August 14, Sunday - Istanbul, Turkey
This is another port that we visited 13 years ago. Boy is the port different. But first, we did some scenic cruising to get here.
The Dardanelles Straight is a narrow body of water linking the Black Sea with the Mediterranean Sea. The famous feature today is the world’s longest suspension bridge. It was the sail under this bridge that highlighted this scenic cruising. It was a nice sight and consumed a lot of digital space on the cameras onboard.
In the afternoon we docked in Istanbul. We had been told that a new port, Galataport, had been built. It opened just 9 months ago. It is spectacular compared to the old along shore port that we had used in 2009.
Alice and I went ashore to explore the port. A long walk past immigration and security points led to a longer walk to tour bus parking and shopping. We are not taking any tours here. They all include the things that we did very well on our last visit. Then we were here for 4 days and did some private touring as well as using public transport before boarding our cruise. So we headed to the shops.
The shops are extensive. The shops are expensive. Yes, both are true. High-end fashion, jewelry, and watch shops abound. On the outside perimeter of this large center, we found restaurant after restaurant. A thorough walk around and a visit to the information center got us oriented before we returned to the ship.
Before going to dinner we plotted our attack for tomorrow. We would walk to the church of St. Anthony of Padua, Alice’s friend Tony. He has helped her find many things. Then we would walk to Taksim Square with its Republic Monument. maps.me was a big help in plotting this for us. We went to a delightful dinner and show before retiring.
The photos that follow are in reverse order. We did arrive in daylight. all are taken from the ship except the one with the ship in it. That is from a plaza around the shops in the port. We did stay up until 11:30PM to see the lights change on the bridge. In 2009 there was a terrific color show at night. With all of the dinner cruise boats gathering in the area we thought it might be happening still. WRONG! The lights on the new (to us) tower did change, however.
Notice that during the day one of the boats passing us was hosting a wedding. Big heart out front.
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