We did all the other major tourist things. We visited the Blue Mosque – huge with a lot of blue tiles. We had a trip up the Bosphorus. We went to the Spice and Grand Bazaars. We went to Topkapi Palace. One evening we had our meal on the platform at Sirkeci Station where the Orient Express terminates.
One day we went to Buyukada, one of the Prince Islands where the tourists get transported by horse and carriage. We walked.
The island is dominated by this huge structure which is a derelict “Greek” orphanage. It was built as a luxury hotel and casino in 1898 but Sultan Abdul Hamid II wouldn’t grant it a permit for its operation and bought by a Greek banker in 1903 who donated it as an orphanage which until it was closed in 1968 catered for 5,744. It is believed to be the largest wooden building in Europe and the 2nd largest in the world.
We walked up to the Greek Monastery
Another highlight was visiting the Whirling Dervish museum
Leaving aside the dancing, what about the hats?
and Dervish tombs…..
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