I will briefly describe what we did each day. The weather was in mid-50s, and it was sunny on Saturday. Our hotel was located very close to the Blue Mosque. We left our hotel at 9 a.m. and did not return until after 9 p.m. We were able to see all the main sites and also experience traditional turkish neighborhoods (where nobody spoke English).
Day 1. We started out with seeing Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, located very close to each other, separated by a nice park with a fountain.
Blue Mosque - a huge beautiful mosque built in 1600s by a sultan of the Ottoman Empire, it attempts to surpass the beauty of Hagia Sophia (the Christian church from the Byzantine Empire times). The building received its name because its interior has tens of thousands of blue tiles. The Blue Mosque has beautiful minarets, with seagulls flying above them continuously. I had to wear a scarf in it, and we both had to take our shoes off.
Hagia Sophia - built by a Byzantine emperor in 500s AD. It was the greatest Christian church for about 1000 years, before the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453 and converted it into a mosque. Architecturally, Muslims also added minarets and changed some of the interior. The dome that you'll see in the video is 30 meters in diameter and it appears that there are no pillars supporting it, as the pillars were hidded in interior walls. Hagia Sophia has been a museum since the 1930s. Walking into this church is absolutely breathtaking! We spent several hours there, using a head-phone tour.
Close behind Hagia Sophia was the entrance to the Topkapi Palace, which was built by the sultan who conquered Constantinople in 1400s. Subsequent sultans lived in this palace till the 19th century, when they moved their residende to a European-style Dolmabahce Palace (see Day 3). Topkapi Palace is huge and covers a lot of territory; it also includes a harem, which was residential quaters for the sultan, his wives, concubines, children, mother, and others who lived in the palace. We spent hours walking around the palace, as it also included different museums.
Next, we headed to the Grand Bazaar, which is under-roof and has all kinds of things (lamps, carpets, scarfs, etc). I bought myself a scarf here. And on to the Spice Bazaar, where spices, teas, nuts, and all kinds of goodies are sold.
In the evening we had fresh fish sandwich for dinner, cooked on a boat (see pictures).
Day 2 - Saturday
We started out by seeing the Basilica Cisterns - underground water storage built in the 500s AD. The cisterns have an unearthly feel to them, as there are 336 tall columns arranged in rows, lit with light that reflects in the water. This was definitely one of our favorites in Istanbul. For centuries, the cisterns held water that was delivered from a reservoir near the Black sea via a 20 km long aquaduct. So, after that, we headed to the ruins of the aquaduct. The aquaduct was amazing, as one long wall survived the years. It was built in 300s AD.
After lunch, Rob and I got on a ferry boat that the people of Istanbul use to commute from the European to the Asian side of the Bosphorus strait. In 15 min. we were on the other side. There was a much more local feel to this area, as merchants did not speak English. We had to figure out a way to buy our sweets and fresh strawberries! Yummi! We explored this area and headed back to the European side of the Bosphorus. Next, we headed to what's considered to be the modern heart of Istanbul - Taksim Square and its surroundings. The square has the Republic Monument, featuring revolutionary heros of 1920s who turned the Ottoman Empire into the Turkish Republic. Starting at the square is a very wide 3 km long street with shops, cafes, and restraurants on both sides. This is the "place to go" in Istanbul and, as you will see in the pictures, this street was filled with people. We walked down the street, had dinner, drank pomegranate juice, and found a Christian church in one of the side streets. So, we attended a Christian service in the Turkish language on Saturday evening! After the service, we spent some time at a cafe and walked to our hotel. It was a long walk, but the city looked so beautiful in the dark. The next day, we figured out how to use the tram system, as we were getting tired from all the walking.
Day 3 - Sunday
We spent several hours touring Dolmabahce Palace and its harem in the morning. This was the sultans' residence from 19th century until the end of the empire. It was then the first presidential palace of the new republic. This palace was built in the European Style and was very grand on the inside. Each room had a huge crystal chandelier, one of which weighs 2000 kg.!!! and is 3 m. tall!!! It was quite impressive. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the palace, but we took some of the outside. The harem included 4-5 appartments for sultan's wifes, although sultans did not officially marry concubines as a rule (there were exception).
We met my friend, Firuza, and her husband for lunch and spent time with them until around 6 p.m. Firuza and I were best friends my first year in the US, when I lived in Richland Center, WI, and was a freshman at the univeristy there with the exchange program. Firuza is from Turkmenistan, but married Murat, who is from Istanbul. She has been living in Istanbul for 1 year now, and it was so wonderful to see her and catch up. We have not seen each other since 2001.
Day 4 - Monday - we walked to Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia before heading to the airport.
In addition to visiting these great historical and modern sites, we also had freshly squeezed pomegranate juice every day (4 pomegranates went into making each cup!!!) Yummi... And lots of sweets .... my favorites also included bahlava, dripping with honey, and Turkish delight (their type of candy).
Crossing the Bosphorus into Asia!
