November 12 - Farewell Istanbul, Hello Greece tomorrow

After a lazy morning, I headed for the Seabourn Encore which I boarded about 1 PM.  It was a long walk from where the car dropped me off to the actual gangway.  I was beginning to think I was on a walking tour.  All is well though and as I stepped off the gangway I met the Hotel Manager and Guest Services manager, both of whom I’ve sailed with before.  It’s nice to see old friends. My cabin was ready and I dropped off my bag and went to have lunch.  By the time I’d finished my suitcases were in my room and I unpacked and settled in.  

We sailed at 5PM and I was out on one of the upper decks to watch the sailaway.  Istanbul is one of the more spectacular ports to leave from and today didn’t disappoint.  I’m probably attaching too many photos but the sight is just breathtaking and as it was sunset, it was even more beautiful.

A view of Topkapi Palace

Another view

The Blue Mosque on the left and the Hagia Sophia on the right

The Blue Mosque with the setting sun behind it

The skyline as we sailed away from the busy harbor.

I’ve told a little about Istanbul in previous blog posts from other cruises so I’ll only give a little recap.  Artifacts dating back to at least 8,000 years ago have been found here indicating there was some kind of settlement. The Greeks founded the city in the 7th century BC and called it Byzantium.  In 330 AD the Roman emperor Constantine made it his capital originally calling it New Rome, but eventually renaming it Constantinople after himself. For nearly the next 1600 years Constantinople was the capital  of  various empires.  The Ottomans conquered the city in 1455 and it became the major city of their empire.  People in other parts of the Ottoman lands began referring to it as  “istanpolin” which means “to the city” in Turkish. After the Ottomans were defeated in WWI, Ataturk, the  founder of modern Turkey, called it Istanbul.  He wanted the country to be a secular state unlike President Erdogan who wants it to be an Islamic republic.  I can’t help but wonder what modern Turkish women think  about that.

After getting cleaned up I went up to the Observation Bar and met my friend Hilary. We last met when she came down to Liverpool to meet me in the spring and we had a lot of catching up to do. Eventually we made it to the main restaurant and a very nice dinner.  There was a dance party in the club but we couldn’t get a seat so we went to the piano bar instead.  After a nightcap we decided it was time to say goodnight. It’s supposed to be rainy tomorrow so we may just have a relaxing day. Hasta mañana.