The Bosphorus Boat Tour and Old Fortress Ruins

Tuesday - June 2, we took off for another family adventure
in Istanbul! We went on a river cruise up the Bosphorus
Strait toward the Black Sea.

Here we are walking toward our boat at the port.

A scenic view of the water and the many boats.

There are always many boats of all kinds to see.

Aboard the river tour boat, Addi is looking at the many

boats of all sizes.

Maddox is studying the boats too.

There are many old buildings along the strait to view.

Another mosque in the background

Kit, Jenny, Cyrus and Matt

This is Addi's dog, Bolt. Named after the famous Bolt in

the movie.

This is Maddox's Boo Boo the Baby Cow.

This is an old palace located along the waterfront.

I've only read about these and now I've actually seen one.

Too bad we didn't have time to go and explore it.

This is one of two bridges that connect the European and

Asian sides of the city.

A palacial home along the waterfront.

Another view with a tower

More beautiful homes and apartments

The boat stopped several times along the route at small

villages to drop off or pick up other passengers. This

home was a beautiful stand-out at this stop.

More beautiful homes...

Jenny and Addi looking at the view

Jenny and Mary Ann

An English gentleman offered to take our picture. Jenny,

Mary Ann and Kit posing for this shot.

We were nearing the Black Sea. Here you can see how

close both land areas are, and beyond is the Black Sea.

A boat entering the Bospherus Strait coming from the

Black Sea.

There are many villages along the water route. Most of

the buildings in Istanbul have the terra cotta tiled roofs,

similar to the roofs in the SW part of the USA.

Addi in an unhappy moment.

Matt, Cyrus and Maddox. Maddox is taking a picture

with the camera. Addi and Maddox enjoyed using both

of our cameras for various shots and some pics taken

were really good!

Cyrus...turn this way for your picture!!! Here Cyrus is

enjoying some exercise time. He loves moving his arms

and legs. He makes such cute noises too!

Jenny, Matt and Maddox

Cyrus still has a head of black hair! His eyes are dark

blue sometimes and dark brown at others. We have no

idea what color they will be eventually!

You can barely see the ruins of an old palace fortress to

the left of the red Turkish flag in this shot.

We arrived in this small village for a lunch stop. Those who

chose to could hike up the mountain side to see the ruins of

an old fortress.

There were many small outdoor restaurants to choose from

for lunch. Many were grilling all kinds of fish delights. But

Matt and Kit do not eat fish, so we moved along until we

finally found this cafe.

Kit sat patiently waiting on his chicken dish.

Before lunch, the children enjoyed watching this kitten

curl up and get comfortable for his nap.

After lunch, we started our hike to the top to see the ruins.

This store caught my eye with the wooden children, like

Pinnochio sitting in the upstairs window.

As we traveled up, following the road, there were homes

and great views of the Bosphorus.

We walked past part of the fortress ruins here.

The road ended and we had to climb up many steps. Along

the way were several restaurants with great views. But I

was thankful that we had eaten before climbing up this

mountain!

Another beautiful view...

Here are the ruins of the old fortress built by Sultan Sehmet

for protecting the city of Istanbul a long time ago. You could

climb up to the top, but we didn't because of the children

and the old lady who came along!

An incredible blue view!

Another view of the ruins

The Depp Family - Addi, Maddox, Cyrus, Jenny and Matt

We took a break in the shade of the tower of the ruins.

Another view from the backside of the ruins

The opening of the Bosphorus leading into the Black Sea

from atop the mountain at the ruins.

We started our walk back down from the top. This shows

part of the old wall around the fortress.

A great view as we began our descent.

One last shot before heading down

An opening in the old wall

Back on the boat, we had a great view of the little village

here we had lunch and the ruins at the top of the mountain.

A last look from our boat toward the Black Sea.

Maddox pretending to slide on the boat.

Addi posing for her shot on the pretend slide.

We were all very tired. Jenny and Cyrus napping together.

Cyrus was such a great little traveler!

Another old palace along the waterfront.