The Islands of Venice

Close to Venice there are very nice small lagoon islands. Murano, Burano and Torcello...

Murano

That island is famous with its glass production. It is about 1.5 km away from Venice. To reach Murano you should go to Fondamenta Nuove stop in Venice. There you can take a boat with numbers  41 or 42. In Murano lives over 5000 people.

There we arrive Murano with boat

And we are on the island and walk to the center

In Murano, there are a row of shops where you can find each kind of glass product. Lamps, animal figures, vases and everything you can imagine from glass. And also nice jewelry. Rings, earrings… We saw even a 1 euro glass shop!  

Glass paradise

The enviorenment in Murano is very similar to Venice. There are many little channels between the houses and you have to walk on the narrow pathways.

There are shops in each side

You can see the traces of the glass production everywhere. Here is a statue from glass.

When you cross over the Vivarini Bridge, if you walk along the Fondamenta Cavour, you will see the Glass Museum. There are around 4000 pieces in the museum.

 

Burano

Same as Murano, you can go to Burano from the Fondamenta Nuove in Venice. There are also boats in Murano Faro stop in Murano. There you should take the LN line. 

Burano

The most famous part of Burano is its pretty houses. All the houses are coloured in a different way which makes an impressive look.

In Burano like in Venice all the commerce is done by waterway. Here a boat brings goods for a shop...

In Burano there are statues from glass too...

Burano is also known for its lace work. Everywhere on island you will see shops in which clothes or table covers from lace are sold. But they are a little bit expensive.  For instance a t-shirt was around 80 euro. But they look nice.

 

Lace work

                     

And as I mentioned in Venice part, don´t forget to eat cookies in Burano...

And lastly a cat from Burano... They are everwhere...

Since I wasn´t in Torcello, I can´t write about it... May be next time...

Venice

Bongiorno! We are going from one city by the sea to another. From Istanbul to Venice!

A view from venice

It is a city in northern Italy. I guess everybody heard at least once in his life about Venice. Even you didn’t visit; you should know it from the movies. Or you should have heard about it from the people who visited. It is mostly associated with love. They say it is a love city. I should admit that Venice is a really romantic city. But I can´t say that I was fully romantic and felt wonderful in Venice. The people living and working in Venice destroy the romanticism of the city somehow… I will tell about it later. But first let´s learn about the beautiful parts of Venice…

Gondola!

 

It is up to you how to go to Venice. If you are coming from another country you should fly to Venice Marco Polo Airport. It is not very far from the Venice city center. Then you can go to the main bus station with a bus. Bus services are very good and cheap in northern parts. I can´t tell anything about southern parts because I wasn´t there. But I guess it is same in the whole country.  For instance for an hour trip we had paid around 3 euros. When you come to the bus station then you have to get a boat. 

Travel by sea

 

San Marco

There are no vehicles inside Venice. You can go everywhere only by sea. If you want to start from the center, your stop is San Marco.

To go to the  St. Mark's Square you should get out of the boat here

 

San Marco lies in the heart of the city. There are many famous sights to see. For instance St. Mark's Square, Saint Mark's Basilica, the Doge's Palace, the La Fenice theatre and the churches of San Beneto, San Fantin, Santa Maria del Giglio, San Maurizio are the most famous ones.

St. Mark's Square

The architecture of the buildings is fabulous. But especially in summer time it is very crowded. To enter a museum or church, you should wait at least 20-30 minutes in queue.

No food!

Here comes the negative parts. First it is not allowed to eat in St. Mark's Square. Yes, you heard correctly. There are police everywhere and they don’t let you sit somewhere in the middle of the square, in front of any building and eat something. I don’t know the reason but I guess they want to force you to eat in the restaurants.  But I admit that I ate my cookies secretly in the St. Mark's Square!

A romantic or a commercial city?

 

Screaming children and the toilet problem

And secondly the people are sometimes or most often very rude. It is not allowed to use the toilets in the cafes or restaurants unless you are a customer. First you should eat or drink something and then you can use the toilette. It is written everywhere. And there is only one or two public toilettes and they are extraordinarily expensive. That is also another way of forcing people to sit and eat something I guess. I admit that I did it as well a few times. We drank something and then used the toilet. But we lived unpleasant things too. Once we entered a café and ordered a drink. And I wanted to use the toilette but we didn’t get our drink yet. When I moved courage sly towards the toilet, a Japanese waiter screamed at me! Yes, he did. He said I am not allowed to use the toilette and made strange gestures. I was afraid that he would start making charade soon.  I told him that I was a guest there and ordered something already. Then he looked around and allowed me after a few minutes thinking. Thanks god! Somehow that Japanese guy had become more Venetian than the real Venetians! So if you have little children, it might be an unpleasant experience for you. Think you have a child who cry and says “Mama, I want to go to toilet.” And your answer: ”Wait, my child, first we have to drink something and then you can pee”…  Such kind of things you will meet everywhere in Venice and these are things that kills the romanticism of the city as I mentioned at the beginning. Everything was turned into a commercial good and all the people wandering around are seen as potential customers, money givers… 

As ambulance or each other institution in Venice, finance office also uses boats to go from somewhere to somewhere. May be they were after tax invaders!

Boat of the finance office

Gondolas!

As I said sometimes we lived unpleasant things but of course it was a nice trip in general. Especially the gondolas! They are the symbols and the most important feature of Venice. And although it is very expensive, wandering around or inside Venice with a gondola is an unforgettable experience. There are so many gondola services around Venice. They cost between 80-120 euro.

A gondola service seen far away

Of course the charge changes between the night and the evening. During the day it is cheaper.

But it is nicer to get a gondola service in the evening. If you don’t want to pay so much get a gondola service during the day for a cheaper price and get a normal boat (public transportation) for a few euros during the evening. So you can see almost the same places with the boat too during the evening. 

The advantage of the gondola is that you can pass through the very narrow streets which the boats cannot go. If you want you can get a singer service too in your gondola. I guess it doubles the charge. They mostly sing classical music and opera music!

Passing under a bridge with a gondola

Each gondola service has its own men. I mean gondola drivers. I don´t know if they have a speacial name. There are different gondola companies. That was our driver. He was a nice guy but was talking so much. He was guiding us thorugh the city and at the same time chatting with the other gondola drivers around. And very loud:)

Our driver

The Rialto Bridge

In Venice there are so many bridges but the most famous one is the Rialto Bridge. The building of the bridge was completed in 1591. The two ramps of the bridge lead up to a central place. On both side there are rows of shops.  And there are also some cafes under the bridge where you can sit and drink something with a nice view in front of your eyes.

Rialto Bridge

Venice during the night

Here are some views from Venice during the night...

 

Cuisine

Seafood is one of the characteristics of Venice cuisine. Risotto is also famous. But while it is an Italian city, of course you can find everywhere each type of macaroni and pizza. Or in Italian ”Pasta e Pizza!” 

Famous Burano cookies

                              

But what I want to mention is the cookies! Especially in the islands close to Venice there are little bakeries which sell delicious cookies. For instance golden and oval shaped cookies which is called baicoli, cookies with almonds and pistachios… And the island Burano is famous with its S shaped butter biscuits…

Shopping

Venice is a little bit expensive for shopping. There you can find many famous expensive international brands. In the streets also there are stands that sell souvenirs such as magnets or other things that remind Venice. In Venice masks are very famous too.

            

Carnival masks

                              
Many of the fashion boutiques and jewelry shops are located in the Rialto Bridge and the St Marks´s Square.

Nearby

If you want to see other cities around Venice, trains are a good option.  For instance Rome is 3.5 hours, Milan over two and a half hours and Treviso is thirty-five minutes away from Venice. Florence is also between Rome and Venice.

Loves from venice too

Our next stop will be the islands close to Venice...

Istanbul

Welcome to Istanbul! Or Hoşgeldiniz! That is the Turkish version. Istanbul is the city I recently visited. So we start first with it. Should I write in which country it is? Ok, maybe there are people who don’t know. It is in Turkey. Ahhh! I guess you had already guessed when I wrote the Turkish version of “Welcome”.

It is a nice but a huge city. Around 13 million people live there. I want to give you a very important tip. Don’t use the name of Constantinople for Istanbul. The Turkish people don’t like it. Or don’t tell as well Istambul or Istambol. They are all wrong. Just Is-tan-bul.  Read as it is written. In Turkish every word is read as it is written. You don’t need to think how you read when -t after- s comes or when –a after -e comes. Just simple. Read what you see. It will be very helpful when you want to ask about something or somewhere in Turkish.

When somebody visits a city for the first time, the first stop is usually the historical places. Let’s follow the rule and learn about the famous places to see...

Topkapi Palace (Topkapı Sarayı)

A view of the palace

                                       
It was built in 1478 by Fatih Mehmet Sultan. He is the conqueror of Istanbul as well. Then the Ottoman sultans and their families lived there hundreds of years long.

I like mostly the jewelry part in the palace. As a woman it is normal that they attract me. The shiny diamonds, emeralds, pearls… Especially The Spoonmaker's Diamond (Kaşıkçı Elması) is the most interesting piece. It is an 86 carats (17 g) pear-shaped diamond. To take a photo was forbidden. So I can’t show you a photo. But when you want to see you can look at it in the internet. By the way, yes in some parts especially in treasury part, it is forbidden to use cameras.

There the Sultan met the other people

The tourists and even the Turkish people find Harem part as the most interesting part. There Sultan’s family and the concubines lived. They were also in a way like Sultan’s wives. But I guessed the number was very high. There just lived the women. No man was allowed to enter.

A view from Harem

It is enough about the palace for now. Let's visit somewhere else.

Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya)

It is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica. After the conquer it was turned into a mosque and now it is a museum.

Hagia Sophia

 Inside you can see features that represent both Christianity and Moslem.

Inside Hagia Sophia

Dolmabahce Palace (Dolmabahçe Sarayı)

That is another famous palace in Istanbul. There also lived some Ottoman sultans. But what is most important for the Turkish people is that Atatürk, the founder of Turkish republic, lived there also for a while and died there.

Dolmabahce Palace

                                          
The palace garden is very big. There are also some other small museums inside. For instance the Clock Museum. There are very precious clocks that were sent from France or some other European countries at the time of the Ottoman Empire. And there is also a place where birds live. Don't forget. The ticket you bought for the Dolmabahce Palace is also valid for the other museums in the garden. Mostly the tour guides forget about telling it. But it is written on the ticket.

That is the naughty cat that watches the birds in the palace. But he just watches!

Ortaköy

The next stop was Ortaköy. Literally it means the middle village in Turkish. There are many street sellers and nice cafes in that part. You can sit in a café and watch the Bosphorus while you drink your hot coffee or your cold cola. The Ortaköy Mosque, which has a Neo-Baroque style and which borders the waters of the Bosphorus is also one of the tourist attractions.

Ortaköy Mosque

And the street shops...

You can also feed the birds and...

... catch fish!

The Maiden Tower (Kız Kulesi)

I would like to suggest you not to leave Istanbul without seeing the Maiden Tower as well. It is a tower in the middle of the sea. You can go there in a few minutes with a boat from Üsküdar. You can go up the tower and watch Istanbul in the middle of the sea. You can as well eat or during something in the tower.

Maiden Tower

                              
Nobody knows a hundred percent sure why that tower was built but of course there are many mystical stories. The one which affects me is so: There was a princess in the old times. When she was born, an enchanter told the King that the princess would die of a snake bite. He didn’t want his daughter die. And he built that tower in the middle of the sea. Because he thought no snake could go till there. From time to time the soldiers of the King were bringing food for the princess. And one day in a basket full of grapes there was an unwanted visitor as well. A snake! He bit the princess when she put her hand into the basket to get grapes. And she died. The tower in the middle of a sea even couldn’t change her fate.

A view from the tower

And lastly, try passing over the Bosphorus Bridge as well. You can't walk there but pass by car or by bus and can see Istanbul from the top. If you are lucky there is so much traffic so you can stay more on the bridge. Nights are nicer.

Bosphorus Bridge

                               
Shopping

So much history is enough. Let's go shopping now. That part is for women. Of course for the men also who like shopping. But since such men are so rare in the world, I said “for women”! Istanbul is a city of shopping centers paradise. They are open till 22:00 each day. Yes each day! Even on Sundays. Not like in Europe where you cannot even find bread on Sundays.

                                                           
It is possible to find a shopping center in each part of Istanbul. I write here the most famous ones: Cevahir, Metrocity, Akmerkez, Capitol, Carousel, Atrium, Tepe Nautilus, Mayadrom, Profilo, Kanyon and İstinye Park. These are the biggest ones. There are also many outlet shops and arcades.
 

Taksim

                     
The districts Besiktas and Taksim have many arcades and shops in the street. Especially Taksim is very popular with its cafes, shops and restaurants. By the way you never get hungry in Istanbul because in each edge of Istanbul there are restaurants.

The Grand Bazaar

                                        
For those who want to buy souvenirs, I suggest The Grand Bazaar (Kapalı Çarşı). The Grand Bazaar is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world. It has 58 streets and more than 4000 shops. You can find it in Eminönü district. In the bazaar, souvenirs from porcelain or glass, each kind of jewellry especially gold, carpets and some other textiles are sold. And close to it there is Spice Bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı). There you can find also many souvenirs, spices, Turkish delight, coffee and even belly dancer dresses. And don't forget bargaining in the Spice Bazaar. But that is not possible in big shopping centers. By the way in Turkey to able to shop you need Turkish Lira.

The last word (Son söz)

Yes, till now I tried to introduce you a fraction of Istanbul. It is not possible to see each part of the city even in a month I believe. But these are the most visited parts. If you have questions, I am happy to inform you more.

If you visit Istanbul, I wish you a very nice journey from now on… Our next stop will be Venice.

Greetings from Istanbul