Greece and Turkey – Family Cruise on the NCL Jade

Istanbul - June 7, 2022

We finally made it to Istanbul; it has been on Travis's list for a while. This was another early port -- 7:00 am to 6:00 pm. We wanted to see as much as possible but knew the kids would not be able to go all day. This was true -- youngest got an headache, could not get the ibuprofen down (not good at swallowing pills), and is a grumpy traveler at the best of times.

This boat kept photo bombing our pictures. Hagia Sophia from the ship.

The Blue Mosque

Ashore, we docked at Galataport Istanbul; this is one of the fanciest ports that I have seen and big. We had to scan our cruise key card to get out of the port and scan to leave. Normally, we just scan on and off the ship, so that they know who has left and if they have come back. I guess Istanbul wanted to know who came in and that they left at the end of the day. They also gave us a survey on exit asking what we spent at the port and spent on the whole trip.

After walking from the port, we passed through a park and arrived at this washing fountain used to wash ones feet before praying. Our youngest called each mosque the Taj Mahal -- not even close, this is not India!

Near the fountain was the tram station, and ticket sells. I had read on the web that one could buy disposable tram cards with 1, 3, 5, 10 trips. This did not work because we just had a 100 Lira bill from the ATM in Kusadasi. We had to pay 50 Turkish Lira to get a non-disposable card and then 50 Lira worth of trips on it. Someone there was helping and making change with other people there and buying cards in between. As usual, I was skeptical if he was legit or not or just pocketing some money. I don't know which was true. We were at least able to use the same card and hand it back to each other. We rode the tram across the bridge to the Sultanahmet area. We had to add more money to the card to get back to the cruise port at the end of the day. We learned that the card also worked to pay and get into restrooms near Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. At the end of the cruise, we left it in our cabin, with a tip, for the room steward. Hopefully, she or one of her crew friends will be able to use it, or maybe they all have one already.

We arrived at Hagia Sophia. Before we went to Istanbul, I got a 3000 piece puzzle -- the biggest that I have ever done and it fills an entire dining room table with leafs. The puzzle has this fountain behind Hagia Sophia, though the Blue Mosque is on the other/wrong side. Oh, well.

There were people outside Hagia Sophia selling tours for $10 each, noting that they were normally $20 and that they could get us past the line. The line was long but moved quickly. Before entering, all ladies had to cover heads either with something brought or buying a disposable head scarf. I brought one that I got for the trip. I was not great at wearing it, but it covered my hair. I saw some people in the disposable ones, but I also saw ladies wearing the hoodie hood on to cover hair. They also had disposable cover ups if guys or ladies had on shorts or shoulders/arms showing. The recommendation is long, non-tight skirts/pants, and most of the arms covered. I had a long skirt, and Travis and the kids had long pants. I heard that they gave sacks to take off shoes and carry them. They were not. Someone people had sacks and looked to have brought them themselves, but they had a ton of shoe holders in the entries and even in the main mosque. Just remember where you put your shoes since there are many cubbies. They had letters on top and numbers for the cubby.

Also note, that you cannot visit Hagia Sophia during the call to prayers. You can find online when they are for the day that you are visiting. I was surprised that some were very early -- 3am and 5am. Then we were there to hear others around 1pm and another later. It was interesting to get the opportunity to hear.

The beautiful ceiling.

The speaking pulpit.

Center doom.

The library. It is hard to see, but they had large slanted (x shaped) furniture to hold the Koran and perfect for sitting in front of and reading.

This was famous mosaic still remaining and had a mirror as one was leaving to see it. Hagia Sophia was a Christian church, then a Mosque, then a museum, and now a Mosque again. When a Mosque, they covered up most Christian icons/mosaics. Constantine the Great and Justinian the Great.