Byzantium | Constantinople | İstanbul

This years Easter weekend we visited İstanbul. I got the trip as a birthday present. After arriving at the Asian airport (Sabiha Gökçen International Airport) we took the shuttle bus to the centre. Our hotel was Hilton Bomonti were we got a free upgrade.

İstanbul – the transcontinental city in Eurasia – served as an imperial capital for almost 16 centuries and therefore there are a lot of historic sites to visit. The weather was sunny but cold. The first day we walked through the historic district with the Topkapı Palace on top that offered us an overlook of the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara as well as good views of the Bosphorus.

The Hagia Sophia (first a Greek Orthodox basilica, later an imperial mosque, now a museum) held our breaths, the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque) offered new insights on religious faith, the Rüstem Pasha Mosque shared architectural finesse.

Standing in queue wasn't our thing, so we did a shortcut for visiting the Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarnıcı) that was built in the 6th century. ;-) Cool atmosphere.

We had time for visiting the Prince Islands (Prens Adaları). During the centuries, princes and other royalty were exiled on the islands, giving the islands their present name. We took a boat in the morning and on one island we did a roundtrip with a horse buggy. After a nice dinner we returned to İstanbul.

Every trip comes to an end. The Bee and I went out for fine dining the last evening in the town (Topaz Restaurant) were we had an excellent view on the Bosphorus topped by a kitschy bright moon.