A Week in Istanbul with the Pope: Turkey 2006
At the end of last November Vicki and I took the last of our holiday time and spent a week in Istanbul. With cheap flights from the UK and off-season rates it was quite cheap. The weather was cold and gray but not wet. While we were there the Pope decided to visit and we spent the time trying to dodge the Pope and his entourage of protesters. Despite this we found Istanbul to be quite friendly to one Brit and an unapologetic American. The first place we visited was Topkapi Palace. As usual click on photos below to see more on the album pages. Istanbul Topkapi Palace 2006 This is from our visit to the Blue Mosque the first Mosque I had ever visited. Istanbul I must admit was vaguely unsettling with the huge number of mosques and their new connotations of sinister intentions for the West these days. Istanbul Blue Mosque 2006 Istanbul is of course very old city; consequently though the Ottoman influence is the most easily recognized there is still evident Roman architecture in a few r