Islamic Hotels and Travel Guide
Islamic Hotels and Travel Guide
July 13, 2009 at 10:21 pm · Filed under Turkey Travel Guide
Topkap? Saray? and Dolmabahçe Saray? may be the best known of ?stanbul’s imperial palaces, but they’re also the ones where you can expect the longest queues and steepest admission charges.
Fortunately, the 19th-century Ottoman sultans also adorned the city with a number of secondary palaces and hunting lodges, including the beautiful Beylerbeyi Saray? and the Küçüksu Kasr? on the Asian side of the Bosporus. Most of their hideaways were, however, on the European side, where the most important was Y?ld?z Saray? (palace), a surprisingly little-visited complex just inland from the Ç?ra?an Palace Kempinski Hotel in Be?ikta?. Read the rest of this entry »
May 4, 2009 at 11:02 pm · Filed under Turkey Travel Guide
I don’t know when the last time you headed over toward the Galata area was, but you definitely get a feeling for how much more popular these back streets are now and how full they are with cafes, restaurants and people when you ascend to the top of the magnificent Galata Tower and look down.
In fact, the narrow streets that wind around the tower are home to plenty of shopping places frequented by both locals and foreign visitors. The most significant signs of the restoration going on here are the buildings being renovated, the increase in the number of stores and the cafeterias popping up like mushrooms. When this transformation is complete, it seems that Galata will be getting much of its energy simply from the crowds of visitors coming to see it. Read the rest of this entry »
May 4, 2009 at 10:56 pm · Filed under Turkey Travel Guide
On K?nal?ada absolute silence reigns. There’s not a car on the road and barely a human being stirring. Just weeks before the tourist season kicks in on the Princes’ Islands, the streets belong to the cats and dogs, but every now and then a curious plopping noise emanates from near the seashore.
Wandering down to investigate, I find that it’s being caused by the seagulls and crows who are plucking purple mussels from the water’s edge, flying up into the air, then hurling them onto the promenade below to crack the shells and obtain access to the defenseless creatures inside them. Read the rest of this entry »
