Over to the city of two continents- Istanbul!!!!

After 3 relaxed nights in Santorini, we were ready for Istanbul. I had heard of taxi cabs trying to cheat the visitors and sure enough, our taxi guy took us on a roundabout route to our hotel. These were small battles in the big scheme of things, so we just let it slide. We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived in our Hotel Amira. This hotel became the highlight of our entire trip to Europe. One of the receptionists sat with us during our afternoon tea and explained the entire city and our options for sightseeing. This orientation took about 30minutes and was very valuable info we got. The hotel itself was stellar in customer service. They suggested restaurants, made reservations and were most helpful. Despite my many travels, I have to say I have yet to stay in a hotel that treats its guests so specially. Though the hotel suggested a private tour guide, we found another company called Efendi travel that did a walking tour for much lesser money than what a private tour would've costed. It was the best decision and we started our first day of Istanbul in the Topakapi Palace. The Topokapi palace was the residence and the court of the Ottoman Turks. The general layout reminded me of the Red Fort in Delhi, but obviously with many variations. This palace was slightly bigger and was preserved better. The armory and treasury housed some brilliant artifacts including the Topkapi dagger, one of the biggest diamonds in the world called the Spoonmaker's diamond which is the size of 86 carats. Some of the swords of the Sultans with its sheath had such minute and decorating engravings and the ornate mace and daggers and bows and arrows were so immaculately preserved. Some of the jewelry and crowns and throne studded with emeralds, rubies and pearls are absolultely stunning. The kitchens used to feed about 4000 people a day and they have some receipts from the butcher for the entire year's bill that had some gross items like 22835 head of sheep, 57000 chickens and so and so. It also had a sample menu of the sultan and one noticed how many figs, apricots and almonds these kings used to consume. The religious artifact section of the Topkapi Palace has some very interesting head gear and clothes from Prophet Mohammed, including his footprints from Medina. The most interesting fact was that the Sultans had conquered Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem in the 1500s. When World War 1 broke out and the Brits were going to attack Mecca, all the artifacts that were holy to Mecca was transported to Istanbul by the Sultan. Hence they Were able to recover so many treasures and save them in such pristine shape. Then we visited the Basilica Cistern built by Romans to store water through means of pipes as this way came from mountains nearly 30km away. It remained unused during the Ottoman reign as the Turks preferred running water. Then we visited the Hippodrome and the German monument which signifies the good relations Turkey has had with the Germans. The Hippodrome itself is from Egypt and was brought here during the Roman rule. After a quick stop for lunch, we took in the magnificence of the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia. I have to be honest, I didn't know why the Hagia Sofia was famous till I went in. Going there without a guide is useless, as we got to know things like the Church was originally built by Roman Emperor Justianus who was himself just a stable boy, but by stroke of luck, he became an emperor and his wife who was just a belly dancer, became the empress! Once the Turks conquered Constantinople as Istanbul was called, they decided to turn this Basilica into a mosque. So, they just hid the faces of Christian Gods or paintings with plaster , but in doing so, they have preserved them so well over the years. It is now a museum that houses the unique history of Istanbul with both Christian and Islamic depictions, all under one roof!