Istanbul - Sail Away

5/19/2012
It will be interesting to look at the city as we sail away now that some of the landscape is familiar.
I can't wait to see the view, so I scurry up to the 15th deck to take photos while we are still in port.

These appear to be office buildings along side the dock. You can see that the hills start rising fairly close to shore.

The look back at the new section of Istanbul. The high rise section is on the hill on the left side of the photo.

Plenty of satellite dishes. Large windows offer a great view of the Bosphorus Strait.

I zoomed in to see a remaining foundation made in to what appears to be a park.

The mosques rise stately above the trees.

Fisherman are still trying for a few more bites.

One of the many ferries is zipping along to shore. Some of the passengers are waving at us.

We pause for a moment, waiting for the traffic to clear. Once we are moving, it is not easy to stop us. There are a lot of ferries.

A look at the shore. We drove along this street that is running along side the water.

The tall spires of the mosque make it easy to find these buildings.

I love the bright colors on this boat.

I think that this is the Blue Mosque.

Looks like the old gates to the city.

Hagia Sophia.

The Topkapi Palace. My trip did not take us there for a visit.

Dolphins were following a boat to shore.

Old and new. You can see the mosques that are in Old Town, and the shadowy tall buildings of the new section.

Clouds are rolling in.  I take one long last look at Istanbul and vow to return.

Time to go to the dining room and compare notes on the day's adventures.  We will be continuing our exploration of Turkey tomorrow with a visit to Kusadasi and the ruins at Ephesus.  Our day in Istanbul was filled with a lot of new sights, sounds and tastes.  A great stop.

This map is for reference and shows the location of Istanbul, Turkey.