Getting from the airport (which turned out to be really far away from the city) to our hostel felt pretty overwhelming...until we discovered that Turkish people are incredibly friendly and helpful. We asked about 8 people for directions before the evening was over, and all were smiling and eager to help, even if we didn't speak the same language.
We stayed in a great hostel in downtown Istanbul, two streets away from this:
The Hagia Sophia
The Blue MosqueThe Hagia Sophia (or "Holy Wisdom") was built in the year 532 by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and was the largest cathedral in the world for almost 1000 years. Pretty amazing that something that old is still standing!
In the 1400s, when Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks, the Hagia Sophia was converted into a Muslim mosque and became the model for future Muslim building projects.
Inside, we saw beautiful Christian mosaics that were plastered over when the the building switched religions.
John the Baptist
Right across from the Hagia Sophia sits the Blue Mosque. The mosque gets its name from the 20,000+ Iznik blue tiles that cover the interior. Apparently, the Sultan prohibited anyone else from buying Iznik tiles while the mosque was under construction. His strategy was very effective and the construction took less than 7 years.
As luck would have it, our friend Ingrid (and her friend Katie) also happened to be in Istanbul at the same time so we ended up touring the Blue Mosque together. We took off our shoes, and did a lot of ooh-ing and aah-ing staring at the ceiling with major cricks in our necks. 
Rob and I also went to see the huge, underground Basilica cistern: basically a giant water-tank that was built in the 6th century to provide water for the palaces of Constantinople. 
These days, you can walk through the cistern on wooden planks, while listening to eery music, dodging drips, and taking pictures of the 336 gigantic marble columns that support the roof.
1 comment:
soooooooooo jealous
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