft Airbus 777 boosted my self-esteem and pride. “You must be the premier agent of MAS, do you?” I expressed my thought to him to break the ice in which, he responded proudly, “Yes, we are…we had received few recognition from them…..””How can I help you?” he continued. I said, we would like to have an excursion tour to Bursa. Prior to that, he introduced himself as Nadir, Manager of the agency. Spoke excellent English, has vast knowledge and experience of the business, Nadir offered us good package to Bursa. He said, “If you are agree, I will give you my price – the Manager’s Price – 61 Euro per person”. The normal rate was 90 Euro per person. We made up our mind, cut the deal, and finally made payment, after he explained us the package, etc.
We went back to our hotel at almost 01:00 hours. All the kids dosed off 5 minutes after entering our rooms. We were extremely exhausted.
1 comments:
Not sure where to post this but I wanted to ask if anyone has heard of National Clicks?
Can someone help me find it?
Overheard some co-workers talking about it all week but didn't have time to ask so I thought I would post it here to see if someone could help me out.
Seems to be getting alot of buzz right now.
Thanks
Post a Comment