Black Sea Blog # 4

ISTANBUL

We had a total of 3 days in Istanbul before and after our Black Sea Cruise.  We were also in Istanbul for 1.5 days a couple of years ago.  This certainly doesn’t make me even close to an expert on this wonderful tourist city but I will share some thoughts.  We were so impressed that Istanbul is now on my list of the top three cities for tourists to visit (along with Buenos Aires and Barcelona).

Istanbul was first named Lygos, but in 667 B.C. when the Greeks took over from the Tracians it became Byzantine.  In 330 A.D. the Romans replaced the Greeks and re-named it Constantinople.  Of course the Ottomans renamed the city Istanbul in 1453 and despite the best efforts of the Ames Brothers 1950’s hit song the name has never reverted to Constantinople.  If you don’t know the song to which I refer you are probably too young to bother reading my blog.

At 18 million Istanbul is the world’s 6^th largest city and it ranks 5^th in number of tourist visits (almost double New York).  The city is divided by water into three distinct areas.  The original city (referred to as the old European city) is on the north side of the Strait of Bosphorus.  This area is the main business and shopping area and contains many of the tourist sites.  It is separated by an inlet called the Golden Horn from a newer (by a few 100 years) European area.  However, the majority of the population lives across the Strait on the Asia side.  Most of the people living in the Asia part of the city commute to the old city to work.  The look and feel of the Asian side is somewhat different with wider streets, more greenery and newer buildings.  The three parts of the city are connected by bridges and a tunnel and an unbelievable number of ferries cross back and forth.  Looking out my stateroom window I counted 19 ferries at one time passing the ship.

In addition to visiting some of the main tourist sites such as the Blue Mosque (one of 2000 in the city), the Dalmabahce Palace, the Grand Bazaar (world’s largest enclosed shopping area), the spice market, etc. we spent hours walking through the narrow streets of the old city.  In fact, walking seems to be the best way to get around.  Shopping is everywhere and prices are much lower than in Canada, even without the semi-obligatory bartering system.  Restaurants are almost as pervasive but (with the exception of McDonald’s) are primarily Turkish.  This is not a problem as everything Turkish that we tasted was yummy.

A WORD ON CRUISING.  Those of you who read my blogs know that Betty and I have fallen in love with cruising.  We have been on different ships on three different cruise lines and have liked them all.  We generally choose by which ports of call are included.  And, there is nothing better after a long day of touring than to get back on board and face an exquisite meal accompanied by several glasses of good wine. 

We generally choose a certain type of line which is primarily for adults.   Lots of really old people (our age) on the ships but most seem to be having a great time.  One of the entertainers in the evening show noted that she started her singing career at the age of six by visiting nursing homes.  “Now”, she added, “I know longer perform for old people.”  I’m not certain everyone in the audience was amused.

Every time we have cruised we were sorry to see the excursion end. 

A HINT FOR EXCHANGING CURRENCIES.  Travelling means that everything is paid for in some currency other than Canadian.  Credit cards are useful but not always accepted.  Buying foreign currencies sometimes adds excessive fees, particularly if you are dealing with a Canadian bank.  Recently while travelling in New England I tried an experiment.  I pulled up to an ATM and withdrew $400. U.S. from my CIBC account.  I then borrowed $400. U.S. at the same ATM using a Mastercard drawn on Chase Bank.  The fees for the withdrawal came to $13. while the fees and interest on the loan came to only $5.77.  Chase Bank is the only bank we have found that doesn’t charge a percentage of the exchange.

When in Istanbul we discovered that the best exchange was trading Canadian cash for Turkish Lira at one of the hundreds of money exchanges in all the shopping streets.  Never would have thought that I should have taken more Canadian cash with me.