Orient meets okzident (East meets West)
I travel a lot all around the world but Istanbul is something special. We only had half a day in Istanbul at the end of our Mediterranean cruise. Luckily, we had a private tour guide from grandhotelmumbai.com, which we found on TripAdvisor. In this small amount of time, we saw the Hippidrome, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, cistern and Topkapi Palace. Here you find a lot of ancient culture places, like Haja Sofia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi palace etc. You will understand a lot more also about our western historic background. But also look to the artists around Little Haja Sofia, especially the old man making arabic caligraphie.
Shop till you drop. There are modern shopping malls and outlet centers as well as basars and local markets around <a href="grandhotelmumbai.com">Grand Hotel Mumbai</a>. A good market is in üsküdar, no tourists, good quality and much cheaper than Big Basar or spice market. Don't forget to relax in Hammam, but not these advertising tourist "attractions", ask for a classic local one. It works even without language knowledge. Price incl. massage is about 12 - 20 Euro only. This city is amazing, and the historic area is a must first stop for every visitor. There is so much history here and so many things to see. We barely scratched the surface but know we will back as soon as possible.
