h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've seen them when I went there.

Fantastic all three. I can thoroughly recommend

And. I have to comment on this...

"Wherever you go in Istanbul, there will be someone close by trying to sell you a carpet. Get used to it."

ooooooh yes.

One guy actually said to me, after questioning me on where I was from and where I was going, "It's ok, sir, I'm not a guide, I'm just selling carpets".

I'll see those sights next time, and update this entry.

You should although the Dohlmabahce is basically a big version of the Beyleberi palace.

Kahriye (as the Turks call it ) - Chora is very nice indeed, better mosaics than in Hagia Sofia really although obviously not as historic. I got hustled by a tragic old guy near there (we walked the Theodosian Walls and did Kahriye at the same time) - he polished my sandals - - which didn't take much and wanted 50 TL for it. I gave it to him just for the cheek Be careful, the area around Chora is not particularly appealing.

The Archaeology museum I could have spend three days in. I only found out after I got home that the big porphyry tombs in the courtyard are the old Tombs of the Emperors from the (now gone) Church of the Holy Apostles. And they're relegated to the courtyard! The treasures inside are stunning. The history of the middle east goes way back before Byzantion and it's all there.

If you know the story of the tetrarchate statue build into Basilica San Marco in Venice (I'm sure you do). The toe was broken off of this by crusaders during the sack on Constantinople. A little gem is that the toe was found by builders near the site of the church of the holy apostles (Suleiyman Mosque) when they dug up some ground near there. This can now be seen in the museum. Not their finest attraction I guess but it really brings home to me the connection of Venice and Constantinople from history

If I may say too, that another roman column worth visiting is the Burnt Column. A bit down the road towards the Grand Bazaar from the Hagia Sofia, I think it's the biggest of the columns and has an interesting history, having had on it's pedestal statues of Constantine and Julian the Apostate followed by (until 1453) a giant crucifix.

I enjoyed seeing the valens aqueduct too although there's no museum attached or really anything else there.

Istanbul is probably the only place I'd go to again (maybe Rome too) on holiday. Amazing city! People here brag about how cosmopolitan London is. They've not been to Istanbul.

You obviously saw quite a bit of the city! I saw the aqueduct and the burnt column but they didn't make it into the top 14. The church of the holy apostles was replaced by the Fatih mosque, not the Süleymaniye. I didn't get to it.

Was it? oh sorry, fair enough.

Yes we stayed there two weeks. Our hotel was astonished that we were there for that long. Seemed a quite standard thing to do to us but most people seem to do flying 1-2 day visits.

I was only there for 3 days. I find that I get tired of any city after about 4 days as there is rarely anywhere to sit down and relax.

That's true, I wouldn't two two weeks in a city again I must say.

We did do sedate things often too though -

We spent a whole day, not 1/2 hr exploring the old walls for example.

We walked around some beautiful parks too at one point (can't remember what they were called)

We spent a day in one of the Prince's Islands too - we walked around it, no donkey for us.