June 11 to June 24, 2025
Liz Clark (No others were on this tour; so it basically was a private tour for the cost of a group tour.)
Anatolia Tour Company. Tour Guides Leyla, Gigi and Melth
Flight DAB to ATL to Amsterdam (9 hour flight), then to Istanbul (3-1/2 hours). Four internal (domestic flights via Turkish Airlines). Then IST to Paris (4 hours), Paris to ATL (9 hours) and ATL to DAB. I was sick for the flight home (allergies or cold) and I was MISERABLE!
Every time we got near the water, we could see a Greek Island. People are so afraid to go to Turkiye and it’s just a stone’s throw from Greece — where everybody is happy to visit!
Istanbul Airport is beautiful. But we saw it when we arrived, again when we flew to Cappadocia, again when we flew from Cappadocia via Istanbul on way to Izmir (when we missed the connecting flight) and then back to Istanbul to stay in the Yotel at the airport before we flew out to Paris the next day. Too much IST Airport!!
We did travel in style in the car transports. Note the stars on the ceiling.
Our first 4 nights in this Istanbul Sultania Hotel was more than I expected!! My room even had a doorbell! And there was tea time from 4 to 5 every evening.
Our first meal at a random restaurant down the street. Tzatziki was on the menu in Greece also. And being Liz just got home from there last month, we ordered it. It was delicious in that there was so much dill, it cut out that icky yogurt tang. Too bad I can’t be sure it will always be that good.
Note the mosque down the street in the background. We visited it the next day.
Found a compass glued to the bottom of the drawer. Of course! This country is 95% Muslin, although it is secular. You would need it to be sure where East, towards Mecca, is, in order to pray 5 times a day.
The note says prayer rugs can be borrowed from the front desk.
Window shopping. I knew I was no longer in Kansas anymore.
Had the typical Turkish Bath/Scrub in a building that had been there for hundreds of years.
We laid on a hot marble circular pedestal, then we each had our entire body scrubbed thoroughly, and then hit with a bag of foam and washed. We rested and then got a foot massage and then a body massage. Then was offered a cold pomegranate drink, then hot tea and some nuts and Turkish Delight (sweet). FABULOUS!!
This is not us — I couldn’t bring my phone in, due to the heat and moisture.
There were streets that only sold shoes. And some sold gold. And some sold appliances. And some sold lingerie.
The subway stop. We almost were hit by the tram several times until we learned to check before stepping off the sidewalk.
Liz had authentic Turkish coffee. It always comes with the strong coffee, a glass of water, some sugar cubes and a sweet.
This is the Turkish flag — but it bugs me because I saw it hanging this way a lot and, properly hung, the moon should be on the left and a “C”. This area was all book stores. And a minaret was everywhere, with the speakers high at the top, since ‘call to prayer’ happens 5 times a day and all the people should be able to hear it.
The carpets in mosques always have a line of demarcation and a proper distance so that a man can kneel at one line, bow to Mecca, and still be behind the feet of the men in front of them.
It seems silly, but these are true ostrich eggs. The smell makes spiders leave the premises — which is very important in a mosque. You can’t have spiders making their webs on the lights, possibly causing a spark and burning down their mosque.
We had to cover our shoulders, hide our legs and remove our shoes for the mosques.
I always try to look like the Virgin Mother Mary, and I fail spectacularly.
View of the Asia side of Istanbul. It is the only city in two continents. 3% is in Europe and the rest is in Asia. The building on the right is a hammam. You can tell by the glass covering the holes in the dome.
Found a spice store and bought a couple rolls of Turkish Delight. The white is a marshmallow cream! The green is usually pistachio. Pistachios are grown in Turkiye, but they export most of it, so it’s quite expensive.
The building in the back had not yet been pressure-washed as the building on the right.
Another delish meal. You eat all the meat on the fish, and then flip it over and eat some more!
CATS EVERYWHERE!! I bought a small bag of cat food and carried it everywhere. Especially in Ephesus, the cats would HEAR the rustle of the cat food bags, and they’d come running to get a snack.