My Istanbul Winter Trip: The Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque @ Sultanahmet

Lepas balik dari Grand Bazaar dngn barang pembelian yg x seberapa nak banyak tu, kami singgah di blue mosque. Blue mosque ni terletak kat Sultanahmet ja.. kalau turun tram kat Sultanahmet, jalan sikit ke depan, nampaklah blue mosque yg tersergam indah ni.. Sebenarnya, nama sebenar masjid ni adalah Masjid Sultan Ahmed.  Masjid ni ni ada banyak entrance..So, ikut sukalah nak masuk entrance mana... I always use entrance F to walk from my hotel to Sultanahmet. The 1st night when i arrived, i complained, "jln jauh, penat..dahla berbatu2 bonggol..susah nak bawak beg.." On the 2nd day, as we explored the area, we found a shortcut through Gate F of the mosque. Tp cuma sampai isyak ajalah, after isyak, they will lock the gate till subuh the next morning.  Memang sangat pantas jalan tu, instead of 15 minutes walk, cuma 5 minutes mcm tu aja to Sultanahmet.

Entrance F that saved me from the long walk...:) 

Perhaps, waktu i p was winter time, so, the crowd was not so huge... There were people visiting the mosque  all the time but not as many as summer time where u have to Q in order to enter the mosque.

The entrance to the mosque. Everyone needs to take off their shoes and
put them in plastic bags provided at the entrance

 Since 1st day sampai Istanbul, memang hari2 lalu blue mosque.. In fact, our room was also facing the blue mosque (with tv aerials as extra accessories to my view).

View from my room...Aerial2 ni memang kacau daon...

Yg ni pulak, Night view from our room. Everyday, kami dengar azan subuh dari bilik,
memang dekat sebenarnya hotel dengan masjid. 

Berdekatan dengan blue mosque ada one area with plenty of benches for the visitors to sit and admire the beauty of the building. There are people who take the opportunity to capture photographs overlooking the mosque.

Rumput yang menghijau..I wonder what happen to the grass in Jan or Feb? Still preserving its greenery? Kat sana
sikit ada fountain...

Kami pon ambik peluang jugak tangkap gambar... Mintak tlng tourist lain..he..he.. 

Let's get a closer look inside the mosque. oh yes, in case u're wondering about the entrance fee, It's free of charge but u are free to donate some money for the maintenance of the mosque.

This section is open for all visitors

Meanwhile...

This section is only for the muslims to pray. No tourists permitted to enter this area,
unless they want to pray, of course.

 The chandeliers.  This side is allocated for the muslims to pray. Visitors are not allowed to enter
this side as to give respect to people who want to pray.
 The ladies have a separate place to pray that isjust behind this area. 

This is the boundary for the visitors.

 The interior of the mosque is lined with more than 20,000 handmade ceramic tiles. The upper parts are mostly
blue in color. 

Ablution tap. Left photo: Quranic verse mounted
on the wall

That's about it for the Blue Mosque. Kalau ada rezeki
sampai ke Istanbul, make sure u all singgah sini ya...! Oh ya, before i sign off, Salam Maulidur Rasul to all Muslims all over the world.

This one is  for all of my readers! TQ all for visiting!

My Istanbul Winter Trip: The Grand Bazaar

Sapa x kenal Grand Bazaar kan? I think if u go to Istanbul, Grand Bazaar (GB) is a must place to visit. I went there not to buy things bit just to explore the place. Lagipon, x naklah org cakap, sampai ke Istanbul tp x masok GB kan...malulah kawan...he..he... Tp, for shopaholics  memang sangat rambang mata di sini. U will ger whatever u want in Istanbul here. everything is under one roof.

IMO, The GB is too touristy and therefore, the prices of goods are high. U can bargain but they don't really lower the prices... u can get the same items outside at cheaper prices actually.  Tp, i still bought something at GB. Just for the sentimental value...

HOW TO GET TO THE GB FROM SULTANAHMET: Hop on the tram to the direction of the airport and stop at Beyazit. Once u're already out of the tram, u will see the sign to the GB which is just across the road. Since GB is huge, u can even stop at Cemberlitas tram stop. Price: sama ja 1.95TL per trip.

The GB is opened everyday except SUNDAY. The business hours are: 8.30am to 7pm.

Nothing much to tell here and i didn't really take a lot of photos too.. So, just enjoy apa yg ada ajalah ya...:)

The weather was so nice today... This was taken on the same day as the day i went to Topkapi. It was about
12 degree celcius, just nice... the time? couldn't remember the exact time but it was about 3.45pm mcm tu la kot...

The tram station (Beyazit)

Sekitar Beyazit Tram Station. Plenty of restaurants here.

This way to Gedikpasa (tempat org try Turkish Bath). 

We skipped the Turkish Bath (x sanggop den) and headed to
Kapali Carsi...:)

Cuba teka apa ni? This is what u calld baklava. Sweet savory with
different flavors. I don't really like it as it is sticky
and too sweet. I like sweet food but this one is sweet n
it has some kind of spices which i don't fancy. 

Seberang jalan dulu...

GB has many entrances. We really marked the entrance so that we
would come out at the same entrance. 

 Jom tengok apa ada dalam GB...

T-shirts and all sorts of souvenirs.

Ceramics

Ni pon souvenirs jugak.. belah sana ada kedai karpet.

This atok reminds me of my own atok. Umur pon lebih kurang.
Guess how old is he?

What did i buy at the Grand Bazaar? I bought fridge magnets, bangles, t-shirts, key chains, spinning tops...etc, etc... What else?

This sweater was bought outside GB. A Romanian lady
sells them. Ada mcm2 corak. 10TL each. We bought
this one and the diamond shape one. Mur2 kan?

I didn't buy this at GB. On our way back to the hotel, we would pass
the Arasta Bazaar. 1 mangkuk 5TL@RM9, i bought 7+3 + 1 big plate =
RM100 mcm tu la..ke RM130, lupa sudah.... Katanya handmade,
tp x taulah betul ke idak...

Gmbar besar sket...

100% silk scarf, made in Bursa, 30TL... Entah2 kat Bursa lagik murah,
since made in Bursa. I didn't dare to ask the price at Bursa, takut
menyesal..ha..ha.. What i don't know won't hurt me, right?

Oklah, itu aja from the Grand Bazaar. After GB, we went to the Blue Mosque....Babai...

My Istanbul Winter Trip: Topkapi Palace

My next destination was Topkapi Palace @ Topkapi Sarayii. Very near to Sultanahmet, where i had stayed. Pricey entry tp masuk jugak. To enter, u need to pay 25TL (RM 45) excluding the Harem. To go inside the Harem, u need to pay another 15TL (RM27). For an audio guide, u need to add another 15TL (RM27) to your entrance fee.

Direction to Topkapi Palace: From Sultanahmet, stop at Gulhane (just the next stop after Sultanahmet). Do not go to the metro stop named Topkapi as it will lead you to a neighbourhood, bukan Topkapi Palace. So, remember, the stop is Gulhane, not Topkapi. 

This way to Topkapi Palace

U need to walk about 300m along this lovely lane in order to get to the tix counter n the entrance of the palace.
Bila berjalan kat sini, rasa aman, relax dan tenang aja...dngn udara yg nyaman dan redup...

Audio Guide for 15TL

Entrance Fee - 25TL

Merchandise shop, dekat je ngan tix counter.

Opening hours:
Open Wednesday - Monday from 9am- 7pm (Ticket sales end at 6pm). Topkapi Palace is closed on Tuesdays.

Mengikut ceritanya, palace ni telah dibina pada tahun 1478 oleh Sultan Mehmet II. Palace ni memang sangat glamerlah waktu pemerintahan Ottoman Empire. From my reading, it was estimated that there were about 4000 people living nearby the palace's compound. Not only it housed residential buildings, there were also a university, mosque dan mcm2lah kat dalam tu.  But later on, Mustafa Kamal Ataturk converted the palace into a museum and became the UNESCO Wold Heritage Site.

Tempat ni sangat besar, 70 000 metre square feet kalu x silap. Spacious garden, pemandangan ke arah laut pon cantik. Architecture was magnificent. What else could I say?

Kat sinilah saya ada terjumpa dengan sekumpulan nyonya2 dari Penang. Mereka baru sampai satu group. Kat dalam ni ada mcm2...yg paling seronok, dapat tengok pedang dan cloak rasulullah, janggut beliau, tapak kaki and other belongings belonged to prophet's friends.

Inside the Harem lagikla x boleh tangkap gambar. The location is at the 2nd courtyard of the palace. alah, nk senang cerita, when u see many people queuing up to buy another tix, kat situlah tempatnya...he..he.. Unfortunately, u can't see all the rooms. There are only a few rooms open for public. U will see the royal bedrooms, bathrooms, concubines' rooms, etc.

Jom tengok apa ada dlm Topkapi Sarayii nih... Kami dapt tangkap gambar yg kat luar2 ja, pasal kat dalam memang x dibenarkan snap gambar, tu yg bosan tu...

Masjid kat dalam Topkapi Palace

Sekitar Topkapi Palace

Lovely architecture

various areas inside the palace.

Top: Info about circumcision room for the royalty. Bottom left: ablution tap,
bottom right: the tool for circumcision, i have no idea how they
used that thing to circumcise the boy. 

Alhamdulillah, hari ni x hujan. Cuaca sangat OK.

This tree reminds me of the movie, Narnia 2 where the kids
entered the tree in order to get back to civilization.

Cantiknyerrr...

Resto overlooking the Marmara Sea, So, romantic wooo...

Another sight inside Topkapi Palace.

When we were there, there was a terracotta exhibition  Kami pon x lepas peluang melihat patung2 terracota tu. Mcm2 bentuk dan gaya. Air muka mcm menakutkan pon ada... Memang mereka bawa khas dari China. Sayangnya, no photos are allowed inside the exhibition. So, melepasla tangkap gmbr dngn terracotta warriors. Terracotta horse pon ada tau... The exhibition will be there until February 2013.

Pintu masuk ke Pameran Terracotta. 

You can just walk to the museum once u're done with Topkapi.

I didn't go to the Archaeological Museum. X ingat kenapa..Perhaps, it was close on that day... x ingatlah... We decided to go to the Grand Bazaar, instead.

~To Be Continued~