Istanbul On Our Own

Our Delta flight from JFK was an uneventful one but I didn't manage one wink of sleep. Still that didn't deter us from trying to see as much of Istanbul as possible today. It is hot and humid (though it cooled off considerably when the sun went down) and we're exhausted!

Our flight actually landed a bit early so we ended up at the Four Seasons Sultanahmet at 11 a.m. We waited a 15 short minutes and our room on the fourth floor, facing the Blue Mosque, was ready.

The lounge at the Four Seasons Sultanahmet.
A good place to relax with a cool drink while your room is readied.

The view from our fourth-floor room at the Four Seasons Sultanahmet with the Blue Mosque in the background.

The Four Seasons is a great home base in Sultanahmet since it's so close to the major tourist attractions like Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, the Yerebatan Cistern, and the the Grand Bazaar.

Hagia Sophia

The Blue Mosque

We were able to see Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, part of Topkapi Palace, and the Grand Bazaar. We were shooting to see the Spice Market but a bit of a language barrier brought us to the Grand Bazaar instead. Oh well. It was a great experience strolling up and down the streets with no particular place to go. Many shopkeepers were at afternoon prayer so we didn't encounter too many high-pressured sales pitches.

We spent the hour before sunset at the Blue Mosque and Leonard has some amazing photos that we'll need to download and show you soon. Tomorrow we're going to wake up early (hopefully!) and go to the Blue Mosque again for more photos and then the Spice Market. But, of course, we have a date with Seabourn Odyssey at 2:00 pm!

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—Andrea M. Rotondo for LuxuryCruiseBible.com

Photos by Andrea M. Rotondo