Istanbul 5
Trip Start
Nov 14, 2008
1
59
102
Trip End
Feb 26, 2009
Istanbul,
Turkey
Monday, January 12, 2009
This site used to be a Byzantine church, and is now a phenomenal mosque. The design inside is amazing - a mix of mosaics from Christian times, and Muslim elements like ornamental Arabic scripts and beautiful arches. The doors are apparently originals from Noah's Ark (as if...), justified by the fact that the ark apparently ended up in Turkey's Mt. Ararat.
Topkapi Palace
The Ottoman Sultans used this palace for several hundred years, until they decided they needed a more modern one by the Bosphorus, but I would have no complaints living here. We started in the kitchen area, where there were 10 kitchens, and which now house ceramics purchased along the Silk Road from China and Japan. Several THOUSAND people used to live in the palace, all to serve the Sultans with opulence, explaining the need for so many kitchens.
I checked out the room housing items belonging to the prophets, which I was very skeptical about. For instance, they had the rod Moses used to part the Red Sea, King David's slingshot, Abraham's sandal, and Prophet Muhammad's beard. Afterwards a few of us went to the gem room, with gems given to the Sultans as gifts from all over the world, including one of the world's largest diamonds. These were beautiful.
Blue Mosque
Istanbul has 3,000 mosques, and this is the most famous and impressive. From outside there appears to be an endless number of minarets and domes in the typical Islamic style, and inside there's a huge prayer floor with loads of lights above. We took our shoes off to go in, and decided to sit through a service, which lasted about half an hour and was surprisingly boring.
Hippodrome
The ancient Romans used this for chariot races, but today it's more of a park, with an ancient Egyptian obelisk in the centre.
Basilica Cistern
This is Istanbul's largest cistern (underground water storage area), which was built so that the people in Istanbul could have enough water in case of a siege. It has a cool effect when it's lit up, and apparently classical music concerts often take place here. At the end of the cistern are columns with the head of Medusa, for some reason turned sideways.
Bar at night
About 10 of us headed to a sports bar to grab some drinks and watch European football. I was insanely jealous of my brother Brendan, who scored 30 Euro tickets to watch AS Roma vs. AC Milan, with Paolo Maldini, Kaka, Ronaldinho, and the Serie A debut of ... David Beckham! This is out last day in Istanbul for over a week, and we have a lot of driving to do in between.
