{"id":2090,"date":"2016-04-18T09:49:52","date_gmt":"2016-04-18T15:49:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dltwt.com\/?p=2090"},"modified":"2016-04-18T09:49:52","modified_gmt":"2016-04-18T15:49:52","slug":"the-worlds-shortest-inter-continental-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dltwt.com\/?p=2090","title":{"rendered":"The World’s Shortest Inter-Continental Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"
After the last two days of 15-hour tours with flights, we decided this was a perfect day (Saturday)\u00a0for a relaxing Bosphorous Cruise. \u00a0The Bosphorous Strait marks the border between two continents – \u00a0Europe and Asia. \u00a0It is a 19-mile strait (now within the municipal limits of Istanbul) that connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and ultimately the Mediterranean. \u00a0 What makes “cruisin’ the Bosphorous” so unique is the fact that you can travel between two continents within a matter of 15 minutes!\u00a0 \u00a0Modern Istanbul straddles both sides. \u00a0A complex system of ferries, bridges and now a railroad tunnel joins the community into one large “metroplex”. \u00a0To say that this waterway is very busy is an understatement. \u00a0 We saw mostly commuter and tourist boats but they also compete with large oil tankers and container ships from all over the world that sail from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.<\/div>\n
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It was a gorgeous, blue sky, sunny day. \u00a0The ferry boat was packed with what appeared to be mostly Turks with their families. \u00a0There were only a few tourists and it appeared to us that we were the only Americans. \u00a0 We sailed past palaces, nice homes, fishing villages, fortresses and dodged fisherman and freighters. \u00a0Mosque and modern feels like the typical Istanbul mix as you travel along the Strait. \u00a0The shoreline is lined with summer houses (that were once for the Ottoman elite), mosques, palaces and restaurants. \u00a0If anything, cruising the Bosphorous gives one a visual hint to just how much massive Istanbul (population of over 15m) there is to discover.<\/div>\n
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After lunch, \u00a0we walked over the Galata bridge to explore Karakoy which is Istanbul’s hippest neighborhood.\u00a0 Karakoy is the second half of the\u00a0European\u00a0section of Istanbul. \u00a0It is the “new” tourism center of Istanbul featuring many worldwide clothing chains such as Zara,\u00a0 Mango, H&M, \u00a0etc.\u00a0and a plethora of restaurants and chic cafes. \u00a0The major cobbled street in Karakoy is Istiklal Street where the most recent\u00a0terrorist\u00a0bombings took place in March.\u00a0 \u00a0It was difficult to walk this street due to the hordes of young”\u00a0locals” strolling along the street on Saturday. \u00a0It felt like we were walking on Fifth Avenue in NYC during Christmas time.\u00a0 \u00a0Not surprisingly, Karakoy is also a contradictory neighborhood with steep, tight-knit streets reflecting an old world multiculturalism.\u00a0 Once again, it felt like we were the only Americans roaming the streets of Karakoy!<\/div>\n
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\"Istanbul's<\/a>
Istanbul’s Chic Karakoy\u00a0Neighborhood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Old<\/a>
Old vs. New<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Expansive<\/a>
Expansive mansions along the Bosphorous<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Modern<\/a>
Modern Istanbul in the distance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Condos<\/a>
Condos along the shoreline<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Huge<\/a>
Huge Ottoman mansion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Man-made<\/a>
Man-made island used to monitor traffic is now a restaurant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Huge<\/a>
Huge mosque along the shoreline<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Our<\/a>
Our captain’s cabin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Very<\/a>
Very common – meat skewered, cooked, then cut<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Saturday<\/a>
Saturday crowds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Retail<\/a>
Retail everywhere – even in the under road passageway<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After the last two days of 15-hour tours with flights, we decided this was a perfect day (Saturday)\u00a0for a relaxing Bosphorous Cruise. \u00a0The Bosphorous Strait marks the border between two continents – \u00a0Europe and Asia. \u00a0It is a 19-mile strait (now within the municipal limits of Istanbul) that connects the Black Sea to the Sea … Continue reading The World’s Shortest Inter-Continental Journey<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Si9J-xI","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dltwt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dltwt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dltwt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dltwt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dltwt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2090"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/dltwt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2135,"href":"https:\/\/dltwt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2090\/revisions\/2135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dltwt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dltwt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dltwt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}