Welcome to Istanbul!
Turkey is an amazing country. We spent two full days in the old part of Istanbul. I don't know if I've been in a more welcoming country. Not only was the customer service at the sights, restaurants, and hotels excellent, but also people on the street were just a pleasure to chat with. They were happy to help with directions and tell you about the beautiful buildings and history of their city.
The first stop for all good little art historians...the Hagia Sofia. Originally Santa Sofia, a Byzantine church built by Constantine (the man who brought you Christianity), it was converted to a mosque. The Muslim faith forbids depictions of human likenesses in places of worship, so the Byzantine mosaics were plastered over and the interior was redecorated. Bad sultan...very naughty. It was also completely sacked and looted by the Crusaders (oops...did we do that?) and burned up at one point. I'm just happy there's still something to see period. In recent times the mosque has been converted to a museum and is no longer used as a Muslim house of worship. It's always interesting to see what restoration projects turn up under the plaster. Like the angel face below the dome.
I snapped this pick from a window on the upper arcade. It's the onion domes of Hagia Sofia with the Blue Mosque in the distance.
This gorgeous structure is the Blue Mosque. It's gorgeous inside too and is still an official house of worship. We had to remove our shoes before entering. And, if it had been prayer time, I would have needed to cover my head. I had a pashmina on hand just in case.
Muslims are called to prayer five times a day. The first of which, I'm pretty sure, is at day break. At least that's what it seemed like when the extremely loud call to prayer sounded came though our closed window sometime between 5 and 6 am in the morning. All mosques play a man singing calls to pray on loud speakers, and believers can pray at home or go to the mosque. You can't accidently miss the time for prayer, no matter where (or how asleep) you are. It was always a little weird at first then it became a surreal sound to fall back asleep to.
One of Istanbul's sultans built the uber impressive cistern below the city. I'm still not 100% sure what it was used for (I know it stored water in case of emergency, but why did it have to be so fancy), but it sure was a knockout. The medusa stones are a cool enigma to see when you're there. No one is sure why they're there or why they aren't right side up.
Sidenote, the Turkish government must think very highly of their landmarks because...holy moly...tickets to get into museums and landmarks are expensive. $15-$20/person. Thank the Lord (or should I say Allah) that the Blue Mosque was free.
Hands down favorites of everyone were the bazaars. The Grand Bazaar is the largest covered market in the world. It was a cool place to wander around, but I would recommend making purchases at the Egyptian Bazaar or the Arasta Bazaar. The Arasta was my favorite because the sales people were much more laid back, and the prices were actually reasonable. You can find pretty much anything under the sun at the bazaars. On my constant search for a good glass of tea, I was thrilled to discover Turkish tea. Consequently, I was even more thrilled to purchase some teas at the Egyptian Bazaar (also known as the Spice Bazaar). Here are some beautiful pics from my sister-in-law Christy.
I heard the term before, but was surprised to find out that "Whirling Dervishes" are actually Turkish dancers practicing a mystic religious tradition. The instrumental music and singing is sometimes lively and sometimes very meditative. Dervishes whirl to fill themselves with love, which is the essence of the divine. They spin in constant circles for about 30 minutes only stopping three or four times. There were a few times during the performance that it felt too personal and sacred to perform while people were watching and eating.
We also visited the palace of the sultans and the seat of the Ottoman empire. The interiors were lavish, but the big show was the jewelry in the treasury. And by big I mean an 8lb emerald and a diamond the size of my fist. No kidding. But of course, you can't take pictures in the treasury. Because why? I've got my own 84 carat diamond at home that I might get cut to copy yours? Really?
Barrett and I are already planning our next trip to Turkey. We would love to spend some more time outside of the tourist areas. Not this time, but hopefully next time, we'll come back with a rug as a souvenir. We couldn't convince the boys that there were really such things as flying carpets, but without a doubt some of the world's most beautiful rugs are painstakingly made here and by hand. This woman gave a quick demonstration to us and the boys on how to make a rug. To go a meter wide and a meter long takes almost a year on a fine turkish rug.
We leave tomorrow to visit friends in Belgium and Amsterdam. Maybe I should post pictures of the Venice airport??? We go there an awful lot these days.
Gooly Gooly (that's what goodbye in Turkish sounds like),
Megan
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