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Published: September 25th 2007
The Blue Mosque
Istanbul, TurkeyOn our second day in Istanbul Camille hired a car and driver and guide to take us to all of the amazing sites of Istanbul. We first went to the Blue Mosque which was built by Sultan Ahmet in 1609. This Islam mosque is where they go when the call to prayer is sounded, which they literally have speakers that sound someone singing during the day. You can hear it all around the city. To go in you have to take your shoes off but because it was the holy month of Ramadan the carpet was only 2 weeks old. Our guide, Felicity told us all about the famous and beautiful Turkish tiles on the second floor of the mosque. They are very beautifully colored turquoise and that the French when they saw them named the blue color turquoise after the blue color of the Turkish tiles.
After the Blue Mosque we walked across the park to the Ayasofya. This once Christian church that was turned into a mosque was built in 537 A.D. . The church was damaged by an earthquake but was built again. This was once the world’s largest church for thousands of years and now it is
the 4th largest. This is a truly interesting building because you see both Christian and Islamic symbols in the same building. There are beautiful Christian frescos but on the outside they have added the tall spikes called minarets that are indicative of a mosque. This is not to be missed if you go to Istanbul.
Lastly, we headed to Topkapi Palace. This was the residence of the sultans of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire for almost 400 years. In 1920 it was turned into a museum. There is so much to see in this Palace but one of the highlights is in the Treasury. The world’s largest diamond is there and is called the Spoon Marker’s Diamond. This diamond is 86 carets and viewing it is truly a religious experience.
After our busy and very informative morning we stopped at the Four Seasons that is right in the old town for lunch. We had a beautiful Turkish lunch outside and could hear the call to prayer. This was a beautiful hotel and a great resting spot from our packed day. We then asked our guide if she would take us to the best Mall in Europe. We had read and heard
from others on the ship that this was not to be missed. They were right. This outside shopping area was one of the most beautiful. We had a great time shopping around and seeing the new part of the city.
We headed back to the ship for Pauleen had invited us to Silk Road the Sushi Restaurant for dinner. The sushi was fantastic and Jon even tried a Chinese Cappuccino. He just loves coffee and really enjoyed it. He will have to make it for you when we get home. The ship set sail from Istanbul to Kusadasi while we were having dinner. We were sad to leave Istanbul. There is so much more to see. We will have to come back and visit again.
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