Don't Cry for me Aya Sofia!

  Istanbul, Turkey
Wednesday, July 9, 2008

We were in bed last night just after 10:00 and were up this morning at 8:00am.  The singing of the nearby Mosques gave us a little bathroom wakeup, but we were had no trouble at all falling back asleep again.  We enjoyed a lazy morning, once again having breakfast at our hostel and visiting with the people who work here.  Today was the day we were going to get most of our itinerary planned out a bit - at least general timelines.  We have booked a bus to Cappadoccia which we have heard so many great things about.  We booked too late and were only able to get away on Friday instead of tomorrow as we'd hoped, but it is alright as we quite enjoy Istanbul and there is lots to do and see. 

Over the cobblestone we wandered again today - this time we were able to make our way inside a couple of the sights.  First we went to the Blue Mosque, which yesterday we only took in the outside and the courtyard.  The tourists enter from a seperate entrance where a man is there to offer women scarves if they haven't any and a sarong if they are showing too much leg.  My dress did not quite come down to my knees so I was given the sarong - but I had my own scarf.  Inside the Blue Mosque was all carpeted, and decorative tiles went all the way up the ceiling.  We did a very quick walk-through and then made our way to the Basillica Cistern. 

The Basillica Cistern was very cool.  (Both literally and in slang).  The entire area is below ground.  We walked down a long stairway and saw dozens of pillars rising from the ground all the way up to the ceiling. 

05. A View from the Stairs

The pillars were all coming out of water which, upon closer inspection, was filled with many fish.  Every other pillar or so had a red or yellow light shining behind it which gave it an ambiance that is difficult to explain.

As we continued walking towards the back of the cave-like building, we came across the two Medusa Pillars.  A sýgn described the story of Medusa which, in a nutshell was that she was quite proud of her looks and was in love with Perious.  Unfortunately for her, Athena was also in love with Perious and then turned Medusa's hair into snakes out of jealousy.  Thus comes the story of people turning to stone when they looked at Medusa.  Unfortunately for her again - when Perious heard of this he cut off her head and so on and so on. 

Following the Basillica Cistern, we mosied our way to the Aya Sofia.  It is an enormous building whose name means, 'Church of Devine Wisdom'.  It is the most famous monument in Istanbul and was completed in 537 in an effort to restore the greatness of the Roman Empire.  Apparently the Emperor that designed it walked in for the first time and said, ¨Glory to God that I have been judged worthy of such a work.  Oh Soloman, I have outdone you.¨ 

We then moved on and decided it was past time to cool off.  Our room at the hostel has air conditioning and so we went back and ended up having a 2 hour sleep, waking up when some new people were checking in.  (We are staying in a dorm room that has a total of 8 beds).  We are hoping that we have not made the jet lag worse!  But we should be alright. 

It was definitely time for some food - so off we headed.  We found many more great streets filled with relaxing and chilled out atmosphere's.  Our eyes lit up as we found the infamous donairs!  We quite enjoyed them and sat as the evening cooled off.  On our stroll back towards our hostel, we happeded to come across an restaurant that had a spinning dervish.  It was very strange to see.  He was in traditional white clothes and a red hat, and spun non-stop for, we are told, the entire meal.  It didn't even seem like he was real, but rather that he was one of those mini ballerinas that are inside young girls jewellery boxes.  The ones that slowly spin to music when the box is opened.  He appeard to be in some sort of trance.  It was even a bit spooky.

Arriving back at the hostel, we were treated to a game of backgammon with the help of the workers once again.  I am happy to say that I beat Trevor 7 games to 1.  He had to buy me a beer.  Our first nights here have been great.  We hope to continue that in the upcoming days as we get ready to leave Istanbul.

Hugs and Love,
Dana and Trevor.