29 April, 2024

Today we had a sunset cruise on the Bosporus Strait, which is the waterway between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea where all tankers, container ships, cruise liners etc. travel, as well as many ferries so it is a very busy strip. One side of the Strait (the one we are staying on) is the European side and the other is the Asian side, being considered the boundary between the two areas.

At times it looked like there were races between the ships, they were traveling at such a high speed. Sadly our sunset cruise saw no sun, just grey clouds. We did however get to hear about a range of the buildings / palaces and mosques along the river. Given its critical position, it is no surprise that it includes sites such as the Rumeli Fortress from the Ottoman period. It was built in 1451 as ordered by the Sultan Mehmed II with an aim to cut off any military support for the Byzantine city of Constantinople, enabling the Ottomans to take over as their new capital city.

We passed the Dolmabahce Palace (which we are to visit tomorrow), the Dolmabahce Mosque, the charming Beylerbeyi Palace, the Galata Tower etc. There is so much beautiful architecture along the Strait, including various mansions, some of whom have seen better days.

After the cruise, which went for 2.5 hours, we walked to a bar and restaurant that did not sell alcohol but did have a number of hookahs set up on a few of the tables. They looked interesting but we didn’t try any whilst we waited for our taxi.