Istanbul

The Blue Mosque

The Aya Sofya

Got into Istanbul at 6AM after taking the night plane out of Jordan. When I got to the hotel the light was so great for photography that I went right up to the rooftop restaurant of the Seven Hills Hotel. The restaurant wasn't open but they were kind enough to let me go up there. This open air restaurant on the seventh floor must have the best view in Istanbul. It has great views of both the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sofya to the NW and a panoramic view of the Sea of Marmara to south and east.
The structures you see to the lower right of the photo of the Aya Sofya are part of the excavation of the Byzantine Palace. Just a short block from the hotel you can go down some stairs behind a cafe and enter part of the palace that has been excavated.
The Tulips and other flowers are at their best now. They really do have a huge variety of Tulip colors and they seem to be growing everywhere.

There will be more of the Jordan blog in the next day or two. In some areas where we travel I will hold the blog entry so it is not posted while we are at that location or post where we are staying or going until we are gone from the area.

For Samia

The past few days the weather had been warmer, around 70 degrees, and the tulips that were only buds when I arrived have gone into full bloom. The entire city is full of tulips as millions of bulbs have been planted. Last night we had a thunder storm and this morning it is 30 degrees cooler.                                                                                               

Tulips in Istanbul

Normally the Tulips would be in full bloom now but Istanbul had a cold winter with more snow than normal. There are a lot of flowers blooming but the Tulips are just starting to open. There will be lots of Tulips in a couple days, one park has over two million bulbs planted.

Tulips, Istanbul

My grandparents came from Holland and several times I have been in Amsterdam during Tulip season and Grandpa always grew Tulips on his farm in Michigan but Tulips came from Turkey. The Tulip Festival in Istanbul makes it a great time to be in Istanbul.