Istanbul

Last night after dinner, we went to the lounge for a Variety show featuring most of the entertainers who had been on board. There were quite a few of them. First of all, we’ve been treated to an outstanding band of 8 Ukrainians, lead by a fellow who could have been a concert pianist. They’ve shown up performing all over the ship and are, to a man, excellent musicians. We’ve also had a magician, comedian and four solo singers performing in different genres.
According to an employee we were talking to today, compared to other cruise lines, the employees are well looked after with Oceania. That could be why everyone is so friendly and helpful.



We got into Istanbul at noon today. We were quickly aware of the advantage of arriving in Istanbul from the water, because we got probably the best views of the Blue Mosque, the Topkapi Palace and the Aya Sofya church that one could get. They’re pictured in that order above. They are all located in Europe, where we are also docked. Our hotel tomorrow is apparently also in Europe, so we’ll have to make an effort to see Asian Istanbul.
Our tour today took us into the Blue Mosque first. Noon prayers had just finished as we entered the Mosque. No photo I could take inside the Mosque, would ever do justice to the ornamentation and expansiveness of this place.

We then walked past the Aya Sofya that is 1000 years older than the Blue Mosque – started off as a Christian Church and has now been converted to a Mosque.

Next, we had a tour of the Topkapi Palace, which is mainly gardens, with a small museum of relics. Without going inside the walls, you’d never have any idea from the exterior walls of the beauty of the place.

Our final stop was the Grand Bazaar, which is actually an enclosed shopping labyrinth. The shops pretty much repeat themselves, with lots of jewelry shops followed by rug shops followed by pottery shops followed by leather shops followed by hookah shops followed by….well, you get the idea. If you show any interest in their product, you’ll be pounced upon and only when you’ve said an emphatic “NO” half a dozen times, can you move on unmolested. We will go back here and maybe buy something, but today we were too hot and tired to be bothered haggling.

Our last night on the ship was once again spent at the Italian restaurant aboard, Toscana. It didn’t disappoint and we were seated with some new folks, with whom we struck up some lively conversations.
Our checked bags had to be packed and in the hall by 10:00 tonight, so some free time today was devoted to packing. Since we’re not flying immediately we didn’t have to worry too much about weights, but barring some heavy shopping in the next two days, we should be OK.