Turkish Air Lounge in Istanbul

The BEST lounge we have been in!! Not only are there half a dozen kitchens on two levels, there is also a library with a pool table, movie theatre, kids area, lockers, golf, enough liquor to open a bar, snacks everywhere you look, and a super fun race set. 

Flying into Nice

Monaco Zoo

The Jardin Animalier de Monaco is located on the Esplanade Rainer III, in Monaco's Fontvieille ward, on the southern side of the Rock of Monaco. It was  established by Rainier III, Prince of Monaco in 1954. 250 animals are held in the zoo, representing  50 species.

The zoo is a hectare in size, set over four levels on the rock. None of the animals were purchased, all have come from donations, circuses, or abandoned animals and those seized by circuses.

Basie and I went to the zoo by ourselves. It cost me 5 Euro and Basie was free. We were there about an hour but he had visited before so went to see his favourites. It is a great little zoo!

Lemurs have cool tails

The zoo is on the side of the mountain, so good views up and down

Basie calls this hippo, Gloria. She had her mouth open to catch water sprayed from a hose above

Topkapi Palace

We took the morning to tour Topkapi Palace and I'm sure glad we were able to take extra time to see all that there is to see.

We paid admission into the palace and paid extra to see the harem. Sure glad we did. We also rented an audio set which was very useful even if the numbers were a little mixed up.

Construction everywhere. Guess it takes a lot of work to keep up a palace that was built by the Ottoman sultans in 1465.

The sultan's horse would ride down this path

Many, many beautiful ceilings

This is the most ornate gutter I have ever seen.

In the circumcision room. Not sure what the purpose is.

Pearl inlays in closet door

Ceiling of the kitchen

Meshur Eminonu Balikcisi

You'll want to have a look at the gaudy boats along the Eminonu pier at the Galata Bridge. The rocking boats are where the fish is cooked and then handed to a waiter. The meal is just fish and bread with condiments but appears to be a very popular street food.

As seen from a boat

Diners waiting for their fish sandwich

Bosphorus Cruise

We took a 1hr 30 min cruise on the Bosphorus today. It was quite cool today but it's great way to see both the Asian and European sides of Istanbul, so we braved the cold.

There were a lot of tour companies trying to sell the cruise with a bus tour for 40Euros(60.00CAD) but instead we walked down to the water and purchased the cruise for 12L (6.00CAD).

You can reach the cruise terminal by taking the underground walkway in the area of the Spice Bazaar.

The Galata Bridge. This is the bridge we walked to the Asian side. The lower level is all restaurants and the top level is for cars and fishermen.

Dogs

Cats run the city, but in the square between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque you can find dogs. The dogs have large ear tags and we found out today that the government regulates the dogs by way of these tags. The dogs that are tagged are healthy and gentle. They are all large dogs and play together in the area, stopping for a pet now and then.

Grand Bazaar

The Grand Bazaar is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 3,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. In 2014, it was listed No. 1 among the world's most-visited tourist attractions with 91,250,000 annual visitors.

December is low season so, as you can see in the pictures, we didn't have to fight the crowds.

The core of the bazaar was started in 1455.

And, of course, you can always find a cat.

Basilica Cistern

Basilica Cistern, located near the Hagia Sophia, was built to provide water for the city of Istanbul during the reign of Emperor Justinian 1 in the 6th century. This cistern is an underground chamber broken up by a forest of 336 marble columns.

We rented an audio system and this is the only museum where we weren't happy that we had. It is a good system where it automatically comes on when you come near a spot of interest, but it came on very few times and didn't give you any more information than you can read on signs.

Very interesting spot to visit!

The Basilica Cistern

Upside down Medusa head

Medusa head on its side

Turkish Bath

One thing we were told that was a "must" in Istanbul was a visit to a turkish bath or hamam. We chose Çemberlitaş hamam which is located  close to the Grand Bazaar. It is listed in Patricia Schultz’s famous book “1,000 places to see before you die”

The light from the ceiling was amazing

The raised stone is heated. This is where you lie to warm up and prepare for the scrubbing

This infrastructure is the last Turkish bath house that was built in the Ottoman Era. It was constructed in 1741 by two different Ottoman era architects. Süleyman Ağa started the construction, then Abdullah Ağa completed it. The beautifully detailed building with high domed ceilings, internal marble fountains, interior garden, and two levels of individual changing areas for men and women.

This is the men's side and not my picture but it shows what the bubble massage is like. 

After the massage we had an amazing full body oil massage. We were soon relaxed after!