Eastern Mediterranean Cruise - Fall Break Starting in Istanbul, Turkey

So we're headed back to November when we took the kids out of school (one thing I never thought I'd ever be doing in my life since I used to teach) for a few days to cruise the Eastern Mediterranean seas.

The embarking port was Istanbul, Turkey, so a few days before the cruise left that port, we headed there to explore the area. When we arrived off the plane late Thursday night, I remember seeing speed limit signs posted at 50 km/hr and our driver was hitting 100 on wet pavement. Sitting in the back seat with the kids I tried to keep my mind off the fast speed by counting how many Turkish flags waved in the air. They were everywhere! My kids have now memorized that flag and can even draw it on command. I'm serious...we saw about 50 of them!

You've heard the song that we just had to sing to our children for the duration of our stay here, "Istanbul was Constantinople, now it's Istanbul not Constantinople, so if you have a date in Constantinople, she'll be waiting in Istanbul."

While staying at the Ada Hotel in Istanbul, we had a beautiful view from the breakfast room where we hit it off with the owners. They were a warm family who hugged us immediately after I told them how nice the rooms were. After our 2 day stay they were giving the kids Istanbul postcards and Turkish evil eye gifts as we waited for our taxi to the ship. They believe this evil eye, which you can find in jewelry and other trinkets, is responsible for keeping evil away from them. In the bracelet they gave me, it's the blue beads that are painted like an eyeball.

View from breakfast room in hotel

The kids goofing off in front of the Blue Mosque
Our luck was out as it rained the whole two days we spent in Istanbul, but that didn't stop us from seeing the Blue Mosque where we had to take drenched shoes off to enter.
Outside of the Blue Mosque

Stray cats roamed the area. We played I Spy with them to help the kindergartner in the family enjoy the trip.
This is the outside of the Hagia Sophia.

Outside the Hagia Sophia is a sign explaining the mosaic above the exit doorway.

The Basilica Cistern was a unique visit with it being an underground chamber about 105,000 square feet in area which was built during the Roman era to hold water. It was once featured in a James Bond movie.
This was the lighting the camera picked up - we didn't edit these at all.
We found an upside down Medusa head at the bottom of one of the pillars.

This is the entrance to the spice market in Istanbul. This was such a fun adventure as people are everywhere just wanting to get your attention so you might buy some spices from them.



Brightly colored lamps and rugs were on display to sell also.