Day 2 started really great … or really poorly … depending on
how you look at it. We didn’t set an
alarm thinking we’d be up early after our previous day’s nap and early bed
time. But those light blocking curtains
really did their job. I woke up at 9:30
when housekeeping knocked on the door. I
think Amanda was mad at me for waking her up until I told her how late it was. So much for an early start.
After breakfast, we headed to the Blue Mosque. It was built in the early 1600’s and is still
an active mosque although they allow streams of tourists to parade through the
mosque between prayers. The posted rules
say that both men and women must be in long pants (or skirts) and women must have
covered arms and hair. For those who
didn’t plan ahead, they did have wraps to cover bare legs and scarves for the
women although the head covering was not strictly enforced. Amanda and I had our own scarves and had
dressed conservatively for the day but we were amazed by the number of tourists
with complete disregard for the customs of the mosque.
It is impossible to capture the majesty of the mosque in a
picture. It is a beautiful and vast
building with multiple domes, all covered with intricate tile work. Here are a few pictures to get the idea.
 |
| The Blue Mosque |
Next, we walked across the park to the Hagia Sophia. Original construction began in 360 A.D. and
served as a Christian basilica until the 1400’s. It was then converted to a mosque and used as
such until 1935 when it was secularized and turned into the museum that it is
today. Like the Blue Mosque it is a
grand building that you cannot adequately capture in a picture. It is mainly decorated in plaster, instead of
tile, and is an interesting mix of Christian and Muslim symbols.
 |
| Hagia Sophia |
We ate lunch at a small stand in the park between the Blue
Mosque and Sophia. While we were eating
we heard the call to prayer from the mosque.
Amanda has it captured on video on her camera so I’ll have to get a copy
and post it later.
Next was the Grand Bazaar which was neither as grand or as
bizarre as I was expecting. (I know,
bazaar does not mean bizarre but just go with me here.) I knew the bazaar was covered but was
expecting something a little more open air with more of farmer’s market
feel. Instead, the ceilings are low and
domed … similar to the crypt restaurants you find in the basements of the great
churches in England. And there are actual shops stuffed to
overflowing that line the corridors for what seems like infinity. You can find everything from Levi’s to high
end jewelry to post cards and key chains.
And many of the shops all sell the same things. Below is a picture of one of the light shops
as well as the bazaar entrance.
Our final adventure of the day was night time dinner cruise
on the Bosphorus. The Bosphorus is the
straight that divides the European side of Istanbul from the Asian side. The cruise was
over priced, the food was mediocre, and the entertainment was cheesy. But spending 3 hours on the water at night
did provide some beautiful sights of the city. I’ll post a video of the belly dancer in
another post :-)
#ibmcsc Turkey 8
0 comments:
Post a Comment