TURKEY: Still in the Palace

Then west gate of Dolmabahce Palace 

 

 

 The Palace garden

 

 

 The clock tower

 

 

  The Palace guard... beside me!

 

 

 The entrance gate.

The palace guards in action!

James Bond was here!

The maiden’s or tales’ tower...

Close your eyes for a moment and think: You are a sailor, or a pirate, hundreds of years, even thousands of years ago. You are on your way to Istanbul. You passed Dardanelles; you crossed the Marmara, and got close to the Bosphorus. You are welcomed by a silhouette first. The dome of Hagia Sophia is in front of you with all its glory! On another side is the Galata Tower of Genoans… You sail through the Bosphorus, and see what? There is a defender in the middle of the sea, inviting if you are a friend, and threatening if you are an enemy. It’s the Maiden’s Tower!

When you return to your country, isn’t the Maiden’s Tower going to be the first thing to tell those who ask you where you have been and what you have seen? It is, especially if you have been told about its legends...

 

This  area is a favorite location shooting for big movie outfits and includes Turkish famous tv series... and wait.. James Bond was here too!

 

I particularly like this shot!  A girl probably in nostalgia?  Waiting for her father to come back home?  Well, I caught this shot while this girl's brothers are nearby fishing.

 

I'm enjoying the breeze around here in Europe...,  at my back in the horizon is the Asian side of Turkey.

 

Dolmabahçe Palace

Dolmabahçe Palace built in the 19th century is one of the most glamorous palaces in the world. It was the administrative center of the late Ottoman Empire with the last of Ottoman Sultans resides here. After the foundation of the Turkish Republic in Ankara, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk transferred all government functions to the capital but on his visits to Istanbul, Ataturk occupied only a small room in Dolmabahce Palace as his own. He stayed, welcomed his foreign guests and made a practical center for national, historical and language congress and for international conferences.

Dolmabahce palace has a great meaning for Turkish people since the supreme leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk had used the palace as a residence and spent the most serious period of time until he was illed and he passed away in this palace on the 10th of November 1938 at 9:05am, all the clocks in the palace are stopped at this time.  It is wandered with a special sense of respect.  Later on the Palace is converted into a museum.

look into the glass taken from the hallway inside the Palace and look below to see how that gate looks like from the outside... with me!

 

 

the looks of the hallway with the looking glass window from within.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The palace has a façade nearly a quarter mile long, 285 rooms and 43 large salons. The floors are covered in half a hectare (over an acre) of silk and wool Hereke carpets.

The Bohemian crystal chandelier in the Throne Room, the world's largest, weighs 4-1/2 tons (4000 kilos) and has 750 lights.

My Turkish Delight!

Istanbul, TURKEY:  The Ottoman Empire walled city ruin still stand this day.  A photo I have taken while on a boat ride along the Bosphorus Sea.  This sea will lead you to the famous Black Sea.  At first, this photo looks like the Great Wall of China. 

Funny!  My Lebanese office mate ask where the place is, he guessed it's in China.  Haha! the wall is now surrounded with water!  Isn't it that great wall is up in the mountain?!  LOL!

 Asia meets Europe

This bridge will take you to both continents in no time!

 

Bosphorus Bridge

As the highway transportation between the two continents, the Bosphorus Bridge is considered as the Strait’s pearl for its delicate architecture.

Having one of its pedestals in Beylerbeyi and the other in Ortaköy, the Bridge has a total length of 1,560 m, width of 33.40 m and altitude of 64 m.

Put into service in 1970, the resplendent view of the bridge particularly revealed at nights serves as an inspiration for myriad of books and photographs. On the Beylerbeyi pedestal of the bridge you can see the fantastic waterside mansions, and on the Ortaköy pedestal you can have a bird’s eye view on the Ortaköy Mosque.

 

Good thing I visited this place in the month of September (been back December, visited this country twice), had it on January or Feb, I probably couldn't sail beneath this bridge as it is full of ice during the winter.  The Authority closes the area for some time on winter season. 

 

Bright sunny day in Turkey.  Snowy days makes this city submerge in ice for up to waist. 

Taken at my hotel roof top.

Enjoying the sunny days in Istanbul

Snowy days in Istanbul