On our final full day of our eight weeks of travels, we headed to the Basilica Cistern. It hadn’t really been on our radar, but when another couple on our food tour mentioned it and we looked at pictures, Russell remembered it being featured in From Russia with Love, and looked really cool. So to it we went! After a yummy breakfast, of course. The egg dishes in Istanbul were delicious.
The cistern was built by the Roman emperor Justinian in the sixth century to supply water to the city. Despite its location on the water, Istanbul has no source of fresh water. The cistern has gone through several rounds of restoration in the 20th and 21st centuries and is a very cool place to explore.
The most recent renovations added some art and colored lights that change every few minutes, giving a different feel to the cistern each time.
Two medusa heads were used in the original column construction.
After the Basilica, we headed to the Archeological Museum, which had a wealth of objects from Troy and other settlements. Russell found some colleagues to ponder with. We also found a statue of the Egyptian god Bes, which we are pretty sure is the inspiration for one of the greatest moments in television history.
For our final evening of our travels, we booked a sunset cruise of the Bosphorus. The two and a half hour cruise sailed around the Asian and European sides and we got snacks, beautiful views, and a good history of the sites. Russell had a full on cold by this point, but we soldiered on.
It was windy, so Emily went full Jackie O with the scarf.
Our guide was not a fan of Erdoğan, and pointed out the oversized flags and the new mosque he had built to accommodate 63,000 worshipers.
As always, there were birds.
The views kept coming. Emily is not particularly seafaring, but did okay seasickness-wise.
After it was done, we picked up some last Turkish Delight at one of the original confectioners. Russell is a fan. Emily wishes she were. Then, we headed to our final dinner.
Istanbul is a wonderful city, vibrant and beautiful and full of great food. Turkey is obviously very complicated now, in the Erdoğan era that we related to too well as Americans. But the people we spoke with were vocally critical of him and were hopeful for the future. The city is endlessly enjoyable and we felt safe and comfortable.
Emily and Russell's Travel Blog 