Istanbul

After a total of 16 hours of flight/layover/car ride, Colin and I arrived at Ciragan Palace Hotel in Istanbul. On our first night we gratefully slept to compensate the lost hours and woke up refreshed to see what Istanbul had to offer.

We did all the touristy things and on the first day went to the Sultanahmet. We explored Sultanahmet Camii (or Blue Mosque) and promptly got waylaid by a carpet seller (which we artfully gave the slip). To be fair he did pointed out little things that weren't in the guidebooks like the pattern of the carpet was to point the worshippers to Mecca. We told the carpet seller that we would be spending some time in the mosque that he shouldn't wait around for us. He insisted that he would wait outside the exit and promise to take us to his store. We promptly found another exit to make our escape and made our way to see the rest of the Sultanahmet area.

We walked the cobblestones and found the 16th century Sokullu Mehmet Pasa Camii, a smaller mosque but nonetheless fascinating. We removed our shoes (as in every mosque) and I covered my head with a scarf. The old caretaker showed us certain aspects of the mosque such as the three black stones (I learned later that they were stones from the Kaaba in Mecca) and pointed at things original to the mosque such as the stunning Iznik tiles. There were just one other person in the mosque and the caretaker was so eager and proud to show us this beautiful mosque.

Nearby was another mosque the Kucul Ayasofya Camii (also known as Little Hagia Sophia). It was constructed in the 6th Centruy and was the Church of the Saints Sergius and Bacchus and was converted to a mosque in early 16th Century.


















On our way to lunch, we heard a loudspeaker and no it wasn't a call from mosque but from a pick up truck selling potatoes and onions.














I realized that when I write about our travels, food is always in the forefront and I will not disappoint you this time. We ate at Tamara in the Sultanhamet had a plate of kebap, cheese pide (flatbread with cheese-- so yummy!) and lentil soup. We sat outside enjoying the weather and smoke-free atmosphere.















Fed and watered we toured Ayasofya Camii (or Haghia Sophia) which was comissioned by the Emperor Justinian in 532AD. The Ayasofya is now a museum and offered a glimpse of history into Istanbul. It started as a church and was the largest religious building in the world but when Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453, Sultan Mehmet II decreed the church should become a mosque. In mid 1930s it became a museum.

Afterwards we went underground to see the medusa heads in dark eerie Yerbatan Sarnici (a citern to supply water to the Great Palace). The dramatic lighting and dripping water made this underground site pretty cool. Jazzed by this cistern we searched for other cisterns in the area but found it closed and decided to call it a day.











For dinner, we walked over to the Ortakoy village and mingled with the locals and tourists at the waterfront. We had our afternoon tea. We shared a chestnut souffle over my Turkish tea and Colin's beer in one of the outdoor cafes. Dinner at the Banyan Cafe gave us wonderful view of the Bosphorus Bridge while sheltering us from the rain.















Other pictures:
Disney invasion in Turkey!














Tempted to try but wasn't feeling too jet lagged!












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