Assalamualaikum
Day 3 in Istanbul ... it continue to be a rainy and wet day. But that doesn’t hinder the joy that we had. The journey began by going to a museum. The Dolmabahçe Palace which is now turned into a museum. It has a lovely surroundings, suited its status as a palace. At the side of the palace is overlooking the Bosphorus Straits.
This is at the main entrance. To preserve the cleanliness and all the artifacts in the palace, visitors are requested to put on a plastic cover to their shoes. And photography is strictly not allowed. Among the reason was because the lights from the flashes may ruin the artifacts that preserved years before.
There is a book selling about the palace at the Palace's mini bookstore
This is at the entrance. This is the last place where photos are allowed.
These are photos from the side of the palace. It is facing the straits.
This is one of the fountains in the garden of the palace. If you look closely at the background in the photo, you can see the Bosphorus Straits.
The entrance the palace's vicinity
And this is the clock tower that marks the Palace's ground. Entrance to the Palace requires some fee. As we are on group entourage, all tickets are taken care by the agent.
The next stop is another famous ancient building of many purposes. The Hagia Sophia. It was actually situated on the same ground as the Blue mosque but we could not visit earlier because it was closed. So, if you are backpackers, make sure to check the operation hours before going there.
Hagia Sophia is famous because it was initially built as a church, later turned into a mosque and now turn into a museum. Therefore, in the building you can see the combinations of sculptures, paintings and calligraphy of Christianity and Muslims. It was a marvelous built of its time. And stood still until this day after several refurbishment works. Magnificent.
These are several photos of the interior. And bear in mind that you need to do some climbing to the upper floor of the building to enjoy the view more. It is worth the climb, I can assure you that.
And ... cats ...they are just too friendly, cute and fluffy (i dont fond cats but they are adorable)
This is Hagia Sohia from the outside
From Hagia Sophia, in the drizzles of the rain, we head to a tram station. And this time we are heading to where ladies are looking forward too, while the husband keep the pockets zipped 😄
Grand Bazzar ... here I come. its a good experience to be between the locals by riding the tram. I cannot recall the name of the places, we simply follow the cue from the guide to get on and off the trams.
Upon the arrival, we perform our solah for zohr and asar at the nearby mosque. Its a big mosque with a nice architecture too. To shop, we only have 2 hours as there are other places to go to next. Oh man ... what a 2 hours for a large Grand Bazaar as this .....
Crafts in the Grand Bazzar
waiting for other group members outside the Grand Bazaar
more crafts ...
and more crafts ...
and more crafts .... one can become crazy just by being here. No wonder we are only given two hours for this.
And then we proceed to the Spice Bazaar. The shuttle ferry us there this time.
spices
Beautiful internal decor
And our final stop for the day, and in fact for the whole trip is the Masjid Salahuddin Al-Ayubi. A very prominent warrior in Islamic history. When we reach the mosque, it was a bit too late. It past the solat time. They are almost closing down. With some consideration for us, the tourist, we were allowed just to snap few photos and were politely asked to leave.
And this is our last dinner in Istanbul. I cannot recall the name of the restaurant. One thing that I noticed is that a bowl of fresh salad is a compulsory companion to all the dishes. And I enjoyed the heavenly taste of the humus too.
Bye Istanbul. It's a great experience. Alhamdulillah ... Allah made our wish come true. Here we are in a family appreciating Your beauty creation of man and land.
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