I was in Istanbul as a child with the family and since I wanted to return to this metropolis at the Bosphorus. Now it is the time and it became even more an attraction for me then ever before.

Via telephone Thomas Bärtl directed us to a parking place in the new business district called Mazlak. Thomas has been General Manager with Kempinski all over the world and is presently Group General Manager for a tourism company which is also involved in business buildings. One of his projects is a new hotel on Büyükada, one of the Princes´ Islands in the Sea of Marmara, where Chef Legend Heinz Winkler will run a gourmet restaurant. We were very keen to visit, but before Thomas gave us a show around in the biggest city of Turkey. We went with our HYMER on a parking space and we organised gas, energy and water to be ready for more to come.

Next day we drove over the Bosphorus Bridge and visited the old city and the Grand Bazaar. At the Bosphorus we saw hundreds of fisher men looking for the little fishes that they bake and eat at once. Below the bridge there are lots of little restaurants where you have breath taking views over the Sea and enjoyed watching the mosques.

Through many old lanes we were looking for the way to the historical centre of Istanbul. We passed by the magnificent Sultan´s Palace to finally reach the Hagia Sophia a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque and now a museum in Istanbul. The Hagia Sophia was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years, famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and to have changed the history of architecture emitting magic distinction. We decided to get to know more about the religious culture of Turkey and visited the mosque facing the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque. The mosque is actually called the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, but due to the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior, the mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque. It is with six minarets the biggest mosque in Istanbul and one of the most impressive monuments in the world.
We met a very kind German-Turkish gentleman who told us with pleasure all about the Muslim culture. The washing before entering the mosque, how to pray and behave whilst the 

Imam was calling his people to get to the mosque to pray. We also entered the mosque and sat down during the prayer and listened excited to the unknown words. The mosque was decorated with wonderful ornaments, tiles, carpets and glass as far as we could see. This day the Festival of Sacrifice (Greater Aid, Eid al-Adha) ended and lots of people came together to celebrate.
We were very surprised how open and liberal the Turkish habitants of Istanbul are. We did not see many ladies and girls with a scarf or even masked, but lots young couples walking unconstrained around the city. Istanbul is a very modern and open city and proud on its liberal Islam they are practicing.

To not becoming too much of a tour guide I make a long story short;-)) After the Blue Mosque we have been at a one and a half thousand year old cistern, which I remembered whilst being here as a kid. The place was very crowdie, so I missed my mystic emotion a bit, but it was anyway worth passing by the ancient building. Then we moved to one of the most interesting places in Istanbul, the Grand Bazaar (Kapali Çarsi).

The Grand Bazaar is simply enormous and very difficult to overview. It combines more then 1.200 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily! I love such markets, because you are so close to the people and local products. You can exchange knowledge here and get the best value for money if you are good in haggling. The Grand Bazaar of Istanbul offers a variety we have not yet seen in our lives. There are outlets for carpets, decoration, gold, jewels and in-between a store for sweets. The smells of cumin, chili, lamb, sesame and honey are omnipresent. Most intensive the smell was at the Spice Market where you got a huge variety of herbs and spices. The dealers tried to sell us their goods without being importunate. The Grand Bazaar attracts you to stroll around, to be astonished and to enjoy the whole day. If you bring some time with you give the carpet dealers the chance to show their products to you and challenge yourself in haggling with the dealers by a cup of apple tea and enjoy it.

Hit by all the adventures throughout the day we returned to out HYMER mobile home and remembered the wonderful day we just had. This amazing metropolis is a sensation and will ever be.

Photos to our trip you find here.