Istanbul, not Constantinople

The former capitol of the Roman Empire has undergone quite some changes in the last 1600 years, but not everything has changed. One of the most impressive buildings I have ever seen is standing tall above the city now for over 1500 years and somehow strangely reminds me of the home of Queen Padme Amidala from the planet Naboo in Star Wars' Episode I. "Haghia Sophia" has stood the test of time from Constantinople, enduring the Byzantine times, to today's Istanbul (now no longer a Christian Church, but a Mosque for the last 550 years).

With 11.4M inhabitants, Istanbul is considered the 3rd largest city in the world and is uniquely located on the Bosphorus river spanning two continents, Europe & Asia. Next to all the historic architecture, one of the biggest adventures on my trip must have been the visit to the Grand Bazaar. Containing a network of over 60 covered streets with close to 30.000 vendors selling about everything you can imagine, it is considered one of the world's largest building and the oldest covered market serving up to 400.000 shoppers a day! The neighboring spice market is considerably smaller, but offers a multitude of colors and even better: candy…

…and there is nothing better than to endulge in some turkish coffee with a nice selection of local sweets after a long day of sight-seeing