Day Four - Istanbul

I said that today in Istanbul is day 4, but I'm not sure that is true! When you spend 24 hours flying and in airports and on buses to hotels, it messed up the day count!! So on Sunday, October 13 (we left home on Tuesday, October 8), we awakened on the boat still in the same port. We had pre-ordered room service breakfast, which was so smart. Omar would call and say he was on his way and he would be there in about 2 minutes with our fresh and hot breakfast.

I texted the picture below to my friend and asked, "Is this long enough?" Our instructions for the day were to have our knees and shoulders covered and to bring a head cover. This photo is important later in the day. Just FYI - my knees are covered.

The locals were lined up along this bridge and they were fishing. People were fishing on that bridge every time we drove by.

I love a fresh veggie/fruit stall. I have several photos of fresh fruit and veggie stands from this trip and from other trips.

I thought the restaurant below was interesting - this was their Vitamin Bar!

Such pretty flowers!

Our tour guide's name was Gulleen. Many of us had a hard time understanding her over our headsets.

We headed to the Blue Mosque, also known as the Sultan-Ahmet Camii. According to Istanbultourstudio.com - the Blue Mosque was built between 1609 and 1616, by the architect Mehmet Aga. It was designed as an imperial show of strength to complement the imposing Hagia Sophia Mosque across the square. It is named the Blue Mosque because of over 20,000 handmade-ceramic Iznik tiles that decorate the interior. It has six minarets. 

These photos are all in the courtyard.

For some unknown reason, I was fascinated by this window.

My head covering kept slipping off.

Let me state first -- I am a Christian and I do not believe in reincarnation BUT this kitty reminded me so much of Harvey that I took two pictures of him. As the vet was putting Harvey to sleep a few weeks ago, she told me that Harvey would let me know he was ok at some point and in some way in the future. I felt like this might have been that moment.

Below, on the left, is my boss - Brian. He is the Senior Pastor at our church. His parents, wife, and youngest daughter were all on the trip with us.

Inside was so beautiful. There are 260 windows.

The lights were amazing.

Nathan in the blue shirt, Amy on the right, Mollie in the middle -some of our group.

And here I am from the back - with Property of Blue Mosque across my behind! Why? You saw my dress earlier -- it covered my knees! Why? Why? Why? I was wearing a cross body bag which hiked one side of my dress up just enough to see a tiny portion of my knee. They literally threw this skirt at me and told me to put it on. I look like a Babushka! Our group LOVED that I was the one picked out of everyone . . .and I was the property of the Blue Mosque, according to what was written across my behind!

The inside was truly beautiful.

There is a courtyard between the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia. Below is the Obelisk of Theodosius (made of red marble) and it was first erected during the 18th dynasty of Egypt. It was re-erected in Istanbul in the 4th Century A.D. Each of the four faces has a column of inscription, celebrating Thutmose III's victory over the Mitanni which took place on the banks of the Euphrates in about 1450 BC.

Below is the Serpent Column erected in the 4th Century AD. It is an ancient bronze column and is part of an ancient Greek sacrificial tripod, originally in Delphi and relocated to Constantinople (Istanbul) by Constantine the Great in 324. It was built to commemorate the Greeks who fought and defeated the Persian Empire at the Battle of Plataea (479 BC). The serpent heads (no longer there) remained intact until the end of the 17th century. 

You can see a little of the base of the obelisk below. The base is elaborately decorated and depicts Theodosius and his court at the Hippodrome of Constantinople. Underneath the first base (that you can see in the photo) is another base and it has Greek and Latin inscriptions and hippodrome scenes. There are different scenes on all sides. I remember our guide walking us around so we could see.

Below is the Kaiser (German) Fountain and it is located at the northern end of the old Hippodrome (still in the same place where the obelisk and serpent are located). It was constructed to commemorate the second anniversary of German Emperor Wilhelm II's vist to Istanbul in 1898. According to Travelatelier.com, the fountain was built in Germany and transported in pieces to Istanbul and assembled on its current site in 1900. The neo-Byzantine style fountain has an octagonal dome with eight marble columns, and the dome's interior is covered with golden mosaics.

The Hurrem Sultan fountain sits nears the Hurrem Sultan Bathhouse. Who is Hurrem Sultan? She was also known as Roxelana. She became one of the most powerful and influential women in Ottoman history. She entered the Imperal Haren where her name was changed; she rose through the ranks and became the favorite concubine of Sultan Suleiman. He actually married her!

The mosaics are beautiful.

I snapped the photo below simply because of all of those watermelons! I want to know what they were going to do with them!!

On to the Hagia Sophia -- once a Byzantine cathedral, then an Ottoman mosque, then a museum, and now a mosque again. It is an example of the harmonious coexistence of different civilizations. We were allowed to enter the room in the few photos below, but then you will notice a rail -- we were only able to view the main space from a balcony. At one time, people were allowed to visit on the main floor.

This is Lu, our neighbor -- covered knees and covered shoulders and covered head.

The lights were magnificient here, too.

Here we are looking down into the main space.

Can you see the angel on the left? This mosaic had been painted over at some point. This mosaic is from the 9th century. This is the example of a Christian symbol butting up against Muslim writings.

Below is the Dessis Mosaic. It depicts Christ enthroned between the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. John is shown pleading with Jesus to intercede on behalf of humanity. 

Below is the Mosaic of John Comnenos -- the Comnenus mosaic dates around 1122 AD. The Virgin Mary is standing in the middle. She is holding baby Jesus. On her right side stands emperor John II Comnenus, represented in clothes embellished with precious stones. Empress Irene stands on the left side of Mary, wearing ceremonial garments and offering a document.

When we left the Hagia Sophia, we gathered on the square and had our photo taken at the Istanbul sign. You can't see the sign haha! Actually, if you look, you can see the giant red letters peeking out!

After the photo, we were given free time to roam the market and get some lunch. The market is known as the Bazaar and is the world's largest covered market and dates back to the mid-fifteenth century. The Bazaar has 64 streets and small lanes and houses more than 4,000 shops and includes a post office, banks, etc.

I love seeing spices in big bins and peppers hanging from the ceiling.

Look at this gorgeous display of dried fruit!!

The photo above has bins of spices and

below there are bins of nuts.

Below is a bakery - the food is displayed beautifully.

At the back of one of those streets, we found a restaurant . . .but we weren't sure it was a restaurant . . .but it was! I cannot find the name of the restaurant. I actually ordered a cheese burger and fries and ate the meat and no bun.

Traffic on the way back to the port was not as bad as Egypt! We saw more fishermen on the bridge.

The picture below is totally out of order -- we were between the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia -- I think!!

Dave and Mark were waiting on us - we were in the bathroom! To me, this is the funniest photo. They look like statues.

Aha! Here is the photo from the front -- where the skirt is also printed "property of the Blue Mosque." We were all trying to get our shoes back on.

I think this was our afternoon treat from Omar -- scones and clotted cream and jam. I tasted the scone and it was yummy but even though scones aren't very sweet, it was too much sugar for me.

The view from our balcony was lovely.

The view from the top of the ship was amazing!! We were to set sail later - maybe 8 or 10 p.m. It was actually very windy and cool.

Let's see - left to right

Theresa (she lives in our neighborhood and goes to church with us), Mollie, Amy, Laura R., Laura E, me, and Tina.

Look at that sunset and that view - it was amazing.

Here is another one. I may have to have those printed for our upstairs wall.

Tina is married to our Executive Pastor. He was the youth pastor beginning right when our kids graduated from high school. Tina and David have four gorgeous daughters. Tina had a picture of our daughter, Laura, and her together when Laura would help with their kids (14 years ago??). We took this one together and she sent it to Laura!!

There were stray kitties everywhere and we fed them part of our food. Mark did get scratched by one of the cats -- maybe it was this day?? He actually had a weird allergic reaction after we got home from the trip and I made him go to the doctor to make sure he didn't have cat scratch fever. The next photos are totally out of order.

These photos are out of order, too. Mark was photo bombing Laura and me. I love that I get to work with fun people. They keep me young. This was when we were between the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia.

I told you that our group LOVED the fact that I was the one who had to wear the skirt of shame. I cannot tell you how many of them took a photo of me and then texted it to me hahaha! The skirt was sliding off at this point!

 I know this isn't that interesting to many of you so if you've read any of the posts or even just looked at the pictures, thank you! I've mentioned before that my blog is for those days in the future when I either can't remember or we are too old to travel and want to reminisce. If you are coming along for the journey, that is awesome!! I'm hoping that blogger or google doesn't tell me that I've added too many photos!